Oops, been over a month since my last posting! Finished classes in Montpellier and had a week of vacation in Switzerland, now I'm back in Barcelona, at the office. Over 200 emails to read, so.... I know this is lame, but I'm copying some emails I wrote:
RE: Tour de France finishing a stage in Montpellier:
The tour was really exciting, and there were supposed to be 70000 spectators along the 18km route that passed through Montpellier. I was on a bridge with a great view and we could see them coming from abt a 1/2 mile away. A large caravan of sponsors passed through about 45 min before the racers and handed out things like caps and key chains, so I got my souvenir! I took a bunch of pics, but they passed by so fast I barely got to see anything. One of my pictures has a pretty clear shot of Armstrong in his yellow jersey. I'll send some pics when I can, but we are leaving for a week's vacation now (to Switzerland and south of Germany) so when I get back to barcelona I'll get on it. Yesterday was my last day of class, so we went to lunch, then I went to see the tour, then ran home to clean the house before everyone came over for a barbecue! I was a long day, especially since Thursday was Bastille Day, so there was a fireworks show, then I went out dancing and didn't get to bed til 3. A great way to end my 3 months here.
And...
I'm now back from our little trip. Switzerland was just wonderful (but expensive!!). we went up the Matterhorn by cable car (not all the way to the summit, though, that requires special equipment!) and people were skiing on the glacier while others were trudging up the other side with crampons on their feet. I can't believe I am now in Barcelona and it is so hot, when days ago I was shivering and standing in an ice cave! We also did an awesome hike in the Jungfrau region, the glaciers above us were settling and shifting and it sounded like thunder. the 6 hr hike also passed through cow pastures (with cows wearing the typical bells around their necks). one came up and tried to lick me!
