NowWereTalkingProvenceNNormandy

 The hell continues on this trip. There was a problem with our ticket (why, we have no idea) Great Value Vacations was only reachable by a form on their website. After a while of going from one person to the next we were able to book a ticket through United for tomorrow. United was able to find our original booking. Then we had to book another hotel, get to the correct terminal and arrive at our hotel for another night in France.  Randy writing a Nasty Gram to Great Value  Vacations 

  Today we left Marie’s and our B&B after breakfast and headed for Marseille to spend the night at Ibis. It’s raining!! Our second rain for the trip. As I type this the rain has stopped. Marseille was hard to navigate without Randy’s phone and the driving was nuts. We went on a hop on hop off bus to see the sites had Pho for lunch and headed up La Canebiere for shopping.  Rick Steve said their was up scaled shopping district, but after walking for over 2 miles all we saw were places to eat. It was getting close to 4PM so we headed to our hotel. Tomorrow we will fly back to Paris and then from Paris to Houston   Good cafe ole, good chocolate croissant  Scene from the bus A wild looking bank building  The seaport is protected by fortresses Notre Dame Houses from the HOHO bus So much graffiti  Bank building  A good lunch of Pho and salad for me Graffiti  Marseille, France’s oldest city

  Sunday, May 22 We woke only to realize Randy’s phone had died. Nothing on the screen after a night of being charged. Since our breakfast place was closed on Sunday, we headed toward Aix en Provence. Low and behold we found another place for breakfast along the way pretty quickly. In Aix en Provence, Cezanne lived and painted. He was ignored at the time, but now his presence is milked for all its worth for tourism.  We arrived at Gere Parking Center at 11:05. Couldn’t get the ticket to dispense. At the end we got free parking. From there we went to the art museum where we saw a film about Paul Cezanne. There was an iron man event which made getting around difficult. It was Sunday, but I did manage to do some shopping. Cezanne’s studio was a    20 minute walk away. I’m glad we made the trek as it was good with a nice audio presentation and slideshow. On the way home we got stuck in a traffic jam for a couple of hours. You gotta love this trip . All my pictures of the...

  We left for our usual cafe ole and croissant (I have given up on a healthy breakfast—the chocolate croissants are just to good) for Cucuron hoping as always the GPS will get us there. The roads are scenic but VERY narrow—I can’t look. We got caught in a tight spot and I along with some neighbors had to get out and direct R’s driving. In Cucuron, we arrived on the day of their centuries-old tradition where the people of the village go out and find a poplar tree at least as tall as the church (24m/80ft) cut it down     and carry it back by hand with a boy riding it and waving a flag. This is done in thanks to the village's patron saint for saving Cucuron from the plague in 1720. It was a silly tradition but fun to watch. Scenery along the way This is  a very old door Nice window in Cucuron The town is full of excitement This horseshoe is upside down More scenery Love all the flowers This was growing inside a public toilet!     These tree roots are amazing O...