La Regence Villefranche-sur-Mer

... the local bar and settled in for a few drinks and complimentary tapas.<br><br>Wed 11 Nov<br>Riva Ligura even better in the sunlight had a pretty little piazza and church which had a beautiful painted interior - much unexpected by us. The novalty factor was it had automatic sliding doors!

After brekkie it was onto Menton which is a lovely little town just before the Italian border. Menton is a much more down to earth place than its neighbours and more our scene. We found a park right on the beach and went for a wander and took in sum much needed sun. Next stop Italia!!<br>

Up early as it was a spectacular sunrise - full of pinks and organges. We wanted to hit McWifi before we entered Italy but we did not find one until later in the day in Menton. Before that we drove the coast road through Nice and Monte Carlo, both concrete ...

Gorgeous morning and a stunning place for breakfast awaited us just outside Scooby overlooking the lake. I went for a run but Kim was feeling a little under the weather so she stayed and made me breakfast - yay! We spotted two girls about our age and attempted to engage in some conversation but their English was limited and French is rubbish. Shame as its manily been the grey hair brigade we ...

... the Grimaldi family. And where Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly joined in marriage in St. Nicholas Cathedral. In the square of Monaco-Ville, the Royal Palace could be found. From here, you could see all the districts of Monaco including Fontevielle, La Condamine and Monte-Carlo. Not to mention the breathtaking view of Port Hercules, more commonly known as the Port of Monte-Carlo! Here you could see the ...

... so socked in that none of the vistas we planned on driving to see would have been visible. So we stayed in, read books, and caught up on our TV shows. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE slingbox. Every time we go on a trip I feel like I have this massive to-do/watch list looming on the tivo, so it's awesome to be all caught up. Since we've had a washer and dryer here, I shouldn't have a massive amount of laundry to do either. I am SO looking forward to coming home! OH! I ...

... sick, but I was just absolutely DONE. No more mental capacity left. I incorrectly answered literally every single question I was asked that day. We came home and took a three hour nap, ate dinner, then were back in bed by 9:30 and slept through the night. Thank God it's a 3 day weekend. We are doing nothing until Monday, then we'll hopefully have the energy ...

... good enough to dine, shop, greet people, read signs in museums, etc. I am finding that my tongue does not like saying some things no matter how hard I try (thanks a lot, dad! boo-koo!). I'm sure it will soak in eventually. I just need time to process it. The weather has improved the last two days. It was nice to use the balcony finally. I'm hoping that the days of freezing my buns off are over. The first cruise ship has docked in the bay, &amp ...

... t stay in long but I have now swum in two different seas on this trip. The day finished with some wine tasting down on the harbour walls, then a great Vietnamese dinner in Le Mekong. This was much better than our meal in Carcassone. All in all a very pleasant day, a real beach holiday!! Tomorrow we head off to Borollo in Piedmont where Brent assures us there is good wine to be had.

... our fav but we also went to the Matisse in Nice and the Picasso in Antibes). We visited a perfume factory - this FREE tour conviently ended in their shop where we were suckered into a few expensive purchases. And we also spent an afternoon in Monaco but because Prince Rainier had just died, almost everything was off-limits. The world-famous Casino was open but we didn't dare enter when we noticed you have to pay a EUR 10 entrence fee ...