Saaaaaaaaahn Raphael

The French Riviera is nothing short of gorgeous, and the small town of San Raphael was just what we needed after 3 big cities in a row. To our pleasant surprise, the city was hosting a New Orleans Jazz festival and music was playing everywhere you turned. The city was very quaint, situated right on the water, and had a sort of carnival atmosphere at night- merry go rounds included. It reminded us somewhat of a small Florida town (though quite a bit prettier)- full of newly breds and nearly deads.

T, a map, the usual
View from our room
Another view

Excellent Jazz band playing dixie-land tunes

Chick jazz band- some of the attention they got may have been due to the middle girl's white biker shorts leaving her thong on display
While leaving our hotel the last day, this is what greeted us out front. We thought it was a parade, but really it was a group of musicians being followed by the entire town through the streets.

Some much needed time sur la plage

Dirty but happy
Hot but heavy
At a beach bar, T contemplates "Why does KG beat me at chess?"

T having a French siesta beneath a monument

Me and the Mediterranean
One of my fave pics

Like Paris, we leave San Raphael with a few burning questions...

When boat jousting, does anyone really win? (seriously, we watched a few rounds and it looks EXTREMELY painful)

Did you know there are mummies on display on the beaches in San Raphael?

Why is Tori's ex-boyfriend roaming the streets in the French Riviera?

How's Monkey you ask?

Well, he's fine. He didn't get out much in Barcelona as it was more of an adult scene there. Here's a pic update since I know how worried everyone must be about him.

Monkey lying around the apartment in Barcelona

Monkey hanging around the apt in Barceloina

Again, hanging

After being cooped up for a few days, we took Monkey to the park on the way out of Barcelona

Waiting for a train with T in Montpellier

Waiting for a train in San Raphael

Picture Update, Barcelona

We found a computer to upload some new images onto, so here's an update.

Tomorrow we head to the French Riviera!

Views from the train between Paris and Barcelona...

We saw the Cult play here on Monday- 3 words- stinky, sweaty, fun

T at Bar Marsella

T patiently awaiting our laundry- figuring out how to operate in this place was a task!

Our new chess set and some traditional treats

T on street in Bari Gotic

Amor!

Outside Museo de Picasso

Building designed by Gaudi

T and his handy dandy pocket map

Buenos dias and happy Fourth of July!

HOLA!

Needless to say, no one in Barcelona cares about this holiday, but we have celebrated in our own way-- we ate McDonald´s, and a lot of it. I can´t upload my pics on this computer so you´ll have to use your imagination for this post. We are living in a little apartment in Bari Gotic, the old city. It has a ton of character and we love it- narrow streets, balconies full of hanging laundry, gothic churches, street performers everywhere you look. We´ve decided to stick around a few more days since we are enjoying ourselves so much.

One of our favorite parts about Spain thus far is the schedule. We have taken full advantage of the siesta each day, and have eaten dinner around midnight each night. After dinner our fave haunt has been this creepy archaic looking bar called Bar Marsella (pic below). After some absinthe, we head home and the streets are still crawling with people at all hours of the night. It´s great!

After Barcelona, we are beach bound. We found what looks to be a wonderful little city in the south of France called St. Raphael and we´ll take the train there in a couple days. We hope everyone is doing well and miss you a lot. Love!

Au Revoir!!

We're about to hop the train to Spain (where the rain falls mainly in the plains) and thought we'd do one last picture update before having to learn another foreign computer.

We began our day at Les Jardines du Luxembourg, the most beutiful park I've ever laid eyes on.

After the park, we did what any good christians would do on Sunday and went to church- two actually- Notre Dame and Basilica Sacre Couer (located at the highest point in Paris).

T and I leave Paris with the following questions......

Why would this guy wear this to the Louvre (or anywhere for that matter) and does it mean what we think it does?

Why did our shower have no door or curtain leading to the great flood antecedent to each shower?

What the hell kind of bird is this?

Metro Monkey

Outside the Metro stop with Monkey
These baboons graced King Ramses II palace circa 1280 BC and provided Monkey with good company at the Louvre. Sacrilicious!
Monkey de Milo
Outside the Louvre- IM Pei's Pyramid

Enjoying one of the many tasty treats on the street
Park+Pastry= Paradise

View from the Eiffel Tower
Bonjour! Monkey sure did see the sights yesterday, making it to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triumphe, and Champs Elysees. The tower visit was very cool because we were near the top at midnight when they turned on the flashing lights. The Louvre was so huge and overwhelming, but we managed to see the most important things- the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and the Code of Hammurabi.

We're getting a late start today as T had to go make train arrangements this morning, so we're off!