Evening in Avignon

The night before the meeting started was spent in Avignon, France.  Here are some pics taken while wandering the streets.

The "Nuclear structure and Dynamics" meeting

The meeting was held in a small town outside of Avignon at a small resort that had not seen much in the way of TLC in quite a while.  Here are just a few shots from around the grounds. 

In general, the meeting was OK, not too many people working on similar questions to me, but I got a little feedback.  Sitting at a train station in Avignon waiting to head to Montpellier where I will fly back to the states from. It was quite a trip, by my standards, and I am ready to head for home tomorrow to see Mary and Kye. 

Riding in Crans-Montana, Switzerland

One goal of this trip was to ride a mountain bike in the Alps.  Fortunately, I convinced Andreas to join me.  The crazy  German had not really been on a mountain bike since leaving Utah in 2005. However, this did not stop him from hopping on a bike and proceeding to put in 13,000 feet of descending, not far behind me.  I was amazed and we had a blast riding and laughing our way down from the top of the lift.  Andreas named his bike the "Orange Sofa" as it was quite plush compared to what he use to ride.

I had a bit of an issue with the edge of the trail at one point :)

Our lunch spot !

View from the lunch spot!!

And lunch, which by the way, is bloody expensive in Switzerland!!

Driving from Crans-Montana to Zurich

Andreas had a specific plan for driving to Zurich, which involved driving over a pass in the Swiss Alps.  This, was a great idea, as this turned out to be the most amazing drive of my life.

I am just gonna list things off, cause we fit so much in it was overwhelming.

1) Walked across a suspension bridge about 300 feet of the valley floor.  This did not sit well with me, which Andreas found most entertaining!

2) Stopped in a small Swiss Alps town and checked out 500 year old buildings.

3) Drove up an Alps mountain pass

4) Hiked out onto and into a glacier

5) Did another small hike at the top of the pass.

6) Had Andreas give me a slight heart attack driving down the opposite side.

7) Hung out in Andermatten

8) Then Brusse

And finally onto Zurich

Grenoble, France

Rolled into Grenoble on the train, which I really enjoy riding.  It is a way more comfortable means of travel compared to flying.  I got to watch the French countryside go by, and was treated to my first view of the Alps.

In Grenoble, I had one of the nicest hotel rooms I have ever seen, and for only $110 USD!  The view was amazing!  I could see the town square and the alps.  I was not expecting much, as I have been generally booking the cheapest thing I can find, so it was a very pleasant surprise.  

Riding in Tarifa, Spain

Today Nate and I set out to add another edition to our adventures on bikes.  Its been almost 10 years since the last time we rode together.  Two of his riding buddies, David and Issac, came along for a ride along the southern coast of Spain, just across from Morocco.  It was quite the different ride for me as we had sheep running down the trail with us as one point.  Also road right past cows, wild horses, goats, and wild boars.  

All in all it was a good ride although I suffered horribly during the 3000 feet of climbing.  Not usually a problem for me, but the heat, exposure, lack of sleep and jet lag collided and I felt pretty worked on the climb.  By the end, I was so far gone, Nate literally pushed me, while riding, up the last two hills into Tarifa.  That is how strong Nate still is on the bike !!  Anyways, here are a few photos.

Jerez, Spain

Strolling around Jerez with my old friend Nate and his son Mateo.  Saw some great old buildings!!  This was an old convent we came across.

Marseille

Just arrived at the hostel in Marsielle after taking the TGV train from Montpellier.  Accidentally purchased a train ticket I didn't need as I was trying to work the kiosk in French and in a hurry !! Realized later that I could have hit the button in the upper left corner to purchase tickets in English 😜.  C'est la vie, as the French would say.

So far, my impressions of France are pretty much as I expected.  Beautiful old architecture and everything seems minature.  I enjoy listening to people speaking French and wish I could, but learning French serves me no real purpose, so I will stick with the few phrases that I know, thanks to Google translate 😄.  The other thing I have noticed is that everyone speaks quite softly, so public places are not very loud. I like this, but what I don't like is having to pay 50 cents to use the bathroom at the train station 😕.

Anyways, here is the view leaving the train station in Marsielle.  Tomorrow I am off to Sevilla to see and old friend.

Morning stroll in Montpellier

Out checking out the city a bit before having to work in my poster for the meeting :(.  Had my first French cafe experience and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Another great fountain in Place de la Comedie.

Somewhere in Montpellier France

Took a selfie with one of the many fountains I walked by multiple times trying to find my hotel.