AVIGNON!

First, apologies for the last post. Second, we have made it half way through France! Avignon is a beautiful and lively tiny city of art and theatre and our dear friend Cecily is taking great care of us. As I write this blog I sit in a street cafe listening to the performers trying to entice crowds to their theatre shows with music and singing and sword fights!

On the way to Avignon, Brian and I spent day after day on the Mediterranean watching the small waves lap at the sandy rocky shore and looking down 20 feet into the sea below us as we swam. We biked through several cities and small towns and continue to face the French with wary eyes as they either shout encouragement or curses at us from their cars!

Our informal campsites continue to improve as we get better at selection and slightly more bold about our presence. We camped on a large hill above the Mediterranean amongst power lines and beautiful clouds accented by the sunset and then the next night along another canal surrounded on all sides by acres and acres of vineyards- and mosquitoes- our nemesis!

Some highlights: Brian and I witnessed a fantastic display of windsurfing and kite boarding in the knee deep bay and I am convinced my next sport will be kite boarding! We experienced a real French Bastille Day celebration in a small town where "Brian is in the kitchen" came back (see Brian's blog post several days ago) and we befriended some French folks while drinking Ricard with water and witnessing a bull running- except the French run AFTER the bulls! What cheaters. Last night, we chatted with Romanians and Americans and went to our very first discotheque. Moderately bad music aside, it was good to dance in Europe again, even if it was a gay bar.

This evening, we joined Cecily and her friend Andrea to see a Hungarian written Romanian adapted play in French. To say the least it was translated a few too many times. But a good attempt at depicting eastern European family life post communism...

All and all, Avignon treats us well and we are taking it all in with many glasses of Rose. Brian and I will try to reach Milan in 10 days between trains and heavy riding after the Tour de France. We will witness the stage beginning in Nimes and ending in Digne-de-Bains on Saturday the 19th. We hope you will look for us in the broadcast that day! With internet access and lots of time, we hope to continue heavy blogging to relate our adventures. Bon soir!