Wilkommen, bienvenue...

Ah, Berln. Home of Nollendorfplatz and cheap groceries. So, let's see. Josh (my travel partner) pointed out that there were some things I had not yet gotten down in here. So I'll go back for a minute...

I didn't say, did I, that I left my new ipod on the plane at the London airport? Yeah. I was waiting to see if it got recovered (yeah right) and finally gave up on that last week. On the way from there to Paris we got up ridiculously early to take a cab to Heathrow, and had the coolest cab driver. He was originally from Eritrea, and we had a great conversation about what is going on there, and in East Africa. It reinforced my feeling that I have to go there someday, and perhaps focus some of my professional energies there.

Going back to Paris, there was a really nice dinner at a restaurant in the Marais District called Le Dome du Marais, from the Eating Out in Paris book that my fabulous neighbor, Olivia, lent to me for the trip. So fantastic. Let's see if I can recall what we got: amuse bouche- tiny phyllo cheese things, first course- cold lobster bisque, second- wild boar with potato tournelles and tiny carmelized onions, then a cheese plate, of course, and dessert was mint chocolate crepe with carbonated cream. It was the coolest thing ever. Like whipped cream but with seltzer folded in. It was amazing. I'm sorry I can't remember more detail. Funny thing was, I didn't realize that in Paris, no one ever takes food home from a restaurant. So when I asked for the stuff to be wrapped to go, the server brought it back to the table heated and re-plated. When I communicated that I wanted to take it home with me, he brought it back in tupperware. They don't even have to go containers. I am sure that they were all laughing at me in the kitchen. But I don't care, that boar was good the next day, and the tupperware has come in really handy.

I did get to the Eiffel Tower, but again, did not go up. I did fall asleep in the grass in the park beneath and got a couple of good pictures. There were tourists all over Paris, so it was a much different experience from when I was there with Mom and Shari a few years ago. The weather was nicer this time, but I prefer the winter when the Parisian are there and the tourists aren't.

My aforementioned fantastic shopping experience happened accidentally. I was roaming Paris with an all-day Metro pass, and ended up in the city center. Got some great pictures of a water fountain and statue there - Parisians have really preserved their heritage - architecture included. As I was winding my way to a Metro station (they're everywhere) I looked into this store and there was a room full of this designers work. Beautiful, unsual clothing. Different textures and fabrics. I am glad that I could not find more that fit me - some of the clothes were made for the smaller French from what I could tell - because I would have spent too much there. As it was, I bought a one-of-a-kind sweater that Shari is going to die over, a couple of sweet soft shirts and a matching skirt and sleeveless top. It's the first time in a long time that I have spent that kind of money and felt so good about it. I am still within the budget that I gave myself, so I feel pretty good. Now if I can just find some shoes. Two of the three pair that I brought here are not as comfortable as I had thought. I sent one of them home in a box of stuff yesterday as a matter of fact. So I've been wearing one pair of shoes every day and it's getting old. Not that it really matters, but you know, I'm a girl...we need our shoes.

Alright, on to Provence. Had to get up early to catch that train so I ended up sleeping two of the three hours on the way there. So, Trey, if it takes about 9 hours by car, as google maps says, then my train had to be going pretty freaking fast. It's just under 700 kilometers, so you do the math..
A quick busride to a small family-run hotel in Avignon and all was well. Josh suggested renting a motorcycle for a day, and after checking for the much cheaper car rentals, finding that there were no cars available to rent in all of Provence, we went down to the moto rental place and met Sylvain, the adorable shop-keeper. He gave us an extra few hours by letting us take the bike that night, which was great, as it ended up being the most amazing night of riding. We got a recommendation to eat in Chateauneuf du Papes, a beautiful town on a hill about 20km from Avignon. There are almost no modern buildings anywhere in Provence, at least not near the city centers. And out in the countryside, they don't build with modern materials that I can tell. Chateauneuf du Papes was quaint and had a cool ruin at the top of the hill the town was perched on. Dinner there at La Garbure was delicious. The best cold soup I've ever had - scallops in a clear seafood stock with herbs and pureed zucchini. The other first course was tiny herb cheese ravioli with langostine sauce. The main courses were slow-cooked lamb with gravy (the French they know how to do it) and this light white fish sliced thin, marinated in citrus and herbs, cold, with the French version of Spanish tortilla and ratatouille. I can't even tell you how fantastic it all was. And the chef came out at one point to talk to a couple at a table nearby, and it turned out that the guy he was talking to was a gourmand/wine expert/food writer Graham Edwards. So we had a conversation with them about the wine of the region, the food in France etc. The chef, Jean Louie, recommended a restaurant in the area we were traveling to the next day.
The next day was a tour on the bike to a bunch of the quintessential Provincial towns and the lavendar fields, which had just been harvested, sadly. Although it did still smell fantastic. It was a long day, we ended up meeting other motorcylclists (from Milan) and having a good time. The restaurant was a total disappointment, surprisingly. The location was perfect but the food, not so much.

I'm not sure if it was bad food, or an allergic reaction to something, but I woke up later that night with the "D" and some stomach cramping that hasn't entirely gone away. I slept on the train to Paris, got on the train to Berlin and went back to sleep (thank god for couchettes). Now I'm in East Berlin, and hoping that any minute now, the tummy will calm down so I can get out and see stuff.

added photos and note: so many photos from Provence, but these must suffice for now, downloading these takes forever!
First, Dinner at Chateauneuf du Papes, where (note) I forgot to tell you, a teeny, tiny hummingbird came right over and was buzzing the flowers right next to me. I kid you not, it was the size of a moth. So beautiful. Too slow on the camera-draw to get a pic, but here's the restaurant on the right ide of the street on the hilltop town.
Second photo is of the first little town we stopped in on the day we rented the motorcycle. Can't remember the name right now.
Third: The farmer's market in said little town. I am in freaking French heaven. Had for lunch: Two kinds of salami, olives, little quiche lorraines, grapes and the best frais du bois (wild strawberries) I've ever had in my life. You can't get them in the U.S.