Le 89ieme jour: Les grèves. / The strikes.

Since last writing the following things have transpired:

1. Went to Bath, England and visited with Annie, Christine, Terry, and Chris - F&M International Rendez-Vous
2. Flew into Toulouse (returning from Bath) and had my first run in with French strikes (les mouvements nationaux or les grèves). A nice French woman also headed back to Avignon guided me through the process of navigating the transportation system.
3. Went to Cassis (pronounced Cah see) where it was nice the first day but rainy the other two days. We went on a boat excursion and saw the calanques, which is primarily what Cassis is known for. It's these huge cliffs carved out along the coast line. I think they would have been prettier if it had been nicer out. We met some people from Washington state who we ran into again at the train station.
4. Encountered more issues because of les mouvements nationaux, but worked through them like champs. My wish for this week is that they end soon.
5. Sam arrived on Thursday evening, also after a debacle with her train because it was canceled and she had to find another that was going to Avignon.
6. We went to Avignon sites first (Palais des Papes, Le Pont, and Les Halles), to Nîmes -where we saw a bull "fight" training/technique competition for free in the Roman arena, but weren't able to make it to Pont du Gard because of the strike (we are going to try to find a bus there on Monday morning).
   
7. Tomorrow, we are headed to Marseille to see the Mediterranean!

The pictures I have put in here are from Cassis and from Nîmes.