I waited a few hours before being picked up by a guy who took me to San Remo and there I waited several hours more before being picked up by Sara. Sara amazed me. After hundreds of rich cars passed me by, not even asking me where I was going and most not looking at me, I finally get picked up by this poor woman who works for only 1600 euro’s per month but because of the price of petrol and tolls to get to work, she pays over 500 euros per month in travel, a bunch in taxes so she is left with only a few hundred to pay for housing, utilities and food. However, when she dropped me off in Savona she tried giving me money as well. I wouldn’t take if of course but I’m getting to feel shame for rich people. Those who have (not all), just will not give or try to help but the poor always seem to give what you need and offer more. I wanted to hug here and not just because she was cute. I was so moved by her offering me money when it was obvious she had very little.

Okay, so the first picture of Italy should not be of my shoes but I was heading for Turino and didn't stop at any cool sites though the drive was beautiful.

I made it to Savona and was walking a short distance when my shoe finally gave out on me and I knew it was now a waste of time trying to repair it so I was now forced to pay the money for new shoes. I also needed some food and found a large market so I thought I would get some food then go find some trekking shoes. I have never seen trekking shoes below 50 Euros so far on this trip but figured I would have to bite the bullet. This market was like a Wal-Mart or Tesco’s and while I was walking down the first aisle I realized I passed by the path to the food then thought to myself, why did I go this way, I’m not going to buy anything but food here. However, I decided to go to the end of the aisle then go back on the next. As I came around the corner, they had trekking shoes normally 50 euros, on sale half price and the ones displayed were my size. Coincidence or blessing? I’m guessing blessing.

I finally made it to Torino (previously the capital of Italy) and the first thing I saw in a mall was this cowboy restaurant. It was funny because nobody spoke English.

This was the only map on the wall making Utah and Salt Lake City the most prominent names on the map. Since SLC is not known as a prominent town for cowboys and Indians, I suspected the owner was probably Mormon but when I asked, nobody could tell me.

I hope you can see the Teepee booths in the back. It was a very cute restaurant.

The kids from Canada told me that Monaco was the place they enjoyed the most so far so the next day I was off to Monaco and Monte Carlo. I ran into a guy from Australia with a couple from Kansas. During our conversation they told me they had a very bad night and, at first, didn’t want to admit to anything. Finally the guy from Kansas said he awoke to a prostitute fondling him. At that point the all looked at me and froze, awaiting my reaction. I smiled then said, “Congratulations”, wherein they burst out in laughter before I could continue. When they stopped laughing I continued, now you know one of the reasons that if you must drink, do it in moderation. I hope you aren’t taking any additions home with you. They all nodded in agreement as he said that’s what he was afraid of.

 I could see why the kids would enjoy it as Monaco has a large area with fun things for kids. For me, although the place was a nice city to see, it was full of rich people who mostly seemed sad. Everywhere I go I smile at people and most places everyone smiles not here. Even the tourists you never saw smiling. They have an old town but the other old towns I have been to, I preferred over this one.

Monte Carlo was a bust for me because they wouldn’t allow me into the casino with my back pack and they didn’t have a place to store one. Parked outside were several expensive cars like Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, high end Mercedes, etc. From there I had another difficult time continuing my journey. I ended up walking on the auto route again for several miles before being picked up by rainbow people (similar to the squatters) who took me just across the Italian boarder then gave me half a melon and some rosemary for my fire in the evening. Meeting people like this is so awe inspiring to me because I’m just not used to having people so willing to help and then to see they are so poor but want to give more than you need or ask for.

Monaco's old town did not stand out to me other than looking very clean and new compared to many others.

You do have to hike a fairly steep hill to get to the old town.

This was the fort of the old town in Monaco.

This is the view from Monte Carlo

View of the harbor from Monte Carlo

Getting to Nice was a nightmare. (Sorry Nathan but I never found out if Nice biscuits (cookies) were actually from there. The people I asked didn't know what they were.

I followed the signs to the auto route (freeway) then finally realized I was on it. I never saw where the road became the auto route. Of course, nobody would pick me up there though I kept my thumb up but after a few miles a road crew picked me up telling me (I imagine) that I can’t walk on the auto route. They took me to the roundabout from hell (for old male hitch hikers). I had my thumb out for over an hour with nobody even looking at me, when a car dropped off two young girls who put their thumbs out on the entrance just before mine and were picked up in less than 5 minutes. I continued waiting another hour then decided to try the side road but still nobody would pick me up. I ran out of water and held my empty water bottle upside down so they could see I was out of water but still nobody would stop. It was near dark so I wandered to the first house I could find to ask for some water and they lady filled up my bottle and gave me a large bottle as well.

The next day I waited another hour before continuing to walk. I received only two lifts, one when about a mile and a half and the other about 6 miles but later found that I had covered over 20 miles in the wrong direction before being picked up by a woman who couldn’t speak English but because she couldn’t, she took me all the way to Nice, which was about 10 miles past her destination just so I wouldn’t struggle any longer getting there.

Nice beach is not sand but rocks of all sizes. I heard more English in this city than any other because of all the tourists. The old town was nice especially at night. So many restaurants and they were all filled to capacity with tourist. At night I ran into a group of Canadian students and we had a bit of fun chatting. It was quite enjoyable to speak English normally again.

Unfortunately, My camera did not capture the beauty of Nice at night.

I did find a small patch of mostly sand so I laid my pack down and put my arm through one of the straps so if someone tried to steal it, it would wake me. Because of the rock I woke up in pain and moved them but had to sleep on my other side so instead of putting my arm through a strap I just leaned against my pack so I could feel it if it were moved. About 3:00 am my bag moved and it woke me up. A man scurried about 10 yards from where I was sleeping and acted like he was taking a leak. I looked over my bag and found that he opened the pocket with my water bottle then opened the bottom where I kept my rain gear and shoes while I slept. He took out one shoe and woke me when trying to get the second out. I hollered at him, “Hey, what did you take?” He turned and hollered something back but it was in French so I don’t know what  said but he then hurried off so I didn’t worry about it as he left empty handed. It’s great having nothing anybody would want to steal (okay, I do have my computer but it is in a locked area of my bag.

I think every city in the French Riviera has an old town and this one is from Nice. It was very beautiful. I love the colors of the buildings.

Another view of Nice's old town but under those canapes are thousands of people eating as nearly all the buildings are restaurants.

After struggling to get a lift, I ended up walking several miles until I finally received a lift from a man who took me all the way to Giens. Traveling all the way down the peninsula I saw nothing but camp sites and family fun areas. When we came to the end there was only a tiny beach with few people on it, a few more wandering around and nothing much to do but there were thousands of cars everywhere. I guess they were all in the vacation villas around. It was a beautiful place to see but I must have missed something because I couldn’t understand why so many people would be camping there. There were many family attractions and fun things to do but nobody was doing them.

A view from the Giens peninsula

Another view from Giens.

The water was so clear you could see the bottom from more than 30 yards/meters away.

This was an old fort at the end of the peninsula that was very under-whelming. Just cement rooms with a bunch of beer bottles and it is unkept.

I could only afford to take a picture of them but these cakes looked delicious (from Sanary).

From La Castellet nobody would give me a lift so I started hiking down the mountain hoping someone would have some compassion but no. Right from the beginning I ran into a crossroads and didn’t know which road to take but people wouldn’t even stop just to tell me which way to go. I finally ventured on figuring going down the hill should get me there eventually.

Some cool auto parts art in Sanary.

This looked like the wrong path because it appeared to be taking me in the wrong direction at a slow enough decline that I may have to walk a few miles out of the way so I decided to try cross country strait down. I slid a few times but all was well enough until I came to an 8 foot drop off. After trying several ideas but getting stuck several time from these vines with stickers like rose bushes, I found a place where I could get to about six feet then jumped. I was happy that I didn’t break and ankle and my pack didn’t come apart but it was quite jarring on my body and I did flatten my shoe even more. Now I was walking feeling a lump in my heel. I soon found that was not the only cliff. There was another one that dropped about 75’ to 100’ so I walked along until I came back to the original road. There was some wasted effort.

From La Castellet I travelled to Sanary-sur-Mer and made it for their Independence Day celebration and was I lucky to be here. It was the most fun I have had in a few years. At 9:00 pm they set up a market in town where again I was amazed by the French artist and their creativity. They also had three bands, one rock, one music from the 40’s, 50’s as well as samba, and other classic dance styles; and one of more mellow music. I spent most of the night at the rock band and it was truly a fun night.

They were great but the only problem is the audience was too reserved. I sat down in the front and after I did a bunch of kids started sitting down next to me so I started dancing while sitting and a few of the kids joined in and later a few adults. After the fireworks we all went back but this time I stood up and danced a little more wild but he to contain myself as the kids were still sitting on the ground in front of me and the crowd made it impossible to move much. It was still a lot of fun. When they finished I went to the classic music band and many people were dancing there and some even line dancing so I got to let it all out there and it was a lot of fun. Some youth ended up coming to dance by me and invited me to dance with them.

I have felt more at home here with these people than I have at home. If I were ever to consider living in another country again, Southern France would be a definite contender.

I was surprised to see that Sunday they continued the festivities in the evening again. They had the market and a few bands playing again. One of the artist selling in the market let me use his power to connect my computer so I asked him if I could help him put his stuff away or carry it to his van and he declined because he had a certain way of dealing with everything. However, when he was ready to go and pulled the plug on my power he asked if would like to stay in his shop to get out of the wind but I declined as I had a good spot on the beach. However, if I had stayed with him I could have recharged my batteries. Oops.

This was a cool little restaurant in

The next day I went to La Castellet which is a tourist town up in the hills but I was amazed at the artistry of these French people. Souvenirs in France are of such a higher quality than any I have seen anywhere.  I wish I could capture the experience on film but the streets are so narrow and the buildings so close together that I couldn’t find many good views.

One of the tourist shops in La Castellet.

A street in La Castellet

One of the many awesome artists work in La Castellet.

I thought this was a beautiful combination of flowers growing over a bush.

A woman, who spoke very little English picked me up to take me to Cassis, the first stop on my tour of the various cities in the French Riviera. However, as we passed the city (which was very beautiful, she told me La Ciotat was a better city for me to stay in. It was the 13th of July and the French Independence day is the 14th but the city of La Ciotat was celebrating it on the 13th so that was nice to be there for it. I walked to the beach where the fireworks would be lit and a group of friends ended up sitting down next to me. As the evening progressed they offered me a beer and when I told them I don’t drink they gave me a coke then later some pretzels. Even though none of them could speak English, the took me in like I was family and stopped offering me food and just gave me some because I continually said no. In very broken English and using hand gestures, we ended up having a great time and joked well into the wee hours of the morning.

As I had the only cork screw around they told two other guys from Belgium that I could open their wine for them. When I found that they spoke English and were not part of the group of friends, I started talking to them. They were interested in my pilgrimage and why I would believe in God so I was able to share quite a few things with them, which made my day.

Sunrise in La Ciotat

My apologies for the long delay but I finally have internet for the day so I have a lot to catch up on. To finish my encounter with Yann:

After letting me stay in his hotel room, Yann also brought me in some breakfast then later bought me lunch before taking me to my next destination in Marseille but being warned by many that they have much crimeI in this city and then walking into the train station and seeing army guards with rifles, I decided to skip this city and continue to . How amazing it is that I keep running into these incredible people. America has got to stop making fun of the French and keep it to Parisians (people from Paris) because the French people outside of Paris have simply astounded me with their kindness and charity.

I arrived in Toulouse after a couple lifts wherein I was able to share some gospel interests as well as some interested in opportunities so I gave them my book. I met Emily at the train station and seeing I didn’t know where I was going she helped me to get to the town center and showed me the points of interest I needed. However, she also invited me to stay with her boyfriend, Sebastian, and herself in their new condo. It was a very nice place and I enjoyed their company immensely.

Sebastian was starting a new business so I helped him to understand marketing a bit more and left him with my marketing coaching program. They were too kind and even gave me a lift back into town. They also told me about Pezenas so I decided to visit this town.

Check out the inside of this Catholic church. The picture doesn't do it justice. This was an incredible edifice.

Look at the pipe organ up high on the wall. This is from the podium looking back toward the entrance.

This may be an old church but look at the wear on the rock steps from the number of people who have traversed these steps over the years.

Here is a bit of creativity I've never seen before. This guy is chipping out a design to make his wood pile look nice.

I got as far as Narbonne and stayed the night in my tent there. I found a field with bushes so I went to one spot and discovered a tent already there. I went to another and a tent also resided so I made a spot crushing down some weeds. The next day I walked some distance until I found a place outside of the town where I could hitch a lift. A young lady picked me up but misunderstood me and took me to a small country town instead of where I needed to go. I ended up walking several miles down a lonely road where cars come by about once every half hour and they don’t pick up hitch hikers. The nail in my shoe, that gave me a flat, worked its way through to my foot so I had to pull it out. Wouldn’t you know (another miracle but this time without asking) about one hundred yards further down the road I found a sealed bag of small screws just the right size to fix the shoe. I finally received a lift from a 19 year old fire fighter and had a nice conversation with him. He dropped me off in Beziers, where I was initially trying to go and from there I got a lift to Pezenas.

Pezanas was an amazing town. If you ever want souvenirs from all over the world, go to Pezenas. They have a ton of artists there making all kinds of crafts and art it was truly amazing. They have an old town there that was preserved since the 16th century and it is full of little shops filled with these artisans and craftsmen and women. If you ever go there, bring plenty of money and an empty suitcase because you will be bringing things home.

As Pezenas is off the beaten path, I had a trial getting a lift having to wait right a roundabout directly going on the freeway. Nobody was stopping and I started dozing off. Yann though I was dead but as his car drove by my wrist turned in time for him to see my thumb and he stopped to pick me up. He took an accidental turn in the wrong direction and when he corrected himself, there I was. Yann took me all the way to Montpilliar and said the next day he was heading for Marseille which is near where my next stop will be at the beginning of the French Riviera. Yann bought me a very nice dinner at an upscale restaurant where they served me an excellent steak and a starter of goose liver (now banned in California because of the way they get it by stuffing a goose with so much food they almost burst). It was so good I couldn’t believe it. Luckily, he told me about it after I tried it. He let me also stay in his hotel room and we will be on our way around 2:00 pm today. What a great guy! He is an engineer and a salesman so I also gave him my training program, book and advice that will hopefully help him in his business future.

Here is a sample of the Pezenas art or creativity. These are old LP's. They bend them to make flower pots, a vase, magazine holder, etc.

Compared to most of France, the prices are not bad here either.

I am so amazed by the people I have met so far on this trip. I have never felt so welcomed in my life by strangers.

I just weighed myself today and had to ask if the scale was correct because it says I have lost a whole 15lbs or 1 stone or 7 kg and I can't believe it. I thought I was getting stronger as it seemed like I was able to carry my bag around easier but now I see it is because I can carry my belly around easier LOL. I haven't seen a mirror or scale since I started a month ago so I never realized I was losing so much weight. I am now the weight I was when I was 22 years old.