jun 19 Toulon to St. Tropez (day of the gull)

ok, we were a day behind at this point. whatever. we have the trains to make up lost time if needed. most disturbing sight of the trip: 500 ft. from the hotel we see a seagull dragging a dead pigeon across the road. it looked like a lion with an antelope in its mouth. the gull shook the bird like a dog does to try & break its neck. we stopped and stared. french people pointed. then the gull took flight carrying the dead pigeon with it. all of us were too shocked to snap a photo. i think it would have won a natural geographic prize.

Traffic in to St. Tropez is awful. miles of cars bumper to bumper. french bikers ride on the yellow line, but we opted to stay to the left out of the way of oncoming traffic. scored a decent hotel 100 feet from the main plaza and chained bikes to a tree in the courtyard. should be safe.

reminds me how much I love my combination cable lock. in that spirit, here are some things I am happy to have along for the ride:

-powdered gatorade. best investment ever. $3 makes 2 gallons. sports drink is $3 for 12 oz. here. you do the math.
-raincovers for the bags. G is missing 1 of 3 and fears for his belongings everytime it drizzles.
-swiss army knife...opens wine, cuts chorizo, tweezes, scissors.
-moleskine journal. thanks kieffer. so much better than a notebook.
-boxes of wine. cant say enough good things.
-campsoap. this stuff is amazing for cleaning out jersey, water bottle, etc. a few drops makes all sorts of suds. highly recommended.
- shoulder straps for luggage. simple but lets me get everything up stairs in one load.

ok - back to st. tropez. amazing yachts here. some as big as the cruise ships at Navy Pier. G really likes the 'Ability' a 5 story ship that seems to have Americans on board. A quick Google reveals that this is a charter yacht. cant be cheap.

strange that we can walk right up to these yachts. not very secure in my opinion. after getting rushed thru a crepe dinner (15 seconds from fork down to bill arriving), we went back to the main plaza where people were playing bocce ball (as ususal in France). we got some really strong beers (8% alcohol) and sat to watch them. Ben decided he was a tree ninja and climbed into an old oak tree to harass passers by. G has a video that absolutely needs to find its way onto you tube. there goes bens career in politics.