Du Clos Le Rouret

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 ...

... 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 ...

... of the retired variety... nothing wrong with that, but even they are thin on the ground. Of course this has a lot to do with the time of year we are travelling and there is a festival van circuit the young antipodian crowd do each year, which is not really our thing. So it is our own fault for choosing this time and this route. The end result is that we tend to pounce upon anyone speaking English in the near vicinity. We haven't scared anyone off yet so we mustn't seem too desperate.

... the Contiki group in a local restaurant, followed by some drinking games in a pub! All good fun really. As it was getting quite late (and I need my beauty sleep) I went to bed, whilst Mark took a trip to another casino. He didn't get in until about 3.30am all drunk! He swears he got lost on the way home for an hour but I reckon he was just enjoying himself too much to sleep. He was a bit rough on the journey the following day!

... that we were still in french territory, we feasted on delish pastries galore. Dee sampled her first proper French choc eclair...OH MY GOD was her reaction! Lewey even had dessert envy, and we both laughed at the fact that our tea cost more than the dessert (so very cheap in France for the desserts, bad bad bad as we are rapidly tripling our size, wondering how we will fit on the plane home)!

Feeling a little too much like a backpacker, and needing a tidy up before donning a bathing ...

Leave from nice on the Chemins de fer de Province (diesel train) to Touet-sur-Var. And then the steam train to Entrevaux, city with amazing views. On the way back a quick stop in Puget-Théniers.

My camera battery died once we hit Entrevaux so no photos :(

... intriguante, je ne peux pas dire que je n'y trouve pas un charme qui n'est pas tout à fait étiolé par toute cette richesse ; cependant, peu de temps après mon arrivée et ma visite des alentours du casino de Monte Carlo, je commence à subir les conséquences de mon coup de tête de tout à l'heure : il approche 14 heures 30, je n'ai pas dîné et ma vessie commence à faire des siennes. A l'horizon, des restaurants 5 étoiles, des hôtels avec autant d'étoiles que les ...

... guys we had met from Washington and walked down La Ramblas on last time. It was fun to see all the street performers and human statues one last time. We got on a train to Cerbere and had dinner while waiting an hour and a half to get on our night train to Nice. The night train was nice. It was only Isaac, me, and another guy. I slept well but when we woke up in the morning Isaac found out that ...

... sparkle, money.... I felt so out of my league. Even all the cars lined up out the front were hot. So we all go in, 10 Euro entry, not too bad. It was a quiet night in town, but there was still a small buzz in the air. We all wandered around for a bit, just to get a feel. I was all giggly - I felt like a Bond girl! I wasn't the only one having a Bond moment, one guy on our tour, Mat (or Chef as we now all know him as), came up to me ...