Barcelona day one

Just got into Barcelona yesterday. The first place with a decent internet connection and a US style keyboard. What a difference that makes!

I am not sure we have give a very coherent story since Paris. I did tell you that Avignon was our next stop. About the best medieval city around, I think. As with all the medieval cities the streets are very small and tortous. In one sense that makes it very walkable, but on the other hand most of the sidewalks are very tiny! So it is always a battle with the cars. There are small and large plazas everywhere in this town. Would like to post some pictures here, but I don´t see a way to upload anything on this computer--and it is all self service!

>We found a great little place to stay just inside the old city walls. About 42E. We did 2 nights in Avignon. Main day there was last Sunday. THe weather had definintely turned better--low 60s and sunny. Avignon is the start of Provence--so a way different feel than Paris. Everything looks and feels Mediterranean now---must be because it is!

The coverered market on Sunday in Avignon was a wonderful experience. They apparently have this market everyday. The stalls are formal places with the same shops everyday. I had a great time trying to talk to folks about where their produce or cheese or ham came from, how it was grown etc. My French was starting to come along pretty well--sort of! With english and spanish, their are a whole lot of words you can understand if people talk very slowly and you know what the context is. I had a very interesting conversation with one of the guides in the Paris sewer tour (yes, they have a tour! If you remember, the sewers played a very important part in Victor Hugo´s Les Miserables). You can imagine how that conversation might have gone! Anyway, it is great to see local producers and merchants so active in a town this size.

Monday morning we rented a nice little Fiat from Avis in Avignon. It was a Punto. Don´t know if I have seen this kind of car in the US. It was a diesel and handled very nicely, and got great mileage. It is very easy to rent cars in France based on our experience.

We followed the advice of the sage tourist advisor and decided to just tour the region. The Frecnh are very cognizant of their regions. Provence of course you have heard of. There are subregions as well that they are very tuned into. We were mainly in Provence, but we also skirted the Luberon and the Gard. Producers in each region make a big deal about their cheese or turnips or whatever.

We staayed 2 nights in Vaisson La Romain, a little place that started out as a celtic village and became a roman town, and is now a center for agricultural activity in its own little region. It was reputed to have one of the best street markets in Provence, and it lived up to its reputation. Towns this size (maybe 8k?) have market days one or two days a week--just like Guatemalan highland towns! I think I might have described some of what we saw--a mix of flea market and epicurean delights. This is obviously a social occaision for the town as well. ANd everyone was more than happy to explain just how and where there stuff was made. We got a five minute exegesis on tomatoe juice that we understood maybe 1/4 of. But that was some of the best tomatoe juice I have every had. Last seasons obviously, but still great.

From Vaisson we headed south, taking in several more hill towns. Probably don´t need to see any more of those!
Leticia decided she wanted to see the famed Marseille--so we drove there in the late afternoon. Got to the old port and had some great buolliabaise (sp??)--thats what you have to do in Marseille! Could not find a room however! Some kind of a big convention going on. We drove back to Arles--all of Rick Steve´s budget places locked up tight (it was now 1130PM). Fortunately, there were some freeway type motels on the edge of town--had to try three before getting a room though! So lesson learned is get a hotel early! (so planning can help, Rhonda!). We are not traveling completely without reseervations--we did have our room reserved here in Barcelona, which was wise indeed because we are now in Semana Santa (holy week)--THE spring break week for Europe.

I will pick up the travelogue in Arles next time. We are going to finish up our trip here in Barcelona. It is well worth a week--maybe even two. We have already walked the famous Ramblas. This is a great city, but I think Paris is still number one in terms of pedestrian scale.

More tomorrow--unless dancing or something gets in the way!