Copy Of Holiday Residence Menton

ok, it was more "collecting a new country" than being really interested in Monaco. Strange, when you go there from Nice airport by bus it costs you 18 € one way, when you go from Nice bus terminal it costs 1 € one way. Monaco is a very clean city. I have never seen so many big and expensive cars. I saw the casino and the castle. Nice, but not spectacular.

I know I always write the same...great weather, such a nice city, good food....but I have to say that Nice was a (very) big surprise for me, I can say that it is my favourite city in Europe (ok, number 2 after Lisbon). You have the mountains, the Cote d´Azur (when you see the water you know why the name is Cote d´Azur), the market with fresh vegetables, fruits, honey, oil, soap, you have great restaurants ...

It is Sunday and very wet and miserable here in Antibes. Quite a change from the glorious day we had yesterday. Ideal for computer work in fact... (Except that then things didn't pan out as planned and it is now Monday)

It wasn't my intention to have an entry before my departure but the response to my initial circular has been so overwhelming that I feel it merited an ...

... about a dog... Toilet time It is amazing how toilet dramas/stories are always a hot topic of conversation amongst travelers. I feel a little empty this time round as we have averted the problem as we have a Thetford cassette Porta Potti. Called "Theo"... We started out thinking would only use him in emergency situations but with the scarcity of public loos in France and more so in Italy means he is getting a lot more use than first planned. These loos are easy to empty and ...

... of Prince Albert - no joke), then walked along the harbour. The harbour had a full fairground atmosphere with rides, games, food, lights etc. We had the most delicious kebab for dinner from a stall :-) So posh!

We then followed the curve of the harbour to gape at the boats moored there. The amount of money people obviously have is just obscene!

Next we thought maybe we would have a go at trying to win ...

... Prince' (The Little Prince), a gorgeous and very well-known kids book which is also an allegory, was based there. So the monastery/hostel has little pics from the book everywhere and is generally really cute. They were so nice, had a pick up bus service into town (as the hostel is located on a mountain about 15min walk into town). The hostel had an awesome communal kitchen, but also came with a chef that we did not expect, and every night they offered 5euro pizzas or a roast and veggie ...

... bizarrement située sur la Piazza Acquaverde, après que le bus ait terminé ses longs zigs zags vers la basse-ville ; jusqu'à l'heure du midi, je me promène avec tout mon kit sur les bords du port, me faisant périodiquement harceler par des vendeurs de bibelots divers. Retour ensuite à la gare vers midi 15, j'attends mon train qui part une quarantaine de minutes plus tard. Le voyage est, sans surprise, totalement sans histoires, sinon que de ...

After a surprise phone call on the Mobile from home on Saturday, we set off in the afternoon to Menton, close to the Italian border. Menton is the closet beach town to the Italian border and was therefore filled with many Italians visiting when we stopped. We wandered around the streets, getting a feel for the place and then found a nice restaurant on the water serving grilled scampi. Yum! It was nice to stop and relax for a bit. We had left home with ...

Alfie talked us out of going to Italy because the word on the street was that dogs were only allowed in public places if they wore a muzzle - and he wasn't having any of that! So our next stop after Monaco was Menton just before the Italian border. We arrived right in the middle of their annual 'Fete du Citron' - or citrus festival. There was a huge park filled with displays such as the Taj Mahal, Buddhas, windmills and ...

... shape. On a ship, it's smooth going in a cabin. In the car, one usually snoozes out of exhaustion. On this sleeper train I have a full length bunk with sheets, blankets and a pillow, but somehow the movement of the train won't allow me to drop off. It seems to be going awfully fast around the curves, and I have panicky thoughts about it jumping the tracks. The rest of the family and our companions seem deep in the land of nod, and I suppose I eventually arrive there too.