Hotel Alexandra 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 ...

... 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 ...

... so we are hoping that our 9kg will suffice but I am not confident. We have been on the continent 5 weeks now and we are still on the first bottle but it is near impossible to guess how much is left. My best guess is that there is a 1/4 left (give or take a 1/4) Electric Boogaloo ... Keeping the lights on We have 2 batteries, one for the car to start and one for leisure. When the Car battery is full then the leisure battery is recharged. We can also hook up to Mains ...

... 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!

... at least 20) everything from lemon to vanilla, creme caramel, raspberry, nougat and fig! We munched on our teeny treats and decided we'd had enough sightseeing for the day and it was time to head home.

Although we would have liked to do a similar day trip to Monaco and Cap d'ail, the weather was a bit ****** the next few days and the majority of the sights at these spots were the awesome beaches, plus we needed some chill time too. Gotta save something for next time right? And of ...

... have a Ferrari we could use of course, but because we had just had that beer at the Café de Paris you understand, and headed across Monte Carlo. At just €1 per person per journey (or €3 for a tourist day ticket), the bus is a little bonus after the inflated prices elsewhere. With the steep climbs through the hilly principality as well, I ...

... then made my way to Larvotto beach. As I neared it, the clouds were building on the cliffs above Monaco, so I just stopped for an early ...

Travelled just 20 mins up the road to a nice campsire in the woods outside a medieval town called Vence. Quickly put tents up and then headed off down the road to spend a weekend in Monaco...out only worry was that a forest fire might rip through the woods in our absence and we would come back to some chared tent pegs and not much else! The weekend in Monaco was fabulous- we ate in Grahams 'favourite restaurant ...

... and that, yachts, hoards of tourists, casinos and F1 paraphanelia (but no flag patch. boo). i saw the aquarium and walked around, took in some sun, and bought some groceries for the long train trip tomorrow - which is gonna be a story in itself. finding out that all of geneva is apparently booked solid, i booked a place online hoping i'll be squeezed in ...