Road trip! (Southern France towards Munich)

Hey - it's my birthday! More importantly, I'm really happy to announce that I'm, finally, in a relationship. I just met her yesterday in a little village in France. I didn't really "meet" her - I bought her. She's the voice on my new GPS, and it's like she knows what I want. She never gets irritated with me; when I make a mistake, she just adjusts HER plan (it's so cute - she calls it "recalculating!") and moves on. Sure, you might think it's impersonal, but when she gives me directions, she's not telling YOU to turn left, is she? She's telling ME to turn left. Yeah, we're only in the early phases of our relationship, but I think it's going well, and I'm glad she's in my life. (Cuz I have a lot of driving to do!)

So many photos, so little internet attention. Look at what you will. I spent about a week near Avignon, and I'm now at a beautiful campsite near the border of Italy, where I'm heading as soon as I send this. On Google Maps, I'm here. And I'm on my way to Munich to meet my friend Brigitte. We're spending the weekend in the Alps, I guess, at a cabin that a friend of hers has offered us. Happy!

Love,

Dave

Lichens on a rock.

Gordes.

The  hotel in Gordes.

Lavender.

Senanque Abbey, established in 1148, opened in 1178. That just blows me away.

Ze biking in ze French countryside.

Wheat field.

Lavender fields, famous in the region of Provence.

The TGV train station in Avignon.

The carousel in Avignon, with a timed-exposure.

Street musicians in Avignon.

Avignon.

An old paddle, which started some major industries in Avignon prior to electricity.

A ancient bridge, apparently built by the Romans.

More lavender.

Virtually every village, no matter how small, has a beautiful church.

Focus the camera, then spin around while holding the camera at your face. This is in Lachau, in a beautiful part of France.

A traffic mirror in Lachau.

This is a (very serious!) regional tournament for petanque, a version of bocce ball, I guess. They're the same if you didn't grow up with it. If you did grow up with it, they're completely different.

The living room of the inn I stayed in, run by a Norwegian man and his lovely French wife. I spent two nights here.

A typical French cemetery. The crypt is for a whole family.

A close-up of succulents high in the mountains.

I hiked for six hard hours, from the valley in the lower-left. I also walked to that white monument/building you can see in the right-center of the photo. 

A lane in Lachau.

On some random road, where I was completely lost. This was before I started my relationship.

These look like mountains.

(The End)