Over the hill
Day 19

We?re over the halfway mark for our trip and the big traveling is more or less over. We?ve seen Normandy, we?ve seen Provence, we?ve seen the Cote d?Azur, and we?ve seen the Pyrenees. From here on out it?s France without an itinerary: no more hotels, little driving and lots of ?what should we do today??

The past 18 days have been a research trip of sorts for the best of everything within France. The cheapest beer is in Cannes. The best wine comes from right outside of Les Baux-de-Provence and you won?t find a better cut of beef than at L?Entrecote in Bordeaux.

AKT and I have met some pretty rockin' people and seen some pretty sweet places; I'm sure that once we win the lottery a few times we'll have no trouble finding cities and towns in France to build dream homes. Retirement here I come!

In any event, it?s been great so far and I know I?ll enjoy the time we have left here.

-John-Laurent


I was pretty anxious coming into this trip on account of some tense family vacations in the past and therefore had low to mild expectations. Fortunately, however, things have turned out to be great?if not perfect at times. The country time and time again proves itself worthy of my highest regards.

We?ve had good exposure to most of the cultural hot spots in France including Normandy, the Gironde (including Bordeaux and Saint-Emilion/Pomerol), Provence proper, the Cote d?Azur (which includes St. Tropez, Nice, and Cannes), and most recently the Pyrenees closest to Andorra. Here in a couple of days time I?ll be heading down to Les Landes (Biarritz and Hossegor) to meet Ryan and Mikey for a four or five day beaching, surfing, and drinking stint and eventually will make it up to London to see the Plump DJs at Fabric.

It is a family vacation so we have all had to make some adjustments, but I think we?ve done so in a very seamless fashion. That being said, I have had a great time with Mama, Papa, JLT, and Sue. This is a trip that will go down as groundbreaking for the Tronches.

I can?t stop the Fever.

-Alexander

Let's get down to business...

First and foremost... Alexander's wicked fine illustrator skillz!!!1!

Video Post #3: Day 12
Alexander attends a Corrida

Les Baux de Provence is incredible. The weather is hot but the wind, known as Le Mistral, keeps it relatively cool. The sound of the cicadas can be heard every second of every hour, all day and all night. Do they sleep? I've seen few places as pleasant and picturesque as this area of France. The only problem with Provence is the lack of beaches and sexy girls...

...which is why they invented the Cote d'Azur.

Alexander and I split a carafe of rose and a pizza before heading to the beach. We swam out to a floating pontoon and stayed there for hours pushing Arabs off and talking to two Canadians from Vancouver, Paula and Henry.

We agreed to meet for drinks after dinner.

Paula and Henry took us to the English Pub. 10 beers for 15 euros! Hell of a deal if you ask me. They bring you a tray of glasses and once you've finished those they bring you another, kind of like an all you can eat buffet line. Our friends from the North taught us a slick beer-drinking maneuver known as the "Karl Malone." Arch your head back, support your neck with one hand and guzzle the brew with the other. It's also known as the "mailman", because you deliver.

After Cannes, we drove to Font-Romeu, deep in the Pyrenees near Andorra. We drank rose, ate prosciutto and melon and admired the scenery before dinner. Photo #2 One of the two solar ovens in France is located down in the valley below Font-Romeu because this area gets 300+ days of sunshine a year, more than any other part of France.

After dinner, AKT and I hit the town running but quickly learned there's not much to do in an off-season ski-village after 11pm.

Back in Toulouse I bought a soccer jersey and had the store put my man's name and number on it.

It's now Saturday afternoon in Libourne; AKT and I have been working many hours on this post. AKT leaves for the Atlantic tomorrow to meet up with Ryan and Mikey in Hossegor. At time of posting, I'm not sure what I'll do in the next week or so. Maybe Paris. Maybe Hossegor. Maybe stay here. Maybe take a night boat to Cairo, or maybe something else altogether.

Stay awake, stay employed.

-John-Laurent