france in a nutshell

the journey from paris to dijon was uneventful. we nearly got fined because we didnt fill in our eurail passes, but we feigned ignorance and he let us off. we go to dijon and found the camping grounds fairly easily. we set up camp (and by we i again mean jess) and set out to explore the town. if you've seen chocolat, thats exactly what it looked like. all the streets are cobble stone and they have old fashioned street lights. very cool. we had an ok night camping; the 'surprisingly good' inflatable mattresses were not so good as they wont stay inflated anymore. but the ground was 'surprisingly soft' so we survived. the next morning we got up and went for a ride. we got fresh pain au chocolats and a baguette from the campground and set off along the river. we rode aimlessly for a while before coming to a huge lake! it was awesome. we rode around it and found a 'beach' where there were kids playing. the water was a bit stagnant and the sand was red, but other than that it looked like any other beach.

this camp ground had a lot less bugs than the one in paris, so we weren't as diligent as we should have been. we were reading in the tent one night when it started thundering, so jess went to clean her teeth and then i went, and when i got back jess was standing out of the tent looking petrified. there was a huge grasshopper in the tent! the thunder was still going, so we were frantically trying to find something to catch the grasshopper with. 

jess ran to the nearest caravan to see if they had a container. she came back with the smallest tin can i have ever seen. 'well i'm not going in there to get it!' so, i had to be the hero and get the grasshopper. i cornered it, and put the can over it as quickly as i could. i had it! hooray! we weren't going to have to sleep outside tonight. 

then i realised it was on my leg! i screamed, threw the can across the tent and jumped outside. just as i got out it started pouring down. within 30 seconds we were soaked through. i looked at jess, and she shook her head. i sighed and bent back down, ready to get in the tent and we saw it on the bug screen. we screamed and ran around for a bit before flicking it off - OUT of the tent. we got back in and checked thoroughly for bugs and kept the bug screens closed for the rest of the time.

there were markets on in the main square of dijon on the weekend, and they were fun to look around. there was also jazz down at the beach on friday night, but we went to check that out and it was more heavy metallish than jazz... 

we got to lyon on sunday. it was quiet, and all the shops were closed. they were all closed on monday as well, which is good because we couldn't go shopping. we rode all along the river and found a communal feet dipping pool. i know it sounds gross, but the water was fresh and clean, and we saw two guys testing it on two different days. there was an awesome atmosphere and there were kids sliding and splashing in the water and families having picnics. we got some food from the supermarket and had a picnic there one night. 

we saw a mini eiffel tower in the distance, so we set off to find that. we found these ridiculously steep stairs leading up the main hill, so we left the bikes at the bottom and started climbing. we found all these cute little parks and quaint houses. it was crazy to think that people have to climb up those hills every day, or ride their scooters up them - and they were cobble stone. the view over lyon was awesome from the top - we could see all the french roof tops and chimneys. we never ended up finding the little eiffel tower though...

bordeaux was next on the agenda. our train got in at 11.45 and as we stepped off the train a thunderstorm started. just our luck. luckily we had booked a hotel close to the train station, and we didn't get lost! we spent most of our time in bordeaux riding around and along the river. the people were pretty rude, so we tried to avoid talking to anyone. there was another communal water feet dipping thing, and this was another favourite of ours for picnics. we had our first bottle of french red wine there, which was quite nice.

we got to montpellier on sunday. we stayed in a really nice part of town; there was a square that was always bustling with activity around the corner. at night there was restaurants, street performers and markets. its quite easy to get lost in montpellier. there are hundreds of little streets and alleys that lead on to new streets and alleys. we were going to go to the beach, but seeing as the the weather was a bit too overcast for our liking we stayed in town exploring all the streets. 

we're now in marseille, and its good to have a sea breeze. well, jess thinks so anyway (i didn't really notice...) we walked all around the harbour last night, turning our noses up at the restaurants and pretending that they werent good enough for us, even though we couldnt afford the bread there.. (prices were $40 - $70 for nearly everything!!) but we enjoyed being snooty before going around the corner to get $5 kebabs. 

today we went on an adventure to try and sell our bikes. we went looking for a bike shop, but couldnt find one anywhere! in every other city we've seen two or three, but none in marseille. when we eventually found one it was closed for the month of august. everyone goes on holidays here! we thought it was strange seeing as thats when they would do a lot of business, but each to their own. we ended up giving the bikes to a couple of guys working for the red cross. 

we're off to florence tomorrow, we have a huge day of travelling ahead. we're leaving marseille at 6am and getting to florence at 6pm. bring on italy!

there isnt heaps to add to anges account of our france experience. it has been nice, but we've definately spent enough time here. looking back, the best places have been lyon and montpellier. i liked lyon because we pent most of the time by the river in the feet dipping water thing, which was really nice. it was nice to see some families and nice people out and about too, because they all came down to have picnics. 

i liked montpellier, because is was different. a lot of the other places were the same as one another. montpellier had a really nice atmosphere and had a really nice layout. it was fun to explore all the little alleyways and gardens. 

its sad to say goodbye to the bikes, but they have really been a life saver in france. it meant we were able to see more of the towns we went to and also not have to walk past the people leering and spitting at you. buying the bikes is definately one of the best things we've done and i recommend it to everyone thinking about it. trying to get rid of them proved hard though, as ange said. we searched for hours for a store, but in the end i saw these people around our age who were trying to get donations for red cross, so i went up to one of the guys and asked if he wanted our bikes or if we could donate them or something, and i think he thought i was joking, but then i showed them to him and gave him the keys and he looked perplexed and like he might cry! so i'm glad that they've gone to good homes.

i am looking forward to italy so much. we're camping in three of the places, so that'll be nice and for the other places there's finally hostels!! we love hostels. mainly because they are a lot cheaper than hotels. and they have a kitchen. and i cant wait to cook some vegetables. i know. weird. but i am well and truly sick of bread!

ps... flickr hates us. i dont know why. i dont know how to fix it. but one day you will see the rest of our photos.