and we're off!

the electricity went out in the entire hotel this morning as we were getting ready to leave marseille. it was pretty spooky for a split second. the first thing to flash through my mind was a blackout on the scale of the toronto-new england blackout last year. the second thing to flash through my mind was having to carry all of my bags down five flights of stairs in a hotel without air conditioning. it came back on pretty quickly, though.

we dragged our suitcases up the hill the 3 blocks to the foot of the trillion stairs that lead to the train station. i stood there for a moment wishing to be struck by lightning rather than have to drag the bags up the stairs. please, just one quick bolt to the top of the head. there was a series of cool sculptures i was feigning an interest in before starting up the stairs. slacker! finally i couldn't stall any more, i had to get to the top. or be stuck in marseille for the immediate future. avignon was waiting. and by now, so was e, already at the top of the stairs. showoff!

we found our way to whatever platform it was that the train was leaving from. damn that train wagon stank to no end. cigarette smoke. suddenly i thought of david sedaris and his love of the french being smoking fiends. even the so called first class, non-smoking compartment in the train smelled of stale smoke and some other funky odor mixed in: a musty smell. must be the curtains. why are there curtains in a train compartment? burlap-esque, golden harvest coloured curtains. at least avignon is only an hour away. deliver me!

we arrived in avignon and walked a few more blocks through the city gates to our hotel. it was a relief to know that i will not be packing my own bags for the next 6 days. we saw a note saying that if we wanted to give our bikes a test ride we can do that at three. it was one, so e and i decided to try to find something tasty to eat. besides the hottie french boys that have captured our eyes since we landed. yumm! on our way to find a café e's gift kicked in and he spotted no less than three rainbow flags. for such a small hamlet there seems to be an active gay life here. yahoo!

the bike that was labelled for me to be riding around on for the next 6 days is the biggest piece of crap of a bike i have ever sat on! i know it is a peugeot but is still a piece of crap. i would have preferred jan brady's schwinn with flowery basket, giant orange safety flag and cushy banana seat over this. but i will make do, i suppose. one of the three guides, p, is a french guy: hottie! bonjour, p!

we're going to do a walking tour of town before dinner. then hopefully a drink or several at one of the rainbow flags e found today.