Hotel Bellaudiere Grasse

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...

... peculator brewing, and more often than not scrambled eggs. Lunch is usually a baguette stuffed with loads of fresh salad, stinky cheese (the smellier the better!!) and Parma ham. Our dinner staples are Spaghetti Bolognaise, Pork Fajitas, Hamburgers with the LOT, Cous Cous ala Gill with chicken and of course no meal starts without the obligatory Ham cheese and olive tapas and a bottle of wine. The other stuff We need to make up our bed every evening as it is made out of ...

... curly so it really isn't surprising that accidents are a regular occurrence.

Monaco is the world's second smallest country (after Vatican City) less than 2 square km, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in decadence! Streets are manicured, lavish hotels and casinos line the waterfront, and the harbour is chock a block with gigantic, plush boats.

Once we arrived we visited the Palais du Prince (or ...

... other spots in Europe, here we didn't need to wear our polar fleeces...) we decided to extend our stay to include the weekend and spoilt ourselves with a stay in a 4 star hotel right near the beach! Its our first splash out since we started and would you believe it was almost in budget!!! Guess the off-season thing really applies here. Its a bit sad that we haven't come here in summer as its a bit chilly still, particularly when the sea breeze comes up. We've been very jealous of the 30 ...

... that was about as bad as you would get at Starbucks (if they ever learned to make espresso), and cost much more than we had ever paid anywhere else in Italy.

However, our faith in the art of coffee was restored at Da Luca in Mestre and at Georgio's in Grasse. Georgio’s plat de jour was good, but his coffee was fantastic.

Grasse is most famous for the manufacture of perfume and we spent the afternoon at the Musee International de ...

... nice here. I had to fork out for new swimmers as the last pair were binned after Tomatina. Not much doing otherwise. I think tomorrow will be a day on the beach in either Cannes or Monaco... both of which are supposed to be beautiful. Anyway, over and out Katharine

... the end of today, each one of my meals will consist of ham, bread, and cheese. Gross. (Did I mention that all the French food Ive had here sucks?? And im going to London next. Great.) Gotta run. Will post again from the lovely residence of Emily. I get to see some old college friends, hang out with one of my new Columbia classmates, and AJs bf Henry if hes not too tired from working night shifts as a doctor. Lots of love. Bises as they would say en francais....:)

... blossoms for use in the essences. We soon learned that the word perfume is used to describe the basic essence which is diluted to make the L'eau toilette or Eau de cologne. One only buys perfume if one is stinking rich. We found the Fragonard establishment...a museum, factory and showroom and joined an English speaking tour group...only about 8 of us. The French groups were of 30 plus. A delightful young Guatamalan lady led ...