Best Western Htl Prince De Galles 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 dŽAzur (when you see the water you know why the name is Cote dŽAzur), the market with fresh vegetables, fruits, honey, oil, soap, you have great restaurants ...

... upon me it feels very strange and somewhat daunting. But to my knowledge no one has ever died from teaching children so I am sure I will survive.... My Amazon book order should arrive soon to inspire me. I am really looking forward to discovering the 100 things you can do with a paper plate. Life is never going to be the same!!

More when I start travelling...

... 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 ...

After brekkie it was onto Menton which is a lovely little town just before the Italian border. Menton is a much more down to earth place than its neighbours and more our scene. We found a park right on the beach and went for a wander and took in sum much needed sun. Next stop Italia!!

... there's a train strike on Sunday so we won't be going anywhere.....not happy Jan! as this was to be a short two night stop....between the strike and the hill our heads were spinning and not much thinking was productive. Dave showered, Lorraine internet searched for other accom. (of course there was known because of the Grand Prix) Scot and Shelley went on the hunt for food and we all worried that Dave may never recover :( We slept like logs after a hearty (if not limited ...

... view over all of Menton. We are really enjoying the change in temperature and the lack of humidity here, its a joy to go for a long walk. We decided to have dinner at a restaurant looking over the water, so at 8 pm we headed down and had some great seafood pasta, and so full we declined desert, but had a nice strong expresso instead. Menton is really a mesh of Italy and France, being only 1km from the border of Italy. After dinner we took a long walk up to the port and back down ...

... again. We pulled into Milan about 10pm, checked into our hotel room (Yup... 1 room, 4 beds) and Karla went to bed. Kelly, Felix and I found this dicey place around the corner. It was a Spanish Discotech/Diner. But for about 17 Euro, we had a great bottle of wine, and 3 awesome entrees! Not to shabby for a weird place near the train station! Then it was back to the hotel, and to bed before our trip to Venice!!!!