Heading north

Tuesday 24th June
Avignon is a beautiful city, my favourite so far in France. I explored the city and saw the main monuments (Palace de Papes and Pont Saint-Benezet which apparently is what the famous song is about... what this famous song is that everyone keeps talking about, I still haven't figured out haha).

Wednesday 25th June
I did a day tour of the Provance region which is just beautiful.  A lot of agriculture here, mainly fruit, vineyards and flowers (famous for theie lavendar and sunflower fields) so makes for a lovely countryside. We visited a few little towns and also Pont-du-Gard (the oldest Roman aqueduct in the world... very impressive).

Thursday 26th June
Another train (I've been lucky to get trains pretty much whenever I want, here is a massive rail strike over here but it's really the only way to get between the places I've been without a car), up to Lyon for a few days. Using Airbnb for the first time here, a few people have recommended it so thought I'd give it a try. It worked well however my host knew exactly zero english (literally, I can speak more French and that is limited to hello, goodbye, please and thank you!). It was a nice apartment but right on the train line, so very noisy. Considering this is a quiet part of my trip (as in no partying as I'm by myself and haven't managed to find great hostels to meet people) I have had very little sleep over the last week. Between no air conditioning in very hot places, noisy roommates and trains, plus very little coffee for most of the trip, I am surprising myself that I am still awake and haven't fallen asleep on the side of the road somewhere! :)

Friday 27th June
I didn't really have a plan for Lyon, it was just a convenient location and I'd heard a little about it. Turns out it is the 2nd biggest city in France and has a hell of a lot of history. Still, can't say that I'm overly impressed. It has a bit of a vibe that they think they (as a city) are better than everyone else, almost a but of 'little man syndrome' compared to Paris maybe? The office of tourism whose website goes on and on about how good they are were useless, ended up just finding what I needed on my own.
I did explore the city and it is nice, with an extremely impressive basilica and a cute 'old town' area.

Saturday 28th June
Was tossing up whether to do a day trip to Annecy or a wine tour today but couldn't get onto a tour and it wasn't fantastic weather so decided to just chill out in Lyon for another day.

Sunday 29th June
Very early start today for my bus to Paris! Very excited to be catching up with Jemma and Ali from my Spain tour and to check out more of Paris. I loved it for the 36 odd hours we were there on my last trip. Unfortunately looks like my run of great weather has run out though and it will be similar weather to last time... although it's got to be a hell of a lot warmer.

France

Oops, sorry guys, I wrote this update almost a week ago but never published it...

Ok, so I have been in France and doing my own travelling for less than a week and I am already over it. It's hard work and stressful to have to research,  book accommodation and travel every day or 2. Plus being Summer, it's not as easy booking things last minute. So, I managed to get on another couple of Topdeck tours in July... Croatia Sailing and a Greek Island Hopper. Everything I've heard is to avoid Greece in August and I couldn't possibly have heard more about Croatia recently, so thought I'd head down and check them out. I am excited to have a bit of a plan and at least a couple of weeks of someone else doing the planning for me.

Since my last update though I have actually seen a bit...

Thursday 19th June
I explored Toulouse... a nice city and easy to get around. I loved the big gardens in the city centre but was disappointed by the river front that is supposed to be where eveyone hangs out. Went to a small museum but other than that just had a nice relaxing day.

Friday 20th June
Off to Carcassonne, a small town that's been built around a medieval city of its own. Staying in a little hotel with my own room... what a novelty! Haha
The 'medieval cite' is pretty impressive, it has everything within the ramparts. I think it's become a little touristy though and it was extremely hot on top of the hill where it sits.

Saturday 21st June
By a crazy coincidence, Aunty Kaye and Uncle Rod are travelling through these parts as well so I met up with them for a coffee this morning. Was good to see some familiar faces and got some travel tips off them for the area.

Then it was back on the train to Montpellier. I had booked the train ticket at the same time as my Carcassonne plans but hadn't organised accommodation. That turned out to be the most stressful part yet with pretty much everything under €100/night booked out or way out of the city. I don't know how people travel and just turn up in a city with nothing sorted, especially on a budget! Anyway, I managed to get a hotel room and it ended up being a good thing because I have officially lost my battle with the sickness I've been fighting since the end of tour. Just a cold but glad to have my own room for a couple of days.

It ended up being a great night, so the stress of getting here was worth it. I went out to find somewhere for dinner and found roads closed and thousands of people wandering the streets. At first I thought there was just a concert on but it turned out to be Fête de la Musique. I remember them trying to start it in Brisbane a few years back when I was working in the city but this was completely different. I spent hours just following the crowds through the streets of pretty much the entire city, with different bands and performers singing/playing at every bar and on every corner. There were also a few massive stages set up in the main squares that were events in their own right. And while I was at it I found most of the city monuments so was doing my own walking tour while being thoroughly entertained. Eventually headed back to the hotel to find yet another entire area packed out... crazy!

Sunday 22nd June
Had a much needed sleep in this morning before heading out to see Montpellier by day. I had lunch by the river but feeling pretty miserable so just jumped on a tourist train (one of those little ride kind of ones) for a trip around the city. Got some history and info on most of the places I saw last night and had a quick walk through their main gardens but that was my limit for the day. Did see a cute little display of a band and all these couples dancing on my way though... not sure if it was spontaneous or planned but I have definitely been entertained in Montpellier!

Monday 23rd June
Had a late checkout from the hotel and then it was on to Avignon.
Am at a hostel again which is very basic but it was cheap so I have 3 nights here which will be nice. It is just outside the city along the river with amazing views of the main sights of Avignon so am in a perfect location for a couple of chilled days to kick this cold!

Spain

Wednesday 11th June
Time to head back to Spain, with a quick stop in Salamanca, then into Madrid. Unfortunately it was raining when we arrived so our driving tour wasn't the best but we got a but of they lay of the land.

Thursday 12th June
The nightlife in Spain is something else, everything is done 2-3 hours later than usual... lunch in the mid-afternoon during siesta which means dinner doesn't happen before 9pm, so even a quiet night means midnight or later... clubs don't even open until 2-3am in some cases. So, last night we did a 'pub crawl' (although the Spanish version of a pub is most definitely a club scene at home)... needless to say there wasn't too much sleep had and it was a quiet day of sightseeing today. I did go to the 'Reina Sofia' (modern art gallery) and saw some of Picasso's works. Other than that, just wandered around a but of the city. As major cities go, Madrid is pretty nice!

Friday 13th June
Another lunch stop today, this time in Segovia (just another amazing city with amazing castles and an enormous aqua duct - sorry photos are on my camera).
Then it was onto San Sabastian. The scenery heading north chnages so dramatically... from very dry and relatively flat to mountainous and sooo green, and really beautiful!
Unfortunately we were welcomed to San Sabastian to World Cup losses for both Spain and Australia (the locals were not happy).

Saturday 14th June
This is a cute city and very different to the other places we've been (it has had a very independent history compared to the Roman and Arabic influences of pretty much everywhere else).

We have had such good weather for our free days for most of the trip but unfortunately that ran out at lunch time, becoming overcast, windy & cold... not the best for the beach. I still enjoyed the city though and spent the afternoon at the beach.

Sunday 15th June
One last stop before heading back to Barcelona, in Zaragoza. I'm not sure if there was a festival on or it was normal for a Sunday but there was a massive medieval-style market day which was pretty cool.

Then it was our last driving leg to Barcelona. It was strange to be going back to somewhere we had been before... it felt like we were coming home.
We had a big group dinner for our last night and then it was the beginning of 48 hours of goodbyes. With everyone having different plans, people just trickling away over the following couple of days.

Monday 16th June
Our tour officially ended this morning and with it brings the end of my plans!
I went to the Sagrada Familia and wow... I can see why it's so famous, it just isn't anything like you would expect inside... it looks more like something from the future rather than something that started being built over 100 years ago!

Tuesday 17th June
Finally figured out my next plan... booking a bus to Toulouse, France and a couple of nights accomodation. The plan is to do a couple of weeks of independent travel in France (probably mainly in the south before hopefully meeting up with a couple of girls from the tour in Paris). I think I'll try to book another tour after that, it's just so much easier to have all the planning done for you! It's just a matter of where and when.

I did a last bit of sightseeing around Barcelona once I had my next plan... I walked through the city, the massive city gardens and down to the beach.

Wednesday 18th June
My time in Spain is officially over. Time to get on a bus and head to France!

PS sorry, not many photos... I will find a computer at some point and try to upload my camera contents.

Seville & Portugal

Friday 6th June
We made it back to Spain in one piece thankfully and got to Seville.
Seville is a beautiful city. We didn't actually do a lot here but enjoyed it anyway, it was actually my favourite place so far.

We saw a traditional Flamenco show on our last night... talk about impressive, they can seriously move!

Saturday 7th June
Hola Portugal! First stop, Lisbon. Another beautiful city, with so many monuments and things to see. They have the longest bridge in Europe (17kms), another bridge that matches the Golden Gate in San Francisco,  a replica of the Jesus in Rio De Janeiro, castles and much more. Plus they have Portuguese Tarts... YUM :)

The tour I'm on is actually a 2 in 1 set up, so the group has grown  by 15 in Lisbon (before we farewell 8 from the first half of the trip when we leave).

Sunday 8th June
A big day of exploring today. A group of us caught the metro, a ferry and a bus to get to see Jesus. It was very impressive, I can't even imagine seeing the Rio one. Absolutely amazing views over this gorgeous city which has become another favourite.

Back over the river and I am officially on holidays... I completely stacked it on the cobble stones. No idea what happened but I ended up with a grazed knee and toe (my knee swelled up nicely meaning a couple of days of a nice limp but all good now, just a graze and some bruising). Honestly I think I did pretty well to make it this far without an injury.

We explored some more of the city and made our way up to the main castle. Seriously, the views over this city are amazing... photos just don't capture it.

Monday 9th June
After farewelling some of our travel buddies and Lisbon we drove to a little town called Sintra. Sintra has the most amazing palace, something straight out of a fairytale! Again photos just can't capture it.

From there it was onto Porto. First stop was at a winery to taste some port and enjoy views of yet another breathtaking city. Very much loving the west coast/area of Spain/Portugal!

Tuesday 10th June
We were able to explore a lot of Porto (it's a lot smaller than our last few places) and it was absolutely gorgeous. As well as our normal walking tour we had a river cruise and then spent the afternoon exploring. It was National Portugal Day and while nothing specific was happening, it was a public holiday so all the locals were out and about which just gave an already beautiful city a lovely atmosphere.

We did another Port tasting and had some lunch by the river... OMG check out the photo - this is a traditional Porto meal (the best description I can give you is: a sandwhich of ham, chorizo and steak, covered in cheese, in a spicy tomato soup with a fried egg on top... ie cholesterol on a plate!)

I have heard a lot before that people love Spain but prefer Portugal and I can see why... it really is just beautiful!

Fez

Well Morocco was very interesting...

Tuesday 3rd - Wednesday 4th June
We had a great few days in Fes. Walking tour of the city including exploring the medina, visiting the tannery, a traditional pharmacy and of course some markets. We also visited the cities of Voulibis (ancient Roman ruins) and Meknez. Morocco has been great, very interesting and great food.

Thursday 5th June
Time to go back to Spain but not before seeing the REAL Morocco. We had been told that on the last tour a local kid had hidden underneath the bus to try and get into Spain... apparently this is a super common occurrence. We had 5 kids trying to sneak onto the bus at our pitstop an hour away from the port and that was just the beginning. Once we got a near the port we had at least 15 kids running and jumping onto the outside of the bus, just hanging on and tring to get underneath. It was unbelievable to witness the desperation of these kids. After numerous stops to try and get them off and the engine cutting out when they got into the undercarriage we made it to the port where they found 6 of the kids still on the bus.

Definitely one hell of an experience!

Heading south

Thursday 29th May
Valencia treated us to absolutely perfect weather for our walking tour and day cycling to the beach. This is a lovely city, great architecture and history. I visited the Valancia cathedral which is where the holy grail is displayed. An amazing building, I'd almost forgotten how ornate European cathedrals are. Got some great photos from the top of the cathedral tower but they are all on my camera so nothing to upload sorry.

Friday 30th May/Saturday 31st May
Drive today today, down to Grenada. Grenada treated us to a variey of entertainment: political protest, religious festival,  perfect sunny weather and rare rain in the Alhambra (it only rains 30days each year). The general consensus is that Grenada is the favourite place so far. It's a much smaller town which is nice to explore. Again most of my photos from Grenada are on my camera... I'll need to get them off if I find an actual computer at some point.

Sunday 1st June
Off to Africa! We made our way to Tanger in Morocco for our first African night. Definitely a bit of culture shock for a few of the girls on tour. We had a wander around the beach during the day but it was a quiet night in - the first of a few while we're in Africa I think.

Monday 2nd June
Kept making our way into Morocco to Fes...