Sole Mare Ventimiglia

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...

... 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 ...

On this morning we left Switzerland and travelled south into Italy en-route to the French Riviera. The scenery was pretty spectacular, with snow-white capped, jagged mountains that seemed to swallow the highway. Surreal!

When we arrived at our hotel we had about 30 mins to get ready for our trip into Monaco! On our drive to Monaco we crossed the bridge that Grace Kelly was killed on in a car accident. The roads are ...

... meager with dinners, eating whatever the roast of the day was at the hostel for 6.50 or slightly dodgy pizzas, which were sometimes nice, and sometimes not. So yeah, nice to treat ourselves.

Our stay in the hotel was was lovely and we've decided to try and treat ourselves before we get to that shabby state again. Its amazing how quickly you forget the basic luxuries; one bed without a seam or a bar in the middle, one doona to share rather than two small single ones, a bathmat and ...

... at the start of the highway, and 5 minutes standing on the road we get picked up by a maths professor and his young son. Great start to the day! He takes us just across the French/Italian border and into a small city called Ventimiglia. We decide to get left at the peage to try and get a ride to Cuneo where our next host will meet us. Whilst standing there with our sign we are approached by a man who works on the toll. Fantastic hes ...

... feel in love with Saorge. We spent two hours walking through its cobbled stoned streets, admiring the village life as we watched the villagers attend their gardens, hang out their washing, chop wood and gather on small bridge in the middle of the village and great each other with kisses before beginning their afternoon gossip session. We past the beautiful Belleview restaurant (the only restaurant in the village) and only one small clothes shop which made us realize we ...

... across the border. I was sad to have missed it. The other thing it is famous for is its counterfeit handbags and sunglasses, all the big brands, Gucci, Dior, Louis Vuitton, all sold by West African hawkers that lined the pavement down to the water. I almost succumbed to a pair of sweet aviators but compared to Hong Kong it was not much of a bargain. It was only 3pm but my tour of Italy was over, but there was little time and more to do.

... and bickering in recent decades has been restricted to the question of tax laws - Monaco refuses to tax French residents or French companies with their headquarters in Monaco. Modern Mongasque history is inseparable from that of its current ruler. Born in 1923, Prince Rainier III acceded to the throne in 1949. His fairy tale marriage to movie star Grace Kelly in 1956 was the icing on the cake of Monaco's glamorous image. When the royal family is ...