May 10 – The road to Nice
Up at 5:45 again, and put out the suitcases. Down for breakfast, and then away we go for what is to be the last of our long coach rides.
We are off to Nice. Stopped at Village de Catalan, for our morning rest stop. Nice I got a couple of good photos.
The sky has cleared up, so the sun is beating in the window, and I think the wimpy Aussies have asked for the air conditioning
to be turned down. I was hot the whole day. Where we stopped for lunch, there must have been about 10 other coaches that came in after us.
The lineup for the toilet was terrible, with the young girls giving up and going into the men’s.
That surprised some of our guys. Vicki was the second in line
and after all the girls wandered in, she was 6th. Some of them don’t know about queing.
We stopped for a short break in the late afternoon, everyone was getting restless – probably had to pee.
We drove by Cannes, big yachets in the harbour. We drove down the “English Promenade” in Nice on the way to our Hotel.
We are right across the road from the beach, just up the road from the old town. We had time to shower and change and we were off again.
Down through the olf towne, past the harbour,
and then up 3 Corniches roads to La Bergerie for dinner in “rustic surroundings”.
The view from this road was unbelievable.
I was on the outside on the way up, and the drop was straight down about 2 feet from the coach. We stopped part way up to take
photos if the magnificent view. A rain storm had just passed through and the temp had dropped from 24 when we got there to 14 in about an hour.
The view from the resturant was also great. The food was good, and the spirits were flowing. The grappa tasted like paint thinner.
I had 2 shots, just to make sure.
We made it back down the very narrow winding road thanks to the great driving by Bernard – he didn’t have any grappa.
May 11 – Thursday – are you sure it’s thursday ???
We slept in – 06:15, and the wake up call was at 07:00. Down for breakfast and then out the door and on the coach for a Perfum factory tour o goody.
That was really smelly. I didn’t buy anything and neither did Vicki, but we got a free sample – whoppee!! A lot of us were sneezing by the time we left.
To be a “nose” (one who creates scents for perfume), you need to train for 8 years, and know 400 different smells. At the end of it
you get paid 100,000.00 E a month, work 4 hrs a day and 5 days a week. I don’t think I could last a day in there.
Now we are off to the old town of St. Paul – and artist colony, perched high up on a hill behind Cannes. The Cannes film festival is
next week.
What a fanasic place, all old narrow cobblestone streets.
Little shops everywhere. Most people bought prints. We’ll make some prints from the photos we took.
I got my fill of pots, and plants and doorways and narrow streets.
Also, another church, and more prayers for the family.
We bought a sandwich there, and ate it while sitting on a old stone fence in the square.
We watched the hords of people go in, and are thanking Brian, because he got us here early.
Now back to the hotel for a short siesta, and then off for a dip in the Mediterrain – ya!
Well getting over the rocks to the water was fun, luckily we had our water shoes, so the rocks weren’t that bad. The water was
a bit nippy to begin with, but was nice. 2 of the guys from the tour had to go swimming to see if they would float.
The one said he knew it was time to come in, when he had 3 adams apples.
We wandered the old town, and down to the marina and back. Didn’t buy anything. I am amazed I haven’t been able to find anything I liked.
And to find a t-shirt is kinda fun, they don’t have them in every shop. Now if I wanted to buy a table cloth – I could have hundreds.
We all gathered in the lobby of the hotel, and went out together – we have the herd mentality now.
The Police are everywhere – just for us Canadians. Actually there is a meeting with the Ministery of the Interier tomorrow somewhere
near this hotel. The President or the Prime Minister will also be here tomorrow.
There must be 6 cops on every corner, 2 cruisers out at sea, snipers on the roof tops, 1 helicopter flying overhead all the time,
undercover cops and riot police everwhere, with sirens all the time. Lots of black cars and guys speaking into their shirt sleeves.
Are hotel is in the center of this mess.
This place will be a mad house tomorrow moring when we try to leave. We don’t really know if the coach will be able to get
to through to the hotel to pick up the bags, or if we have to wheel them down the street. But you could sure wander the streets and
feel very safe today.
Wandered the promenade again to see part of the sunset before coming back to the hotel.
Tomorrw we leave for Tuscany.