Whoosh!

Soooo . . . once we got back to France, updating our travel blog became less urgent, and gorging ourselves on cheese, bread, and steak became our main activity. Now that I've finally landed in Iowa (with Doug soon to follow after tying up loose ends in LA), I realized I had a video of La Tour de France whizzing through Perpignan that I forgot to share. We went to Perpignan because I'd heard that Salvador Dali called it the "crossroads of the world" or some such, and as luck would have it, our visit coincided with the Tour and we still managed to get a decent hotel room.

Before the Tour came through, all the French sponsors send these wild floats down the main street to get the crowd stoked up to cheer on the racing teams. After the video, I'm posting some of those pics . . . pretty goofy, but unmistakably French.









Here's the only piece of swag I managed to get (the competition in the crowd was fierce!): the brand is the French national horse-betting entity, PMU. Needless to say, I didn't think this was worth stuffing in my suitcase and bringing home to the fam.



All in all, a great afternoon and evening spent, even if there were sports involved. Maybe it signals a change in my attitude toward spectator athletics, if not actual participation in them.

La Mode Marocaine and lazing around on the Mediterranean Coast

view of the Barcelona port from Montjuic Park

Moroccan formalwear for sale in the Marrakech medina

It´s been a little while since I have written, and I don´t have any excuse really, except that I bought a copy of Hello! in Barcelona and then found a mass market chic-lit paperback at our hostel shortly after that and have been rotting my brain on those two things for the last week rather than blogging or even thinking of semi-interesting things to say should I find myself inspired to blog. Upon re-entry into Spain, Doug and I have pretty much been in sort of a recovery mode.

Morocco took it out of us! There were so many new things to process there: intense colors and flavors, winding, packed streets, upsetting smells and obnoxious touts, a surprisingly developed tourist infrastructure (along with the high prices that accompany that), and amazingly tempting shopping. Seriously, if you go to Morocco, bring lots of cash and an empty suitcase... the souvenir loot is tops. Dyed leather bags, adorable flat sandals, gorgeous scarves and rugs, great jewelry, and the best thing of all.. fantastic all natural cosmetics. You´ve never used such yummy soap!

People watching in Morocco was second to none, and my favorite thing to watch out for was the women`s street fashion. Local women could be wearing anything from a tight tank top and shorts to a turtleneck, headscarf, and jeans in the 40 degree C weather, though most seemed to prefer the jellaba, a hooded button-down robe worn over leggings or another skirt. Super comfy looking. I wish I had bought one.

Tourist women were also quite fun to watch, with their wildly inappropriate miniskirts and backless tops. I guess they didn't read the ''dress respectfully'' section in their Lonely Planet. I was jealous of them because they weren't sweating as much as I was in my longer skirts and sleeves. Some of the wealthier women were outfitted in very cute ''safari'' shifts and wide-brimmed straw hats. I could picture them walking into Harvey Nichols and saying, ''I´m off to Marrakech in a fortnight. Outfit me for the kasbah!'' Of course, I was wildly envious of them, too.

In Barcelona and Valencia, we have managed to see some sights before blowing off what the cities have to offer to go to the beach. Just walking around in this kind of heat seems virtuous, and besides, we need to save money! Luckily, both of these Spanish cities boast major architectural gems plainly (and freely) viewed from the street. Not a bad way to spend a week, and after going to Perpignan for a couple of nights, we'll be kissing the sea goodbye. So I guess what I might be feeling guilty about (being lazy) might actually be a nice blessing (sitting around and soaking up this relaxed atmosphere). Soon, we´ll be saying goodbye to Europe entirely, at least until a future trip brings us back. I can`t believe how fast this trip has gone by!

Live from Marrakech

Here´s Doug doing his best Travel Channel impersonation from the Djemaa el-Fna in Marrakech about a week ago. Not exactly live, but you get the point.