Nice

Our last full day in France began with a leisurely repacking and checking out of our hotel. We then strolled down to the Cours Saleya to do last minute shopping and have lunch at Les Corbusca, recommended to us more than once. After delicious plates of ravioli we bought some watercolors of the area to remind us always of our time in Nice. We headed down to the Promenade des Anglais to gather some last rays of the sun but on the way we stopped at the Casino Ruhl to "use the bathroom". Okay, we did some gambling too. After losing 10 Euro, we walked over to the Promenade, sat in the sun and again marveled at the sunbathers being able to lie on those rocky beaches. All too soon it was time to go back to the hotel, pick up our luggage, and catch our train to Paris. Before boarding our train, we purchased one of our last take-away jambon et fromage baguettes (ham and cheese sandwiches) to have for dinner on the train. How French are we! Our train left about a half hour later than scheduled so we got into Paris around 10:30. We decided to stay at the Sheridan hotel, which is right here in the Charles de Gaulle airport/train station. It may be pricey but for convenience and peace of mind, we think we can splurge on our last night in France. We are looking forward to being home. While we had a fabulous time and are bringing back some great memories, we are missing home and all our friends and loved ones. We’ll see you soon!

Monaco

We were up and at it early today because our driver, Andreas, was picking us up at 8:45. We quickly picked up the six other people on our tour and we were off to Monaco. Two of our group were German so Andreas did the tour in both English and German. Some facts of Monaco: the entire country takes up just 1.4 sq. miles; only Vatican City is smaller; there are 400 surveillance cameras, so it’s 99.9% crime free; there is no income tax here but to become a citizen, you must open a bank account with no less than 500,000 Euro – that leaves us out! Back to our day… we took the “middle Cornish” (there are three – upper (must be WAY high), middle (very curvy and steep) and lower (along the coast)). Our first stop was a photo op of Villefranche, and the peninsula of Cap Ferrat, where the Richie rich people live (see pic). We continued on to Eze, a medieval eagle-nest village built on an outcropping along the sea. We walked the stone paths for half an hour – very picturesque. Our next stop was the Fragonard Parfumeur. We got a quick lesson on how essential oils are distilled and perfume is made. We then had a “smell test” of various perfumes they make and yes, we made some purchases! We decided we should go home with some “good smelling” memories and no regrets! Besides, they promised these perfumes would be good for up to five years. Heehee! After another five minute drive, we were in Monaco. Who knew it was so close to Nice? While we had learned that it was a small country we found out that the whole country consisted of the one city, Monaco – Monte Carlo is just an area within that city. Our first stop was in Old Monaco (by the way, they stress the second syllable not the third one). After being dropped off in front of the church where Grace Kelly married her prince in the fifties we hurried to the palace to see the changing of the guard. Although we were back in the crowd we still managed to get a few good pictures. We took a few shots overlooking Monaco and then headed back to the cathedral to see Prince Rainier and Princess Grace’s graves. Then off to lunch – which Cindy said was her best in France. With our final 45 minutes at this stop we went to tour the royal apartments. Not to impressive next to Versailles, but that’s just us. When we got back to our air-conditioned coach, two of our group said they saw Prince Albert driving in with his body guards. On our way to Monte Carlo, Andreas took us down part of the Formula One route for the Grand Prix. Cindy had no idea it was on city streets and Sharon didn’t know it was only two lanes wide and that they do the pit-stops on the sidewalk. It’s amazing to us that they allow racecars at top speeds of 140 mph on their city streets. He dropped us off outside the Grand Casino. We took a look around in the Grand Casino, but since there was a 10 Euro fee just to get in, we decided to go to the other new casino. We played some slots, and Sharon went home with the money Cindy lost. We had some very good banana and strawberry glace (that’s ice cream) while we waited for our final pick-up. We finished the Formula One route and headed back to Nice via the lower Cornish. After a short siesta at our hotel, we walked back to the Promenade des Anglais where we spent some time people-watching, reading and journaling. We ventured down to the pebble-covered beach, rocks really, to wade in the Mediterranean Sea. We didn’t stay in the waves for too long because the stones were killing us. Note about the stones: this area of the French Riviera is called the Cote d’Azur (the Blue Coast) and supposedly nowhere else in the world will you find such blue water, owing to the stones reflecting the sunlight back to the surface. After a quick dinner of pizza quatre fromage (that’s a four cheese pizza), we headed back to our hotel. Tomorrow, more Nice until 15:30 (that’s 3:30), then our six hour train ride to Paris for our last night in France. C’est la vie!

Nice

We had to get up at 6:15 to be on the road to Narbonne by 7, as our train took off at 8:48. One of our stops was at Montpelier, where the Tour de France was today. Other than that, nothing exciting happened until we had to switch trains at Marseilles. Sharon had to go to the bathroom and had only 9 minutes to find, pay for, and use the toilet (that’s what they’re called here), before the train left. Needless to say, she had to run for the train, as Cindy was panicking and loading the luggage. All was well – we even had time for our lunch, a Snickers bar, before the train took off. Arriving in Nice, we found our hotel quickly and promptly turned on the air conditioner. It’s a cute room with the biggest bathroom we’ve had yet. Our window overlooks the hotel’s garden area, with tables and chairs. We walked down to the Boulevard des Anglais and sat in a shaded pavilion, watching the incredibly blue waves hit the surprisingly rocky beach. No kidding, there is NO sand. Next we decided it was time to take Rick Steves’ self-guided walk through Old Nice. On the way, we chose to eat first. Two dishes of pasta later, we started the walk at the gold house where Henri Matisse lived for 17 years while painting in Nice. Even though we were following his directions and everything was where he said it would be, every turn we made was into a narrower and darker ‘rue’ (that’s street) and it was only 6:30. We missed seeing the inside of St. Rita’s chapel and Esipuno’s Bakery as they were closed. Bummer. However, we did find a bakery and bought a baguette for breakfast. After our ‘tour’, we headed back to the Promenade des Anglais to people-watch and enjoy the breeze. We wanted to soak up the ambience. We loved making up stories and conversations about the people we were watching. Caio! (You know, at one time, Nice was part of Italy - until 1860, when the people voted to join a united and flourishing France.) Tomorrow we head to Monaco. PS: Sandy, come get me from where Mom dropped me off. Friday, 8:00 pm. Thanks!

Narbonne Plage

Today is beach day! We drove to Narbonne Plage (that means beach!), which is WAY outside of Narbonne – about 40 minutes from our place. God must have been smiling down on us. When we got there we scored a wonderful parking space near an access to the beach and right near lounge chairs and umbrellas that we could rent. For a total of 21 Euros, we got three lounges and two umbrellas. This was more than worth it as it was a blazing hot day and we were set up about ten steps from the water. The sand was so hot we could hardly walk on it but when we reached the water it was so cold we had to inch our way in. We spent a lovely six hours at the beach. We sat and read our books while the kids played in the sand. They even fetched lunch for us so we wouldn’t have to get up! Lauren’s TomTom got us home after finding us a gas station and grocery store. After we got home and showered, Nigel paid us a surprise visit and invited us to once again use his wi-fi to blog. We downloaded some pictures and headed over. Thank you, Nigel, for your many kindnesses, especially how to run the washer! We spent the rest of the evening cleaning the house. We enjoyed our last dinner in Montbrun on the terrace before it started raining. Before going to bed, we packed as much as possible because tomorrow we head to Nice! Merci for reading and leaving comments. Next time you hear from us, we’ll be on the French Riviera!

Montbrun

Today was a nothing day. We slept until ten and then sat around writing our blog and doing laundry. Lauren and the kids went kayaking at a nearby lake so we were on our own. In between loads of laundry we read our books, sat on the rooftop terrace and drank Coke. When they got back we had a Solitaire extravaganza where Cindy taught everybody some different ways to play. Overall, it was a very relaxing day. Before dinner, around eight pm, we took a walk with Lauren to a nearby vineyard to get an up-close look at why this is called wine country. While we were gone, Michael made dinner – spaghetti bolognaise. What a wonderful surprise and it was delicious! Samantha did the dishes while we were gone too. We ended the evening with a bottle of Champaign, just the adults, and a rooftop game of ID. Another day draws to a close in France.

Lagrasse

We were up and moving by 8 and were on the road to Lagrasse by 9:30. Again, thank God for the TomTom, as it got us there in about twenty minutes. Lagrasse has won the Most Beautiful Village award which surprised us because we saw only about 20 people all day. We parked and started strolling down the narrow roadways between the houses, barely wide enough for one car. We came upon an open-air market selling cheese, meat (seriously, chickens in the case with their heads still on), and jewelry. Leaving there, we followed signs to the abbey. We walked up, over, and down a medieval cobblestone bridge and carried on to the left. When we got to the Abbey, we discovered two things: 1- the abbey had been divided, part belonging to the government and open to the public and the other part privately owned and still a working monastery and 2 – sadly, the working side was closed so we couldn’t go in. We did go through the public section of the abbey, which was very interesting. We even sat through a short French film telling about the abbey. After leaving the abbey, we decided to drive through the village to see some medieval homes. After driving over the cobblestone bridge and one narrow street, Sharon refused to drive any farther. She got no arguments from the rest of us. For lunch we went to a wine establishment. The lady at the abbey had called ahead for us so the owner was waiting on us. This was truly an experience. He spoke NO English and a bit of Spanish. We, of course, spoke only a bit of French and even less Spanish. Yikes! After at least 10 minutes of unsuccessful communication, an English couple came by and was able to translate for us. Basically he wanted to highlight his wines with the food as an afterthought. Since he wanted us to have the full experience, he brought us 4 aperitifs, 3 with the entrees (appetizers) and 3 with the main courses. To go with the wines we had for entrees, salad, some kind of delicatessen hard as a rock sausage, and foix gras (goose liver) with bread and three different confit du vin (kind of a jelly made of wine). The guy had to show us how to eat it because we had no idea! Yikes! Of the three, we all agreed the foix gras was the best – who’d a thunk it! For our main courses we had three duck (canard) options. Cassoulet, a white bean, sausage, and duck dish, big in this Languedoc region, Tangier canard, a spicy duck dish from Africa, and another duck dish that came with mashed potato like mush – not bad. The food was all interesting, none outright bad, but the wines were not our favorites. We’re so impressed with ourselves for actually eating foix gras, which kind of tastes like turkey, but thinking about it now makes us a bit pukey. We left there, Lauren more wobbly than the rest of us, and finally went to a grocery store in Lezignon, Corbieres. We did quite well for it all being in French. By 5 we were at Nigel’s for aperitifs. He made us some fruity drinks and served olives, carrot sticks, chips, etc. for snacks. The kids had ice cream instead. We chatted outside in his garden for awhile and then he let us use his internet to post our Lourdes info. We came back here and played “Oh Darn” or Cindy’s game she taught us on our first night here. We watched the sun go down from the roof and are now enjoying the peace and quiet of the rooftop terrace. We can see the lights of Carcassonne from here.

Carcassonne

We were awakened by tractors going by our open window and the church bells ringing eight. We finished hanging out laundry and got ready to set out to Carcassonne, a double walled medieval fortress city. After navigating around the city – thank God for Lauren’s TomTom, because you could totally get lost on these tiny back roads – we found a spot to park and walked 10 minutes to the castle gate, unfortunately not the one Rick Steves recommended for the walking tour, but we adapted. Inside the walls it was very touristy – lots of shops, restaurants, and hotels. We took a tour of the castle with audio guides. Although the castle tour was interesting, it was ABC (inside joke for Mary, Theresa and Fran!). We did learn that they didn’t really pour boiling oil on invaders – too expensive – they just threw rocks instead. For lunch we went to a crepery. We had both savory crepes (ham and cheese) and a sweet crepe (strawberry). All were very good. After a bit of shopping, we decided to get the car and try to drive around to the gate Rick Steves said to enter, the Narbonne gate. Little did we know if we’d walked 100 yards from the crepery, there it was! Sharon, Cindy and Lauren walked the outer walls (with no railing) while the kids stayed back for ice cream. After leaving the castle, Lauren and the kids went for a ride on a double-decker carousel. On the way home we were planning to stop at the grocery, but somehow we missed it on these crazy back roads. We ended tonight by reading and journaling on the terrace, enjoying the breeze cuz it was another hot one! Salut!