Eden Juan-les-Pins

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 ...

... gesture. We can't change the world but we can change the way these children start off in life and who knows where that will lead....

It is less than 4 weeks now until I leave. There is much to do. I am trying to prepare myself for "teaching" 20 - 25 children. A bit of a challenge that. Much as I have known that I have always wanted to do something like this, now that it ...

... hand lounge chairs. Thus we have to be pretty organised - everything has a home and has to go back there as soon as you've finished with it. This also means that every takes a long time... so our alarm goes off at 6,30am. This gives us 30 min to awake from our sleepy haze then coffee and breakfast 1/2 hr. Then make the bed into table and chairs. Change into running gear and run round the current place of abode. Shower and dress... even if we did everything with military ...

... at the Monte Carlo Casino. Mark was super keen on feeling like James Bond. He so wishes he was James Bond. It is kind of odd because once you are in the casino it is really quiet and not busy at all. Mark won about 300 euro so we were happy.

We checked out the start and finish line of the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix, along with the famous hairpin turn. Even the locals fang it around that corner.

We headed ...

... was just pebbles, and has now decided that the women of Nice must be covered in cellulite from all the pebbles! Les sun-roasted locals did not seem to mind the lack of sand one bit and glared at Dani's lily-white arms and legs which were sooo pale they are almost see through (she bought some tanning lotion the next day... feeling very self conscious!). Dee balked when she saw boobs hanging out for all to see on a woman many times her age (sooooo not right!!!).

Despite the pebbles ...

... casino, but it was 10 euro entry, I wasn't sure of the dress code, and considering my luck for the day I decided it wasn't worth it.

For the rest of the day I wandered through the lavish gardens, shopping stores, small narrow streets, and the beach. I made it to the other end of the city, and made my way back to the other side at the train station. It's not very often that you can say you walked across an entire country in ...

... a lot of yachts and other boats there, but nothing like Monaco Their streets are narrow in some cases and driving can be a real challenge! There is also a "Cap" or cape- that ...

... It felt like the cleanest water I had ever been in. Trying to relax on large pebbles was a different story however-I did not see the appeal in this. After the beach, we decided that we should dress up and travel to Monaco and try our luck at the Casino in Monte Carlo. This was a great idea. Monacco was incredibly nice and was decked out with amazing cars and even better Yachts. We were in awe in the ...

... place, sure I had seen my fair share of the wealthy and how they lived, but this was beyond my comprehension. The wastage of money on absolutely unnecessary things when so many, probably not so far from Monte Carlo, were struggling to get by was exhausting to watch. I was also disappointed that I hadn't seen Victoria Beckham or caught the eye of an Italian popstar, and so to Nice. The term youth hostel and Monaco are barely in the same dictionary, so it was back into good old ...