A Marathon of Cities

Last night in Paris: We went to the highest point in the city..monte-somehting? It was not that great, full of tourists and beggers, so we left once we got to the top. Then we headed back to Champs Elysees to walk around and eat dinner. We found a great resturant with a view of the Arc and the street. While we were eating the had police essort a group of over a hundred bike-riders down the road! It was so crazy but awesome! When we went to the train station in the morning, the train to Avignon was full so we had to wait 4.5 hours for the next one. At first I was disappointed, but then I started reading "Like What for Chocolate" and it is soo good! Jenny you need to read it! You'd love it! Finally we made it on the train and we're off to our adventure...

We got to the car rental station in Avignon and my mom had to ask how to put the key in the car. Not a good sign haha. Then we drove to Arles, where we stayed at a BEAUTIFUL hotel that used to be a monastary. We walked the city and had dinner! I loved the look of the city at night. Many of the buildings looked so old but so beautiful. There was a dance recital in the amphitheatre and it was packed! The next morning we left for Saint Tropez and Sanremo. (Sidenote on Arles- we had to ask a French couple to show my mom how to put the car in reverse....they definitly thought we were challenged).

Saint Tropez was STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL!!!! I am slightly obsessed with it. The view of the water there was unreal! Ahh soo cool. We went to this really trendly bar place for drinks; it had black sand, khaki and white linnen chairs, ect! Sadly we couldnt spend much time there since we didnt want to drive in the dark. We crossed into ITALIA and drove to Sanremo. We found a great hotel there and luckly they had room for us! We took in the view from the balcony and enjoyed dinner and wine! The next morning we went swimming and laid by the pool there. Driving out of Arles was a disaster!!! Funny now that I'm removed from it, but in the moment i was close to tears. We went the wrong way on a one way adn got stopped by the police. They let us go with a warning. Then we got lost for an hour on crazy roads above the town. Finally we made it out alive! A little while later we arrived in Pisa! The hotel from the outside looked worn and had graffitti on the walls. Inside it was great. It was basically a two-story apartment with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a living room!! First thing we did was go to see the leaning tower of Pisa! Obviously we took the tourist picture of pretending we were holding it up! Then we walked around that area for a while, which is really cool and had a great church! We left early the next morning for FLORENCE (Firenze)! Now we are here (my new home for the summer) and loving the city! Tonight we're going to dinner with Christa (one of my roomates) and her parents! Ciao!