Roche Marina Hotel Villeneuve-Loubet

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 ...

It is Sunday and very wet and miserable here in Antibes. Quite a change from the glorious day we had yesterday. Ideal for computer work in fact... (Except that then things didn't pan out as planned and it is now Monday)

It wasn't my intention to have an entry before my departure but the response to my initial circular has been so overwhelming that I feel it merited an ...

... we still would not be being tourists until 10am at the earliest. Because of our limited space Kim has become much more aware of the amount of rubbish we throw away as we have to take out the trash after every meal. Upside to Campervaning... the freedom is great. You can go to all of the little villages which are so difficult to get to when your backpacking. You're not tied to accommodation bookings or having to hunt out hostels on arrival to your destination. And you ...

... 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 ...

... that night. There wasn't much time left to do anything by the time we set up camp and had supper, but Camolyn and I walked down to the beach to check it out. The beaches in the French Riviera are not covered in sand, but in rocks! It is pretty rough on the feet! Then we went to bed to prepare for our full day in the French Riviera!

... and cafe au laits in Vieux Ville ("Old City"), went to Easter mass in French, and watched cruise ships go by. Overall, it was a lovely easy-going trip. Merci, Nice! Sorry for the lack of pictures, my camera's batteries died the first day! Stay tuned for the adventures of La Famiglia - next week's entry about my family's visit to Northern Italy - not to be missed!

... they smell like other perfumes. After a short drive, we were in Nice. We found out that due to the rain, some of our rooms got flooded so a bunch of us got moved to a new hotel supposedly next door. Only it wasn't. It was kind of across the street and 3 blocks down. The bus driver was kind enough t take us over instead of making us walk through a construction area with our suitcases. It only took about ...

... that be each for each others?) We left here promptly the next moring and headed for the coast (and my spiritual home) The Cote D'Azur. we headed first to St Tropez where i did my best impression of Bridget Bardot (or as best as I could sitting in a campervan with bikes strapped to the back and our 1980's awning strapped to the roof! i got a few looks though, not sure they were the type of look i was hoping for but a look none ...