Day10 Drive to Arles, Les Baux Ruins; April 10, 2009

I thinkthis zill beshort becusenot onlydoesit have a French keyboard, you hqvetopoundthe space bar qndthe keys ar soft rubberized and you have to pound all of them too or thecomouter doesnttake theletter.

I just sent Shelley an email on my I-touch for thefirsttime ive used it. Whata huge pain1 My fingers aretoobig andsoImaketons of typos soit takes forever§

Today zedrove from Barcelona to Arles, took 6 hours withstops; nota very exciting drive a few milesinland from thmediterranean coast. Sawlotsofbig zindmills wind blos all the time. Countryside hilly zith chalk white dirt and scrub oak; few talltrees;

Our hotelis nice hereis the link http://www.hotel-peiriero.com/

It seems to be built on top ov old excavations? They hqd q special on the internet zhich they zouldnot give me so I am not happy ziththem.

It has a heatedpool butnothot enouhor meor Mable.

Ze got here about 3 so werntto Les Baux for theafternoon. That's it on the first 2 pix on this post and at left. I'm pointing in the window at a candy store down below in a medieval basement. It's not on the top list of things to do in France, but it was close so we went. Itùsanotherold ruined castleontopof a hill qnd s tourist gauntlet leadingup theold medieval street to it. Zhen ze got totthe top; it cost 11 euros apieceto get in; so ze decided not totour the ruins; ust zqlk bqck down and find a spot to eat in the tiny little medieval streetleadinguptothe castle: We found a really cute tiny little spot all decorated in blue and yellow Provencal prints.

We aretryingto be careful ofourmoney but it is running away from us!

I have to go back all the ti,e and add letters because this really is ureadable becuse you have to pound the keys so hard;

Today the hotel has zireless internet. This is the first time ze have had that, because mostly ze stay in really cheapplaces: So today zas the irst timeI used the IPod touch to send that email to Shelley; It is so much qsier just to go find qn internet plqce evry night§ Someti,es the hotel hqs q computer for guest like tonight qnd also the lqst 3 nights in Barcelona. usally you haveto pay a few euros per hour for it:

Food; ze have eaten like I alwaysdo on these trips: Lots of different kinds of yogurt, lots of different kinds of cheese. Buy q baguette bread every day and make chees sandwzitch zith no butter or mayo. Buy a liter of fruit juice and some fruit every day; eat hot choc sometimes at the hotel for breakfast: We will not get breakfast here because they want 12 euros apice for it§ Plus you always need chocolate and crepes to have a balanceddiet§ Remember Pims cookies? Tucs crackers? Yougurt in tiny containers not much bigger than a thimble has not got yogurt, it has chocolate pudding§ surprise§ We have had several omelets and green salad and pizza because its cheap. In the market in Barcelona ze bought fresh fruit salads for 1 euro. I love the breads: it;s cold, or ze zould also buy icecream Italian gelato style.

We have had no English TV until tonight. Larry is watching CNN and he is in hog heaven. The picture at left is the lobby and that's the computer in the corner I'm on right now.

Tomorroz ze see old Roman sites in Arles qnd qlso Van Gogh if I canfind it;

Ze zill be in Avignon at the old French popes palaces for Ester i hope ze can find the LDS church I looked it up.