Well, we made it home to Austin. We got in about 7:00PM Sunday evening (May 27, 2007). We were supposed to arrive at 5:20PM, but we sat on the plane on the tarmac in Newark for 45 minutes before they told us they were taking the plane out of service due to some kind of faulty fuel pump. We all got off, went to another gate, and boarded another plane, which finally took off at 4:30PM, almost two hours later than the scheduled flight. But, you know what? It’s much better to find the problems while you’re still on the ground.

We’re kind of jet-lagged today, so I’ll do my best to get the rest of the pictures online in the next couple of days and do a few more postings about the trip and then probably a wrap-up posting. We had a great time, and it’s good to be home. Until next time…

Sorry for the dearth of postings, but we haven't stopped walking since we got here. Yesterday we went to La Marais, which is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Paris. The Place des Vosges is there. It's the oldest square in France. It was built in the 1600's and consists of what was then townhouses owned by French aristocrats. Victor Hugo, among others, lived on the Place des Vosges. I'll try to get some pictures up of La Marais and Place des Vosges before we get home.

We shopped and bought enough stuff to fill two more XL boxes from the post office. Oh, I never told you that I'm now Le Chef d'Envoyer aux Etas Unis (the boss of shipping to the US). What a hassle! No one ships to the US. So, we did a bunch of research on the Internet and consulted with Anja at our B&B. We found out that, yes, they have UPS and FedEx here, but they are exorbitantly expensive. UPS wanted almost $600 to ship 50Kg (about 110lbs) to Austin. We finanlly figured out that the La Poste (the post office) has pre-paid shipping boxes for international shipments. The XL box has a weight limit of 7Kg (about 15lbs) and costs €38 ($53). This seems like a lot, but it includes the box, all the postage and insurance.

So, we ended up filling five of these boxes with stuff and shipped everything home for a little over $250. Not bad considering the distance. Someone definitely needs to figure out a better way to send stuff to the US. Sounds like a business opportunity here for somebody.

We had a little rain shower this afternoon, but it's stopped now. We're about to go out for dinner, so I'll stop for now. Until next time…

As promised, I just posted a slideshow of the pictures from the Cannes Film Festival. We were there for two premiers — a French movie by Julian Schnabel called Le Schphandre et le Papillon and Quinten Tarantino's movie Death Proof. Schnabel's movie brought out everyone who is anyone in the French cinemal. And, of course, Tarantino brought out everyone form Hollywood — Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Robert Rodriguez, Rose McGowen, Rosario Dawson, Mickey Rourke, Sharon Stone, Harvey Weinstein, and many more.

We actually got free passes to a premier of a movie about mennonites living in Mexico. It was directed by a spanish director, Carlos Reygadas. The movie is called Stellet Licht (Silent Light). It was very interesting. The acting was superb, and the story was compelling. I was surprised. One of the really cool things is that the movie was screened in the main theater, so we got to walk up the Red Carpet and into the Grand Palais. Way cool!! All in all, it was a very good day. Until next time…

OK. I'm in Paris now. It's 7:05PM on Wednesday. The hotel I'm at has free WIFI, so I should be able to post everyday. I don't have much to tell right now, but I did add two more sections to the "Sunday Markets" slideshow — some pictures of the countryside, and some pictures of the outside of our little cottage at Domaine du Grand Ch�ne.

We went to Cannes yesterday for the Film Festival. What a blast! I'll be uploading MANY pictures either later tonight or tomorrow. We were able to get free passes to a world premier screening of a Spanish movie. It was in the main theater, and we got to walk up the red carpet and everything. I'll tell you all about it in my next post. Until next time…

I didn’t get to post yesterday. We had dinner with our hosts, and we went through about four bottles of wine and then had Marc de Provence after dinner. Marc de Provence is distilled liquor made from the leftover grapes after the wine is produced. It’s sort of like cognac, but much stronger. Needless to say, I was not up to blogging after dinner.

Yesterday was Sunday, and Sunday in Provence is Market Day in most small villages. We went to two markets – one in the small village of Cotignac and the other in Salernes. The market in Cotignac was a market of local artists, so there were a lot of paintings, sculptures, arts and crafts, etc. We didn’t really want to purchase any artwork, as we’re going to Paris in a few days, and we can get art produced by the art students there for next to nothing.

Next we headed to another market in Salernes. This was a typical Provencal market – cheeses, meats, sausages, fresh vegetables, and all kinds of Provencal housewares, linens, and clothes. We bought a couple of tablecloths and some napkins. A funny thing happened at this market. I was talking to one of the vendors about tableclothes in French. My French is OK, but not great. His French wasn't much better then mine. He asked where I was from, and I told him the US. He laughed and said he was English. We had a good laugh at the two of us trying to communicate with each other in French. After shopping, we had the best lunch so far at a little restaurant on the square in Salernes. Carolyn had steak smothered in a gorgonzola cheese sauce with steamed veggies. I had a wonderful steak grilled to perfection with pommes frites (French fries). It was wonderful!

After lunch, we decided to go to Moustiers-St-Marie. This is a little village atop a mountain that’s famous for its Faience (traditional hand-painted pottery, pronounced Fay-ence). The drive to Moustiers takes you through the “Grand Canyon” of France, the Gorge du Verdon. It’s spectacular, but not as big as our Grand Canyon. It reminds me of the canyons in Big Bend National Park. The lower end of the gorge is a man-made lake (Lac St Croix) that is a water sports paradise. You can see from the pictures in the slideshow that it looks very inviting. There are many pictures of Moustiers-St-Marie, but the pictures don’t do it justice. It’s just a charming little village with pottery shops everywhere. The Faience is very expensive, so we only bought a couple of really small pieces.

We stayed in Moustiers-St-Marie until about 5:00PM and then headed back for our dinner with our hosts. We had Steak au Poivre (pepper steak), pommes frites, and crème brulée for desert. All in all, this was one of our best days. Until next time…