St Jean Pied de Port

OH MY GOD! The Pyrinees have got to be the most gorgeous mountains I have ever seen. But more on that later.
I have been scolded for not posting more (up until today my days have consisted of almost nothing but traveling, and the train stations do not have computers for public use), so I thought I would post what I've been writing in the amazing journal Matt got for me.

6/24 2:21pm Gare Paris de Austerlitz (one of the train stations in Paris)
Just saw a pigeon with a club foot.
The French use baguettes for EVERYTHING. And if it's not on a baguette, it's in a crepe. :)

6/24 9:58pm Somewhere along France's southern coast
Finally on my way to Cannes. Slept in the train sitting in the station that I was originally supposed to take there last night. Lots of cancellations due to massive strikes. Then I was supposed to take a train that left at 7:46 this morning, but that was also cancelled. So here I am.
My feet hate my shoes. Not a good sign at all. Foreboding, even?
Met two really nice girls today, with accents. English? Austrailian? Couldn't tell. Their trip totals 7 weeks, and they're halfway through it. Also met a nice American couple. She's from LA, he's from San Fran. He's a cute little Granola. They're stopping in Cannes as well. We all literally ran through the station to get onto the train, as it was due to hold 3 trains' worth of people from the strikes.

6/25 10:23am Hotel Balladins, Cannes, France
Couldn't find a hotel with an open room last night. Congress in session. Had to take a cab to this one 5km outside the city. During my search I ran into a couple I had remembered from the train station in Paris. I stopped to talk to them, and an Albanian kid joined us. He asked if he could look for a hotel with me, and he seemed harmless enough, so he tagged along. He got very annoying and made me feel a little ill at ease when he started talking about how there's a kidnapper running loose around town. He kept touching my stuff, too. ¨What's that?¨ ¨My knife.¨ ¨Knife!!? . . . What's that?¨ ¨My hiking poles.¨ ¨What?¨ Finally I ditched him for the cab.
Had an interesting breakfast. Baguette, no surprise, some applesauce-like substance (not bad), hot milk (don't think I'll pick that again. It came out of a machine, I was hoping it would be cold, but it was frothy and steaming), and watered down orange juice. To the beach for a bit, and walking to the train station.

6/26 3:53pm Rocamadour, France
Sitting on a little balcony at my hotel. Spent the whole afternoon walking ¨downtown¨Rocamadour. It's HOT, and steep, so I'm rather exhausted. I think I may run a bath after this.
This place is everything I was hoping for. Medieval town built on a cliffside - I can't think of a better place to visit. Some locals still use horses for transportation! :)
My hotel abutts up to a campground, which by the looks of it is pretty popular. It's about a km from the center of Rocamadour, and 3km from the SNCF station. The walk this morning was super - very peaceful, through farmland. I was following little wooden signs with a hiker painted on and 2 little green waves. At a T in the gravel path the post was there, but the signs were gone. I wasn't sure what to do at that point, and just when I was about to guess, along came a cute old man on a 4-wheeler with his dog trotting beside him. We communicated w/ hand guestures and I was on my way. (I would have guessed correctly, by the way.)
Got to see Cannes for the 1.5 hours it took me to walk the beach from my hotel to the train station. It was nice enough, but reminded me of Virginia Beach. Definitely a beach town. I'd go back if someone else wanted to, but I'm not sure I'd pick it on my own. So far, Rocamadour is my favorite.
I saw a wedding procession today. That was fun. They came through the town in their cars and were cheering and honking their horns. Everyone in the street started clapping their hands and cheering back.
The churches/chapels here frighten me. I stepped in one below the main square of the castle and there was a nun inside. I'm pretty sure I jumped. Maybe it's because it's so like stepping back in time?
I ordered a meal in a restaurant for the first time today. I've been buying from vendors, as it's so much cheaper. I had no idea what I was ordering, but it turned out to be chicken breast with a delicious cream sauce on top, and fettucini on the side. Gobble gobble. Okay, bath time!!
5 minutes later
:( I'm going to have to settle for a shower.

6/26 11:27pm Rocamadour, France
Some things I've been forgetting to mention:

• The French cows are entirely white. Nearly all of them.
• I stopped in an internet cafe in Cannes because I couldn't find a street, and was there for several minutes due to mass miscommunication. Everyone thought I was asking for cocaine, due to my inability to correctly say ¨Hoche¨.
• I'm a little sad at the loss of my nameless friends.

I've met an English girl, though. Sabrina. Seems awesome, like I'd be her friend if we lived in the same town. She was my server at the Snack Post, and after she showers we're going to get a drink. Kinda just wanting to go to bed, I'm so tired, but I didn't come here to sleep.

Okay, I've used all of my allotted time on the computer. I'll come back later for more posts. But I'm looking at the mountains ahead of me wondering how I'll ever make it over them.