Final Thoughts from the road (by Neil)

It seems we are a bit travel weary – our attention spans shortened by over stimulation of cute villages, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, roman ruins, and gastronomic delights.

France is one of the least friendly countries to vegetarians… at least it feels that way in many restaurants as we ply the streets trying to find one with a vegetarian dish beyond salad and dessert. Pizza and pasta and Indian restaurants are pretty reliable, so we tend towards those. And the business hours are confounding. And the customer service lacking...

But, enough glumness about France. We have had some marvelous experiences: Staying and working for a few days on a goat cheese farm, walking around Avignon in the middle of the night trying to find our way back to our apartment (and seeing lots of vans with scantily glad ladies in them with a light hanging in the window), one truly amazing meal at Pasta Cozy in Aix en Provence – with pear stuffed pasta and creamy sauce with toasted black sesame seeds and a small ravioli with asparagus baked to perfection. We had fun at a circus where we loved the dog tricks and decided to stretch a bit more after watching the contortionist. We visited a gypsy/Roma festival in the Camargue and watched horses riding out into the sea and a Catholic processional following them. We sculpted clay and made friends in Toulouse. We enjoyed Pont du Gard and marveled at what the Romans were building in 19 B.C.

We are ready for home though. Counting down the days now for a return to our garden, kitchen, house, cat, city and wonderful friends in Seattle.

Because the airlines are stupid… or maybe it is me… I will take the train at 7 p.m. to London from Paris, take a bus to my hotel, sleep for 5 hours, take a shuttle to Heathrow at 4:30 a.m., board a plane for home, and promptly complete my first leg back to Paris… C’est la vie.