l o u v r e

June 06, 2002....

Into my fifth month of travels... What began in January in Sweden, took me next to Southern France (Perpignan),,, to Italy (Assisi, Rome, Florence) onto Paris,,, Eindhoven,,, Amsterdam,,, Germany,,, to Zurich, Switzerland,,, Venezia,,, Padova,,, Firenze,,, Roma,,, then my two euro flights to Rhodes, Greece,,, back to Rome, Florence, pit-stop in Montesquieu, France before heading to Barcelona in April for spring break,,,

Then drove to Mijas, Malaga, Gibraltar, Granada, up to Madrid, where I spent a fabulous birthday!! the biG 35 yikes!

'Some reason, I keep going back to Tuscany; Florence in particular. I returned from Madrid, which is a train ride of at least 29 hours with five changeovers.... Madrid > Barcelona > Cerbére (the border between Spain and France).. The tracks are a different size in Spain, which means you either have to switch trains or catch the talgo which switches itself. From Cerbére I traveled to Ventimiglia >Pisa >Florence.

i was hired to go sell pelle (leather jackets) at a military bazaar in Aviano (north of Venice),, Being it was 28c (80f) outside, there wasn't much business for leather jkts,.. but during the boredom as a sales clerk I made jewelry and sold a few pieces. Made $120 in u.S. minT. The vino was plentiful at the tasting stands next to ours, plus plenty of goodies to cleanse the palate.

Next, I returned to Paris. The last time I left florence en route to Paris, I met Marta from Naples, who lives in Paris. When we arrived, she set me up with metro directions to meet for lunch et al. I walked and walked, till I could walk no more. literally! One nite, after walking from the Eiffel Tower--around the city--and back to the Louvre where I then walked to meet marta for dinner, my knee popped out! ...talk about paiN. The following day I took the tank to holland. (have I mentioned I packed a tanK with enough clothes and crafts for winter, spring and summer, and multi libri?)..

The stay at the Louvre hostel wasn't too shabby, but this time I got to stay at Marta's new flat and what a treat!!! Marta is cook extraordinaire even in a 3' x 5' kitchen. What a blast. After a week in parigi, it was time to head back to Montesquieu.

This time I recalled that a closer train station to the Corbeeks was not Perpignan, but Argeles. So I bought my ticket from Paris to Argeles. However, there are two towns called Argeles. The clerk didn't ask me which... One is high in the Pyrenees mountains, which I discovered quickly after traveling there by mistake.

The train ride from Paris to Lourdes took all nite, then there was a bus ride to Argeles. Once there, I realized that the green misty mountains were more beautiful than ever,,, why did I miss this beauty the last time I was there?? I got off the bus and found out I was 500 km. off-track. Where I needed to go was not Argeles Gazost, but Argeles Sur Mer !!!!!

But even when bad luck strikes, there is plenty of goodness to be found. Upon arriving to Argeles Gazost, I entered a pub in search of a phone. No public phone for miles; but the pub owner, Bragita let me use theirs to call the Corbeeks, who would be waiting for me at the Argeles Sur Mer station.

Not only did she not let me pay for my cafe au'lait, but while waiting for a bus back to the train station in Lourdes, the pub owner sent a girl who was driving to town to pick me up at the bus stop and drop me off at the station!! it took me all nite and morning to reach Argeles Sur Mer, and i'm grateful for having had a cool book borrowed from Madrid, Black Ice, which kept me awake through the dawn-hour changeovers.

i've rented a flat for the month of June in Madrid. (I won't need to sleep on the living room foamboard at Mike and Nacho's pad (they're the coolest cats; family i've inherited from Sonny and Anne at Nippers in Pasadena,,, my good ole Caltech buddies & hairdressers to me and Stephen Hawking!)

Mike & Maria-- and all their friends are awesome musicians. Nora owns the Rock Palace, a rehearsal & recording studio, and baR... and sO,,, music and dance fill the void.

Lots of things to do, places to see, pictures to take, movies to view, food to eat, vino to drink, books to read, people to meet, and rocks to climb. Best time of my life. Surviving Europe on a lot of credit and not enough euros... a novel to write.