Bienvenue en Provence

Just got back from a great trip to Provence. As you can see, it was beautiful and the weather was, well, better than Konstanz. I stayed with the family of an old high school friend of my mom. They were great, kids and parents - thanks if you are reading this. They live in a 200 year-old house in a little village called Lacon de Provence (which is spelled with the c character that I dont have on my keyboard), close to Salon de Provence. I definitely learned a lot of french while I was there. Now I can say hello, good bye, good morning, thank you, 'five baguettes, please', 'down with the CPE' and 'do you speak english/german?' I also, of course, started kissing everybody on the cheeks when I greeted them. It was nice. Ill make sure to do it as much as possible when I get home. Like Caren, my mom's friend said, life in France kind of revolves around food. There was a constant supply of bread at the ready and I was more than happy to take a chunk off at my leisure. It was great. The first day we went to Les Baux - a little village with a medieval castle perched on the top of a huge rock mountain. Next day we went to the coast. I saw the Mediterranean for the first time in my life. We had a picnic on the rocks next to the water. Baguette sandwiches, pickles, Saucisson (its a sausage-type deal), camembert cheese, fruit and chocolate - excellent. We walked around on the rocks and found an old wwII bunker filled with trash. We waded in the water - it was freezing - before collecting mussels for that night's dinner. I also went to Aix en Provence and visited Cezanne's workshop. Also went to the winery and bought some nice white wine and olive oil and then watched the french air force from the front yard of the house in Lacon - there is an air force base ten minutes away from the house. The jets shake the walls when they fly over. good times. The train ride from Konstanz was great - I had good weather, a nice view of Lake Geneva, and a great conversation (with hand signals, a map and a pencil and paper) with some french kids on the train between Lyon and Avignon. The trip back was a different story. I had all the times and trains worked out - leave mid morning from Salon to Avignon, then to Lyon, Geneva, Zurich, Weinfelden and back to Konstanz by 12:30 am. It went fine until Weinfelden - about thirty minutes by train to Konstanz. It was past midnight, so my eurrail pass was not valid for that day anymore. I had four minutes to buy a ticket from the machine and hop on the train home. Well, the train was a minute late and when I got to the machine to buy tickets I worked as quickly as I could. It told me to put the money in - I didnt have enough swiss francs on me, so I had to pay with euros. I put in a bill - which was folded because otherwise it wouldnt fit into my american wallet - and the machine wouldnt accept it. It kept sliding out the other side of the slot. So I tried it a couple more times and then decided to just get on the train. Of course, I got to the platform just in time to see the display on the back of the moving train. It said 'Konstanz'. It was just after midnight and the next train to Konstanz didnt leave until 5:40. shit. There was a taxi driver there and he gave me the number of the discount taxi service, which of course wasnt running that night. A regular taxi would have cost about 70 Euros - too much. There were no busses until the morning and there was also no youth hostel in Weinfelden, so I was stranded in the train station, alone, tired and cold. Feel sorry for me. There was a sign in the station that was an arrow pointing to Konstanz and it said '3 hours and 30 minutes'. By foot. I figured I would get home faster that way, so i decided to give it a shot. I walked and followed the signs until there was neither a sidewalk nor any light. It was raining, so it was very muddy and dark - I decided that walking home was a bad idea. I walked back through the city and I didnt see anyone at all. No cars, no nothing, just the sound of the Church bells every thirty minutes. It was creepy. I was really tired, so I just kept walking around to keep myself awake and warm and to pass the time. I went back to the train station, got some chocolate milk and chips out of a vending machine and waited in the little booth by the track. I saw the maintenance crews come and go, cleaning the trains that were there for the night. Finally, five and a half hours after I started waiting, my train came. I got on, collapsed on a seat and shut my eyes. Thirty minutes later I was on a bus in Konstanz. I ended up getting home just before dawn - no big deal. All in all, a great trip. To Berlin on Saturday.