Cannes Riviera Hotel

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 ...

... Not only have the donations received already far exceeded my expectations, but the kind words and general interest and support that I have received have been amazing. So thank you all. It is all very much appreciated and I can't believe that between us we really will change these little lives. It is my motto here in Antibes, but this is the ultimate "think globally; act locally ...

... we still would not be being tourists until 10am at the earliest. Because of our limited space Kim has become much more aware of the amount of rubbish we throw away as we have to take out the trash after every meal. Upside to Campervaning... the freedom is great. You can go to all of the little villages which are so difficult to get to when your backpacking. You're not tied to accommodation bookings or having to hunt out hostels on arrival to your destination. And you ...

... we eventually found a cute place that by some miracle was open. Emboldened by some food, we found our way back to the station and decided to proceed on to the next stop, Cannes. It was a little disappointing, as it seems that it is quite a small town area and we can't quite work out why they would hold a huge film festival there, but anywho. Dee kept on the lookout for Brad Pitt or George C, but no luck unfortunately as the festival was much earlier in the year. We saw some locals ...

... was to just walk around, see the sights, and shop a little. But although the spirit was willing, Diane couldn't find anything that caught her eye in the stores. It's always sad when you have to pack on the last night of a cruise, but at least we still had 2 days to spend in Barcelona. We really enjoyed our time on the Gem. We met some nice people, visited some great places and have lots of memories to keep forever.

Today we decided to drive south to Cannes and have a look around the other beaches. There were a few beaches that seem to have more sand, but generally the beaches are mostly pebbles. The little beachside towns are very pretty with narrow streets at all angles. The huge number of mega yachts that are in the marinas is astonishing ...

... pictures). Sailing school took place every day for children as young as 6 years and the Nut man was present on the beach every day ringing his bell, giving us free samples and making everyone laugh! (See pictures). At night, there is a wonderful excitement in Cannes. We found Jazz Row on the backstreets where live music comes from every establishment and dining is optional. People watching at this time is a mandatory activity- the French ...

... one of his balls swole up to the size of an orange. When he was telling the story, he was using lots of body and hand language...and making tons of noises with his mouth. I know anyone of any language could pickup about 20% of that story...which is way too much to talk about in public. The two poor girls who sat across from us most thought the worst. I will spare you all the details, but it was a funny story. A real funny story! After we got home ...