Getting the Car    August 28th to September 15th

Rudy and I took a train to Montpellier, France where we rented a car and drove 
to Napoule, France where our car was stored.  We had a long day so we stayed 
there for the night at the Hotel Les Bruyere for 75 Euros. (It had AC!!)  The 
next morning we had breakfast in Cannes where we also returned the rented car 
and then traveled to Monaco for lunch.  We visited the Palace in Monaco and I 
was impressed not only with the number of rooms we were allowed to visit, but 
also with the beauty and the wealth of information regarding the country's 
history.  While we were there, we saw the prince as he was returning to the 
Palace. We also watched the changing of the guard.  We then explored the town 
of St. Raphael, had dinner and spent the night at the Hotel Thalassoth.  On 
Saturday the 30th, we traveled through the towns of Frejus, Ste. Maximum, and 
St. Topez (where we had lunch),le Lavandou, Toulon and Marseille where we 
visited the Notre Dame Cathedral which dates back to 1214.  It has a statue of 
the Virgin Mary holding Jesus, which is on the top of the Cathedral, over 70 
ft. high. The statue weighs over 19,500 pounds!!! 

I have been experimenting with different regional foods.....one was a pizza 
with onions and anchovies (my mother's recipe is better!!!) and a stew like 
dish with fish and vegetables. Many of the items we do not try because we have 
no idea what we are ordering due to the language barrier!!!  We visited Aix-EN 
Provence where we saw a few of the 1,000 beautiful fountains and then drove to 
Avignon for the night and stayed at the Hotel Ibis. The next morning in 
Avignon, we visited the Palace of the Popes and then went to a beautiful 
Cathedral before we had lunch. 

The heat and humidity is oppressive during all of August. France has been hit 
hard by the heat wave, the worst since they started to keep records, with over 
11,500 dead. Some say the number is more like 15,000!!!  Crops have also been 
hit hard. As we drove to our next destination, we saw fields and fields of dead 
sunflowers as well as other fields with dead plant life. We also saw miles and 
miles of hillsides burnt to the ground from fires.  The only crop that is doing 
well is the grape.  Apparently, grapes do not like to get wet, but love the 
heat so 2003 will be an excellent year for the wine industry!!! 

  
When we reached the town of Arles, we drove to the center of town and found 
the Amphitheatre where they still hold bullfights and other events. They don't 
kill the bull; they only torture it. Down the street there was a theatre and a 
small museum of some of Van Gogh's drawings.  We didn't stop at the walled city 
in Aigues Morte or the town of Montpellier since Rudy and I stayed there some 
years ago.  We did tour the walled city of Carcassonne.  This site was built 
over the ruins of a former Roman fortress in the 13th century and has 52 towers 
and 2 rings of town walls.  In 1260, St. Louis built this site in a 
checkerboard layout so the streets cut across each other at right angles and 
had some of the loveliest narrow streets I have seen.  The walled city houses 
about 120 people all year and has a large number of shops, craft stalls and 
restaurants all in a variety of architectural styles.  We stayed at the Espace 
Cite Hotel (60 Euros) and again, the only requirement was AC!!! It is so 
fantastic to sleep in an air-conditioned room!!  Each and every morning, I 
didn't want to leave!!!  Rudy made me!!!

On September 1st, we left Carcassonne and traveled through the towns of 
Narbonne, Perpignan and then to the country of Andorra.  (Thanks to the French 
flashing their headlights, we didn't get a speeding ticket in France.  I think 
that is the only country so far!!!  We still have time, however, so I am not 
giving up hope!!!) 

As we climbed to 7,000 feet through the jagged mountains to Andorra, we saw a 
few plateaus of well-groomed farmland.  The houses, which were climbing up the 
mountains, all had roofs of gray slate with cream stone foundations.  It looked 
like a postcard. As we climbed higher, we drove into the cloud cover and could 
only see a few feet in front of us.  We found a hotel for 30 Euros called Hotel 
Panda. Maybe a Panda would have been warm since it was 50 degrees and raining. 
We were slightly under dressed in our shorts and T-shirts. (I had to buy a 
sweatshirt!!)  The next day the sun played with the clouds and we had time to 
shop and look at the countryside.  The houses and the towns made you feel as 
though you were in the Alps.  After going through the whole country of Andorra 
and stopping for lunch, we drove to Barcelona and slept in Hotel Boundless!!!

We have been back for a few days and met some of the other liveaboards.  We 
went bicycle riding twice on the weekly Sunday bike ride with a group of about 
10 and had lunch at a fantastic Japanese restaurant.  We are still in the 
process of changing Boundless from a boat to a "Botel" for the 6-8 months we 
will be in Barcelona. We also cleaned and rented a storage space to clear out 
some of the items we (I) haven't used for the last five years!!!

A few words about Barcelona; there is so much to see in Barcelona that it will 
take months to see everything!!! Rudy and I have driven through many parts of 
Barcelona by bus and car and were amazed at the unique and varied architecture. 
The transportation so far has been excellent!!! The buses have many different 
routes and run very frequently.  They are extremely clean, dependable and are 
AIR CONDITIONED!!!! The city is biker friendly with many bicycle paths that 
make it a lot easier to travel by bike. The pedestrian walkway's are numerous 
and large. The slums were abolished and replaced with new buildings for the 
Olympic Face-Lift in 1992. The streets and sidewalks are well maintained and 
clean! There is petty theft as in most cities but the marina is well protected 
with security guards and locked gates, the bathrooms are clean and we have a 
finger pier which makes life easy!!! 

Next time the sights and sounds of Barcelona!!!
Adios Amigos!!!