Lac Et Foret Saint Andre Les Alpes

... campervans. One of which had the biggest dog we have every seen. It was a Newfoundland, which looked a little like a small bear but was as tame as a kitten. As the sun was about to set we took some photos and then had a wander through the village - everything was closed - end of season.

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 :(

... expensive cars and it seemed like every street had someone flaunting their Ferrari. We enjoyed looking at the unbelievable yachts that were docked in the harbor. Some were so large they had two helicopters on the deck. Truly amazing and ridiculous at the same time. As our little friends were along, we didn’t drop our usual few hundred grand at the casino. I guess we’ll have to hit it next time. On the drive home we stopped at a ...

... pool. The Patry’s wasted no time introducing the Canadian Cannonball at the community pool. Wearing our normal swim attire, the pool guardian (a.k.a. the “pool nazi”) informed us that we did not meet the required dress code. The boys weren’t allowed to wear their swim shirts and it was preferred that instead of swim trunks the boys (Bruce included) wear “speedos”. Bruce balked at the ...

... So upon arrival at Nice I picked up my hire car and drove up to Fayence to Rosemarie's place.

The next few days were filled with relaxing by the pool and spending time with mum, interspersed with a lovely wedding at Roquebrune. The wedding was amazing as it was in a very picturesque spot and Cate and James had all their good friends there to celebrate it.

One very ...

... far as French-language ability goes, I clearly had the least proficiency.

Designated for protection as a national park, the wilderness area of the Gorges du Verdons and the surrounding Lake St. Croix region boasted brilliant, almost-unreal colors. For instance, apart from the violent Provence storms that passed by quite quickly and ferquently, the sky was as blue as it can get. Most blue skies have little wisps of cloud or haziness, even if just a little. But not ...

... vertrekken in de canyon! Toch een speciaal gevoel!

Al gauw merken we ook dat de steen waaruit deze canyon bestaat, van een heel speciale soort is!
Normaal gezien probeer je in canyons zoveel mogelijk uit het water te wandelen, omdat het daar minder glad is. Hier is het net andersom! Wil je niet onderuit gaan, blijf in het water!

We zetten er ook maar ...

... but not quite a national park. This was a trip put on by the College, so there were enough people to fill up a charter bus, which our driver commandeered like a true French person-completely crazy and not a little reckless. Let me explain that we were traveling into the mountains, the lower Alps to be exact, and the roads were super windy and had no line down the middle, but were still two-way. Our driver would just let out a big honk as ...

... h** w*uld be like g*ing t* the T*rture Mussem. I laughed f*r a g**d 10 minutes. Im v**y visual and the image that appeared in my mind was m*re then I c*uld handle....t** funny. It's weird h*w th**e is a little m*vie that runs all the time in my head. It's like whatev** is g*ing *n in real life, my mind sh*ws ab*ut 10 diff**ent scenari*s in m*vie but really fast...and *f c*urse I can und**stand what its sh*wing n* matt** h*w fast it g*es. It's like my mind is expl*ring all the p ...

... a work party for Texas Instruments (Yeah, you got it, the maker of everyone's favorite mandatory high school calculator the TI82, though Romain tells me they work more with cell phones). Happy to be amongst nerds again I relaxed easily into the group and was soon in my element joking and carrying on with the inebriated gaggle of French engineers (Frengineers as I like to call them). When the bar closed down, the guys invited me back to Romain's place to continue the party ...