Semaine - lundi 26 janvier – vendredi 30 janvier

A rather interesting week with a few happenings. Firstly I started my class again at UNI –CLA which is the Centre de Linguistic Application. This was great to get back learning in the class. My classes are every afternoon, all week. It really is a nice feeling being with others who are just as confused as me with the language. But after the first 2 afternoons I feel that I am not being challenged and it really is a bit easy. (I do think I am at the top of the class!) So, I plucked up courage to ask the HOD if I can change group and he said to ask my prof. The next 2 days we had a ‘reliever’ and that professeur said to wait till Monday to ask the other ‘prof’.
I just feel I have not progressed since the class in September, it is the same level of work but now I find it too easy (at the CLA, not in actual French in real life). This is probably due to the fact that I had to give up my uni classes so I could accommodate school and have had a 3 month break from formal tuition so that my hours at school could fit in. However I am not sure how big the jump is to the next class up – so will find out on Monday if they think I can move up.
I have had to juggle classes a little but most are ok. I still haven’t heard back from the primary school about whether they can use me in the time I have available so will have to chase them up again on Monday.
Thursday here was a day of “greve” – strikes! National Teachers strike, because they don’t like what Nicolas Sarkozy wants to do in the education system. The amount of teachers in the march was impressive. However, Seph didn’t have to go to school as her teacher was on strike but Hermione did. She was slightly miffed! I was amazed how many teachers didn’t go on strike in the 3 establishments I work with and it was work for me as usual at the Lycee and at the Uni! One teacher explained that they happen all the time so it sort of loses its power – where as in NZ if we finally decide to strike it is a last resort and well supported.

The other major strike on Thursday was the buses/train network all over France – so no school and no transport basically. No buses was a pain especially when you have to get to work –Lycee- back and then to Uni and back! YUK!!!
The French love to strike and do it very willingly. There is always a protest and marches going through town. It seems to be a national pastime and French people willingly admit to this. The following summarizes the issues better – and it is interesting to see that some of the same issues are faced at home with not enough Teacher Aides and high class numbers.
Thousands of teachers are joining today's one-day national strike in France, the latest move in a series of industrial actions to protest against job cuts, government reform plans and decreased purchasing power because of the economic crisis.
According to unions, 67.5% of primary school teachers and close to 60% of secondary school teachers are downing tools today, though the education ministry claims the figures are 47.9% and 28%, respectively.
Previous industrial action by teaching unions has already prompted president Nicolas Sarkozy to delay his reforms of the upper secondary school system and the baccalaureate. The latest one was in October, when teachers and students went on a one-day strike to protest against government reform plans. Ministers feared that the strike movement would escalate into a wider movement of opposition against the government. Sarkozy was said to have been particularly concerned about the riots that took place in Greece after students took to the streets.
Strikers are expected to be joined by school and university students, as well as some of their parents, at marches taking place today in central Paris and other cities across France.
Top of the list of grievances are job cuts, with 11,200 jobs already slashed and another 13,500 to go this year. Strikers are also protesting against plans to cut 3,000 jobs among professionals who specialise in helping children who have difficulties in nursery and primary schools.
Many primary school teachers are also angry at past school reforms, such as the end of teaching hours on Saturday mornings, which means they have less time to do their work – although some relish the possibility of having a completely free weekend. Teachers are also angry that the ongoing economic crisis is decreasing their purchasing power.
Today's one-day industrial action comes as part of a general strike that has already been dubbed "Black Thursday". French lawyers, judges, journalists, postal, rail and tube workers are among the many professionals who are downing tools today.
Strikers will benefit from strong public backing — 69% of French people say they "support" or "sympathise with" the industrial action, according to a poll published yesterday in the daily Le Parisien.
Today's action is not expected to be the last. University lecturers and researchers are expected to strike on Monday in protest against job cuts and reforms of their job status that would see, among other things, university presidents having more control over their professional lives. In France, teachers are civil servants and their working lives following strict, state-fixed rules. Some university unions are even pushing for an "unlimited" strike.

Thursday also happened to be my birthday – so a bit of a weird day with all the disruptions but there was a lovely glass of reisling waiting for me when I finally returned. As Seph had had the day off, she and Nev had decorated the kitchen with balloons and a banner. Nibbles were ready and tea all prepared! My gifts were really cool – a fondue set and a crepe and raclette machine! We had a fantastic fondue bourguignonne for tea, one of the best meals yet! The girls just loved it too and I have never seen Seph eat so much meat. I think they will be a regular event.
It turned out to be very French really – appetisers + salad + fondue + dessert + fromage accompanied with vin! As you can imagine it also was long….in keeping with French tradition.
We also received a parcel from home! Perfect timing and very much appreciated. It was delivered about 6:00pm so was a huge thrill. It contained yummy things from home along with a recent ODT and Woman’s Weekly. Wahoo! The girls were excited too and they read quickly letters from their friends. Thanks very much!! It was really nice to get messages from friends and to realise that I am in people’s thoughts as you all are in ours! Merci beaucoup!

I got a traditional crepe recipe from a friend and made crepes on the new machine – not as easy as it looks to get them perfectly round and thin! Never mind –practice will make perfect.

The weather has been improving here – actual blue sky – not grey, but still cold and fresh. It certainly isn’t dark anymore by 5:00 and is nearer 6:00 now. I, only hope this is the upward trend towards spring and there isn’t much going back. However, I do note the forecast is for snow in the next few days and locals are quick to say that February is often the month for snow.
One thing I did learn this week – the French season dates are not the same as ours, NO!! I am not talking opposite…DUH!!! We tend to go from the first of the month as official season dates i.e. September 1 –Spring but here they take it from the shortest and longest days which makes much more sense so..
December 21 – shortest day is beginning of winter till Mar 21 L’hiver
Mar 21-june 21 is Spring –Printemps
June 21 the longest day is officially the beginning of Summer till September 21
Then L’automne is sep 21-dec 21.
So, on closer inspection, we really aren’t quite through winter yet, in fact we aren’t even half way!

This past week the south of France has had a huge storm and millions of people were left with no electricity, phone services or transport. Many regions – about 10 were on orange alert and the pictures on the news were horrific – huge trees uprooted and forests decimated. Houses damaged, rooves flying off, huge stone walls collapsing and general carnage. With torrential rains and winds approaching 175 kilometres an hour, the storm was described by weather forecasters as the region's worst in a decade.
I think 15 people died in separate incidents in France. In December 1999, 88 people died and nearly four million homes were without electricity during a storm that hit northern France. That one prompted France to create a weather-alert warning system, which it credited this weekend for avoiding more casualties in the latest storm.
Amazingly we didn’t get any of it – thank god!

Semaine – Janvier 19-25!

The past week has passed without significant events. The highlight was a phone call from our camping companions in Glendhu. It was so nice to hear from you all – I certainly wish I was there sharing wine, gin and cornhole. Disappointing for you that the weather wasn’t so flash!
The low light was on Saturday we went to the bibliotheque (library) and had our 2 umbrellas stolen from the umbrella stand inside the library! That really annoyed us all! I had thought that the library would be a fairly safe place but I was wrong – the thieves obviously preferred our NZ umbrellas to any others in the stand. I am sure we saw one down the street and I asked the girl where she had bought it, however you can’t really prove much when you can’t speak the language very well. Hermione was all for just taking it off her! So it better not rain very much from now on as I don’t really want to replace them.
We went and paid the rest of the money for our holiday in Maroc – (Morocco) now back to doing not much until we go at end of February.
The girls received their Carte de Sejour cards – valid until 2013. It would be tempting to leave them here to board!! Are there still things as French finishing schools?
I finally have my timetable for my Uni course which starts tomorrow – every afternoon from 12:30 -3:30 but by the time I allow time for buses it takes me out from 12-4 basically. I will also need to have lunch sometime. There will be some complaining I am sure by the schools – but too bad!

Dimanche le 18 janvier - Anne-Cecile and Salvadore!

An early start – we all needed an alarm clock to get up and ready for Anne-Cecile who was picking us up at 10 to spend the day with her family in a small village in the Loue Valley. About 40 km’s from here.
We stopped along the way and had a look at a village that is built along the river edge with the houses backyards and balconies overhanging the river. Very beautiful and the water was clear and clean.
When we arrived we met her son and his friend (17 year olds!) and her husband returned home from hunting in the hills. He goes hunting for roe deer, boars, woodcock, pheasants and other things. They have a lovely English pointer and a small playful black kitten that Seph and Hermione were enraptured with.
Anne-Cecile teaches English at the Lycee and has spent a year living in Dunedin. Salvadore was born in Italy but moved to France when he was 10. He works in the ‘stamping’ industry. Where they design and stamp microchips etc into car parts, visa cards and lots of other things.
We started with an aperitif – white wine accompanied by pistachios, corn chips and a cheese type dip, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes and chopped up fennel.
After this we went to the formal dinner table – entrée was duck liver pate and a pork/venison pate with a lettuce and cherry tomato salad. More wine was drunk with this course – red!
After long discussions and more vino the main plate arrived. Pasta with wild boar – very tasty.
More conversation and wine –
Cheese platter – about 5 different varieties!
More wine…. The glass was never empty and the bottles seemed endless.
Dessert – Pavlova! This was a huge success as Anne-Cecile and Salvadore both loved Pavlova when they were in Dunedin. Florian (their son) and Kevin (his friend) also adored it.
The time was now 5:30! Lunch had just finished.
Coffee / More wine followed as Kevin’s parents arrived to collect him. It was really nice to meet this couple and have conversation with them too.
To accompany the coffee we had a special gateaux that is for the ‘epiphanie’ (epiphany) there is a small treasure hidden somewhere inside the cake. Whoever gets this treasure gets to wear the crown and is ‘le roi’! (The King)
Time had moved on - 7:00pm and then Anne-Cecile started tea! I couldn’t believe it - she made a quiche Lorraine and pizza. While this was being made – Salvadore kept appearing with more wine. We started again with white wine as it was preceding dinner.
Dinner was on the table at 9:00 and red wine was the accompaniment - before we knew it it was 10:30 and we started to get ready for home! We were stuffed full!
The girls were so tired but we finally returned to our wee flat at 11:15!
It just amazed me as the food was ongoing all day and the conversation and atmosphere was convivial. They are a fantastic couple and we had an amazing day and experience. I hope we have a lot more to do with them while we are here.
We had been drinking wine for nearly 12 hours and Nev and I both were feeling it – I was slightly worried about the morning and my 8:00 class. We both knew it would be a mission to get the girls up tomorrow as well!

I can't believe I took no photos - must have been impaired slightly! The French really know how to entertain!

Samedi le 17 janvier

We headed off to the ‘centre commercial’ to buy a few things to take for tea tonight and for making a Pavlova for tomorrows outing. The sales all finished today so there were some great bargains to be had with most shops having at least 30% but as much as 80% off. However we were very restrained! I made another Pavlova to take for lunch tomorrow.

At 6:00 we were picked up and taken out to John and Christelle’s for tea. It was a great night, It started with an aperitif with nibbles, after, we had a traditional raclette with ham and cold meats for tea. A raclette is a machine that cooks and melts cheese that you then put on your potatoes and meat. You then keep cooking as much as you need. It slows down the meal and you have plenty of white wine with it! Christelle made a wonderful apricot and coconut tart for dessert. Before we knew it –it was 11:00 and we better head home. The village is about 20 km out of town and we are fortunate that John picks us up and drives us home. The children love going to their house as they have a great time playing together.

Janvier - 14,15, 16th

Mercredi le 14 janvier
Wahoo Wednesday already, 1 college class this morning and then free for the rest of the day.Hermione decided to stay in bed reading for the morning and is still there as I write this at 1:00pm!! A very relaxing day as it turns out with not going anywhere and catching up with odd jobs around here.

Jeudi le 15 janvier
Nothing particularly exciting happened. I think we have finally cleared all those tummy bugs as we have had no incident for a while now – fingers crossed !
My lycee course cancelled this morning as they are still having “bac blanche” the mock exams. The high light of the past week has been finding a website that I can watch all the episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost etc in English. The series are so far behind over here because they have to get the French voiceovers done and then they don’t sound right anyway. I found this site through a girl from the Lycee who has spent a year in America and became addicted to these shows so she told me about the website. It is great! I also enjoyed watching a whole series over a short time frame as you can really remember the story.

Vendredi le 16 janvier
TGIF!!! Wahoo – another week over and an exciting weekend ahead. Nev disappeared for a long walk and returned with new running shoes and the leggings to keep your legs warm while you run. He is insisting they are early birthday presents!
Tonight Nev and I tried to watch a movie through the website above but it started annoying me to wait for the buffering so will have to go back to it. It was really good – about the war and the Jews in Poland fighting back and hiding to survive.

Dimanche+Lundi+Mardi

Dimanche le 11 janvier
We played table tennis for a while, the school has a covered area to be used to get out of the rain and cold, which is always open. In this area there are abut 10 great table tennis tables set up and you just need bats and a ball. This is one thing I have always wanted at APS is a few tables that can be used for recreation. I have noticed all around France in play areas are concrete table tennis tables and these are not vandalised so I guess something could be done at school.
Another afternoon of Monopoly and relaxation.

Lundi le 12 janvier
Another start of the working week. I find myself going back and forth a lot and spend a lot of time catching buses to get to the Lycee and back to college etc.
I am enjoying the work with the college kids – 11-15 years. They would be my favourite. A few of my Lycee classes are so uninteresting – I have to take half the class in another room but teaching what they want done in their style – very boring. A whole lesson on a cover of Time magazine! At least I don’t prepare for it but one of the times is 4-5pm on a Friday afternoon and they so don’t want to be there. They are tired and many hate school!

Mardi le 13 janvier
Yikes! Kindy club again today – seems to come around quick. Another new student today so I am now up to 16 littlies. It is exhausting and now Nev refuses to come and help. We have a few invitations this weekend – Wahoo. Dinner on Saturday night and on Sunday we are going to a colleague form the Lycées house for the day. I have said I will make another Pavlova to take. I have never before really made Pavlovas but I have probably made about 6 while I am here.

Jeudi, Vendredi + Samedi

Jeudi le 8 janvier
Up and off to the Lycee for classes. The men finally turned up to wire the new windows so that we can open our new shutters. Yay!! We can see outside again. Nev braved the freezing cold to go for a walk in undiscovered territory around here.


Vendredi le 9 janvier
A return to normal life and again a very boring day – but…..TGIF!!!!



Samedi le 10 janvier
Got news that my Aunt (Dad’s sister) had died in CHCH. It really makes you realise how far away you are at times like this. It always seems bad news is just around the corner. Headed into town to the library and while we were waiting for it to reopen from lunch the girls both got haircuts. It was very hard to explain exactly what they wanted but they look great. We then headed out to the shopping centre, what a day to go as it was the first day of the big sales. These ‘soldes’ are held all over France this week with big discounts. Shame we are not in Paris or have heaps to spend.

Mercredi le 7 janvier

Another eventful vomiting night! I just cannot work it out – both within an hour of each other. I have even used “ask a Doctor’ online to see if it can be solved. It seems to have been going on since beginning of December when they both had a “bug”. Then about every 5-6 days another go in conjunction with each other! Maybe the Dr can give some advice. It will probably be, though, to take them to a Dr for tests! Nev and I have gone through everything we can think of but nothing matches the pattern – although we are not ‘trained professionals’!
Spent the morning washing sheets and a class at college before returning home to play yet another game of Monopoly!

Mardi le 6 janvier - Dad!

2 more lycee classes cancelled this morning as they are having exam practice. Discovered this morning that Dad has been admitted into Castlewood. This came as a bit of a shock as I heard from a friend through a friend and not through my family. I had been trying to ring him and was a bit concerned. I was fairly upset but after talking to the rest home I realise that he is getting 24hr care and is better off. So this morning went past in a daze. The day was really cold – minus something, it really chills you right through. The last of the snow from Sunday and Monday disappeared from the ground around the streets.
This afternoon I had the Primary classes and of course good old English club!

Lundi le 5 janvier

We spotted the sun late on Saturday afternoon - the only sun Besancon has seen lately!

Girls off to school and I headed into town to go to the prefecture and receive finally my “Carte de Sejour” – Nev had picked his up before we left and they refused to give him mine even though he had my passport etc to show proof.
What a relief to finally have these – it has only taken 4 months!
To the CLA for conversation practice and to try and sort out my course for the end of January.
Library books to return but the library is closed Mondays and there is no after hours return slot.
It had just started snowing and we saw where a car and motorbike had collided and all the services were there attending to the injured. We had a new heater to buy as yesterday ours blew up – so we headed into an appliance store and waited and waited for service, then finally the girl came and couldn’t tell us any more than we could read on the tag. We were then ushered to a booth to pay and then sent to another area to wait for your turn to hand over the paper for them to get you your product.
What a bureaucratic performance! As we left the ground was white and it was slippery. Just as we got off the bus we watched a girl slide and come off her motorbike right beside us! Nev raced to the rescue and another lady rang the services while Nev got the bike off the road, amazingly she was ok and could walk to the footpath to wait. Luckily she was not going that fast as the lights had just changed but I think there will be many more accidents to come. All around Paris they have had many accidents with all the snow and black ice which made us very surprised we didn’t hit hardly any on our travels.
Collected the mail and found letters and cards for Hermione and 2 very suspicious letters for Nev- turned out they were speeding tickets from the autoroutes! One was for 86 in a 80km zone and the other 117 in a 110 km zone! Pay within 14 days at €45 or after €180 each! There better not be anymore coming in the mail as these were both before Xmas!
Finally caught up with the blog!!!!!
Happy 40th birthday Karen – would have loved to contribute to the wine drinking to celebrate!The latest forecast!

Samedi le 3 janvier + Dimanche le 4 janvier

We all slept really well and had a non rushed morning. We decided to make the most of the car and look around the out lying areas of Besancon a bit and get groceries before the car had to be back. We made sure we got all the heavy, big and bulky things at the large supermarket home to unpack it all and face the rental car people about the scratch!
As it turned out all was fine with Europcar and we had full insurance – whew!
Another family game of Monopoly finished the night off.

Dimanche le 4 janvier
Nothing much happened – we scrapbooked all afternoon and the girls got their books up to date. Got ready for school tomorrow! I received an email to say there will be no college classes for me tomorrow as teachers are not ready!

Vendredi le 2 janvier -Home we go!

Awoke with Seph saying she had a really sore tummy – 15 minutes later she was sick. Then more amazingly Hermione was sick too in another 15 minutes. Couldn’t work out why – as they were both fine after the initial expulsion! We all had had the same food the night before – a mystery!
I have never known my children to have so many vomiting bugs. Up until now they were extremely rare and had only a couple in their whole lives.
We hit the road for Lake Annecy which sits near the Swiss border and is the gateway to the ski resort of Chamonix and Mont Blanc! It is a beautiful town and reminds me of Wanaka and Queenstown with all the snowy mountains and après ski crowd. The old town has the little narrow lanes that we have become very used to and the streets criss cross over waterways which make it quaint.
I was also dying to try a cheese fondue – a regional dish and very popular when you are finished skiing. We found a restaurant that suited everyone and we ordered the fondue – cheese mixed with white wine, that comes with a basket full of bite sized pieces of bread to dip. Nev had a couple but wasn’t too fussed. I lasted longer but it was so rich – I think the idea is you share it with a large group of people OR skip the cheese fondue go straight to chocolate fondue!
On the road again with about 1:30 hours to Besancon.
Unpacked the car – loads of washing on and not much in the house for tea! We were all pleased to be home though.

Jeudi le premier Janvier- Bonne Annee

The beach - only 50m from the 'red carpet'!

My superhero!

Just making a 'call back'!

Wahoo ! 2009 already. Up and packed the car as we are on the road again! Just down the road is Cannes, 30 km’s away. We took the coastal road a si just love looking at the sea and how the other half live. Along the Cote d’Azur each place melds into another and you are never really sure where you are.
Cannes (pop.68000) has all the glitz and glamour for the International Film Festival in May but it reaps the benefit all year round with many other events held here too. It has palatial hotels and shops only the very wealthy can afford – sounds like some other places I know!
Amazingly the ‘red carpet’ is out nearly all year round and we had to do the obligatory walk up. The promenade is also really well used and has been set up for maximum benefit to walkers, cyclists and general recreation. We saw a man doing great sand art and after a quick drive around we headed on our way.
A bit further inland is Grasse (pop. 43000) – it is one of France’s leading perfume producers. Amazingly we found a parfumerie open with visits – (most things were shut because of New Year’s Day) so a quick visit and we hit the road.
We decided to go an inland route home and not on the autoroute we had come by. There also wasn’t an autoroute to use so we were on the national roads. We took the roads that are commonly called Napolean’s Route which twists and winds itself through the mountain ranges. It took a long time to go 20km’s but the vista was amazing. Surrounded by mountains and villages in the middle of ‘nowhere’. I am not sure if we would have done this road if we had known how mountainous it was and twisty, you climbed, dropped, climbed again etc… We were reaching altitudes of 1100+m. Amazingly though there wasn’t much snow which was great. It took ages to get to towns on the map and we really wanted to get to Grenoble the next major town that would have accommodation and food – everything we passed was closed for winter and/or because of Jan1!
It took ages – about 5 hours! However it was a great trip and we wouldn’t have done it if we had realised how high ( because of all the snow weather forecasts and pictures we had seen) and how long on windy roads – Seph and I can be prone to car sickness on occasion!) but now I am glad we were naïve and did it. A whole other side to France and it would be very popular in Summer judging by all the camping grounds, eateries and hotels that we saw but were not open.
Grenoble – Pop.156000. It is situated in a valley surrounded by snowy mountains and is in the Dauphine region. It was like an Oasis to us when we arrived after the sparsely populated route we had taken and the lack of vehicles on the roads.
We booked into the first hotel we saw – it was 8:00! Luckily it was not very expensive and had room for 4 of us. We then got directions to eateries and finally found a pizzeria in the town centre that satisfied everyone. Eating by 8:45 and back to the hotel by 9:45 after a quick look around.
Most tourist things were shut for the winter so we decided to head for home tomorrow and give the Visa a bit of a break.

Peage - Probably paid 120 Euros all up!

Mercredi le 31 decembre- Monaco!

Another great start to the day and off to collect the car to go up the Cote d’azur a bit more to the tiny principality of Monaco. Turns out that it is only 25 km’s away and we decided to take the ‘moyen corniche’ to get there. This is the road that the Lonely Planet recommends as the best. It is one of the road’s movies are made on with hair raising bends, turns and views! It was great to do and an excellent view of the Mediterranean and all the houses built and clinging on to the steep terrain, this always amazes me as how were they built? Are they safe? – Presume so as some have been there for centuries. Would they give you vertigo when inside looking out and straight down?
The little, steep and windy streets of Monaco finally led us to a car parking building. Monaco is really opulent and glamorous – not a shabby building or piece of Grafitti anywhere – all glitz and glamour. It actually is only 1.95 sq km and has a population of 32000. It is the world’s second smallest country, after the Vatican. It has its own flag, telephone code and traditional dialect! Monaco is technically not part of the EU but because of its close ties with France it participates in the E.U. customs territory and there are no border controls. There are only 7800 Monegasque citizens, by either parentage or marriage, they live an idyllic tax-free life of cradle to grave security, alas, all other residents and businesses pay tax!
The manicured streets are presided over by palaces and it has beautifully lush fountained parks. It has escalators and public lifts all around the town to enable easy access up and down the steep streets.
You even have to pay to go into the casino – before you spend money!
Watching the ladies and their fashion – no expense spared. You even see mink coats, the real thing. The French have no conscience about this by the looks where everywhere else fur is not cool!
The cars driving around are commonly, Ferrari, maserati, big 4x4’s, limousines and other cars with chauffeurs and blackened out windows. I was forever trying to find someone famous as it was new years eve and I am sure they must be there.
We also spotted a lot of ‘sugar daddies’ ugly old men with young tall blondes with legs that go on forever in their short skirts, fur jackets and bejewelled bodies.
I loved walking around soaking it all in – using elevators to go a few streets. In one part, if you go up 3 streets you are back in a French town of Beausoleil.
A really interesting thing – there are heart defibrillators scattered all around town and signs to find them and how close they are! What a great idea, especially if you really exert yourself climbing the steep streets and on a hot day! It did make me wonder – How often each year were they used? Did they save lives? Why doesn’t any other place do this? (Maybe due to crime?) Monaco is extremely safe – a very prolific police presence and plain clothed patrollers along with CCTV cameras!
As we strolled along the waterfront we found a great restaurant for lunch – Stars in Bars. An American themed restaurant with all the famous memorabilia from famous people, many who have been there. We were seated in the Tennis section - Roger Federer’s and Raphael Nadal’s belongings were inset into our dining table. Menu and service was great.
We then continued walking around and went to the Oceanography museum and Aquarium. It was really busy – probably because the weather had turned to drizzle.
We then did the pilgrimage up to the Grimaldi Palace – where Prince Albert etc were in residence! The guards were cute and replicated the Buckingham palace guards in their little booths with big guns! Down the steep path back to the car to head for home as it was getting fairly dark.
I really had wanted to carry on up the coast a little more to hit the Italian border and also to visit Menton. Nevermind!
Back to the hotel about 7:00pm and Nev raced to the shop to get some beer and wine for the big night! No one was really hungry as we normally don’t finish lunch till 3!
It is not a French thing to have a town type celebration for New Year – no fireworks either! Just restaurants doing their own thing so we were not going to miss much.
We decided to stay at the hotel, mainly as it was raining so not many were out and also because High School Musical was on!
So a bit quieter than we thought but all good!

Mardi le 30 decembre- Nice Nice!

We all had a great sleep, very comfy beds and didn’t wake till 9:00! Another fantastic breakfast at the Kyriad Gare in Nice! Novelty – an egg boiler! The first time eggs have been included in the buffet. But the girls were relieved – pastries too were here along with the cereals and ham/salami and cheeses.
We headed straight down to the beachfront and the promenade. Gorgeous too in the bright sunshine – 15 degrees in winter. We jumped on the Petit Trains Touristiques, for a whirlwind overview of the city. 50 mins later we returned and spent a couple of hours lazing on the beach. The girls played in the waves and of course Hermione got her jeans soaked – none of us bought summer clothes or togs, it is supposed to be winter!

Nevertheless it had to be done and we loved lying around and being thankful really it isn’t summer or we would never have a place on the 8km of beachfront! Nor accommodation, nor be able to get into restaurants.
Nice is a beautiful city and one I think I could live in – the whole location is better than Marseilles and is much more suitable if you don’t have a luxurious super yacht!
As Hermione and Nev went back to the hotel, Seph and I checked out the Marche de Noel and watched an ice skating demonstration on the rink brought in for winter! This seems to be in every town for winter – an ice rink placed in a central location and food dstalls around for people to wait drinking vin chaud!
About 3:30 headed to a café for lunch and again waited about 40 minutes for l’addition, even though we kept asking by the time we had left it was after 5:00pm!
Wandered around the beautiful old part of the city and down all the lovely little lanes which were lit up as it was 6:00. We wound our way through the markets again and Seph was given a small clay jug the man had just ‘pottered’ as we watched. Then she dropped the pot as she placed coins into his hat. Luckily he made her a new one – not sure what to do with it as it is only clay and will take ages to dry! If, it lasts that long. Dad was now put in charge of holding the pot.
On the way back to the hotel we came across a magician – very entertaining and we ended up watching for 45 minutes. Meanwhile Nev was at the back – so the pot didn’t get damaged- and he ended up watching the police swoop and catch a pickpocket in action.
Nice to see they do something as we always see them biking around in packs in the main streets.
Back to the hotel where Nev was pleased to get rid of the pot!
Tea – You would never believe it – KFC for the girls, the first one we have seen. A few fundamental differences – no coleslaw and no potato and gravy! Even ¼ packs etc were not there. It really was just burgers and wings – buckets were very popular as I looked around!

Lundi le 29 Decembr- Marseilles - St Tropez

Beaches here are tiny!

Breakfast in “Etap” Marseilles was very disappointing. Not a croissant, pain au chocolat or any pastry to be seen. No fresh fruit either. Terribly basic but they did have a toaster for the numerous types of bread they supplied. One even had chocolate scattered through it!
First on the agenda was an open topped bus tour, where you can hop on and off at will. It certainly wasn’t busy and I couldn’t work out why the bus wasn’t stopping at stops – took me half the trip to work out that you had to go to the top of the stairs and push the “stop” button. Never had to do that before, normally they stop automatically at each stop. Never mind we just stayed on the bus for the whole trip, just over 1:30 hours. Amazingly there wasn’t that much to see really. Apart from this striped church!
I am amazed at how hilly the coast is and how white the hills and cliffs are – I hadn’t realized we would be climbing over mountains and dropping to other little bays and coves or in French lingo calanques where you only can access them by boat.
Back to collect the car and head off to St Tropez further up the coast on the Cote d’Azur. Unfortunately the tight squeeze was a bit too much on the reverse trip up the elevator and the car got a wee scrape!

St Tropez (pop 6000 in winter and 60000 in summer!)– about an 1:30 away through the mountains and drop back down to the coast. The land of the rich and famous and where everyone comes to play in Summer. Even for winter the town was humming! It was about 15 degrees and lovely sunshine. The mega rich had their super yacht/ launches moored straight up in the centre of town and many more moored at the marinas. Just looking at these was a lesson in itself – wow! They are breathtakingly luxurious – with spa pools at the stern etc. We were lucky enough to see some crews working and tidying while the owners were on shore and even spotted some getting on. Not sure who or how these people made their money but it was fun to try and guess.

I was madly trying to spot a celebrity – any one wearing big dark sunnies was a suspect! Unfortunately the sun went down and we HAD to head on as we certainly couldn’t afford to stay here. Even though half the town and hotels were shut for winter it was still a small impressive place. Reminded me slightly of Wanaka and Queenstown combined – Queenstown marinas (only the very last boats were equivalent) with the laid back feel of Wanaka township. Naturally most celebrities who come here have an amazing launch to sleep on and play out at sea so you wouldn’t necessarily see any unless you went on a jetski searching!

So off we headed for Nice (pop.346000)- just over an hour away– First impressions are what a gorgeous city. We drove along the beachfront – Promenade des Anglais, so many were out walking and exercising along the sea front. All the palm trees that lined the promenade were all lit up and it provided a wonderful atmosphere. The weather too helped, a very mild 10 degrees. Arrived in the dark and after a bit of searching found accommodation that can take 4. Wasn’t so easy this time but we got a great deal and cheaper than everywhere else we have been, also the room is fantastic and a very large bathroom so will stay here for 3 nights and do day trips from here. Also parking is a problem at Hotels here, they all use public car parks but last night the lady let us leave the car out the front till 11:00 this morning. That saved us some cash!
Tea was a Chinese restaurant where you see all the meals ( bit like Golden Cobweb but much bigger selection, including all the springrolls etc…) but they are cold. You pick from all the selections and then they heat it for you. You help yourself to the carafes of water, sauces and can reheat meals again in a microwave provided etc..
Sleep!!!

Dimanche le 28 decembre- Marseilles

One great thing with nearly all accommodation is that petit dejeuner is included. So the children love it as we head to breakfast and they get to eat as much as they like. The attraction for this breakfast was the fresh juicer. Cut the orange / grapefruit in half and away it goes.
On the road again and 1:30 hours later we arrive in the bustling Mediterranean metropolis of Marseilles. This is France’s oldest and second largest city with a population of about 810000.
After we worked our way around the city to find accommodation we ended up right in Vieux Port (Old Port) the hub of life based around the port and cafes lining the 3 sides of the marinas with thousands of yachts moored there, a fabulous sight to see.

The hotel had a car elevator which took us down 3 storeys to the parking floor. This really amused the children – a very tight squeeze though, in the elevator and getting in and out around all the concrete obstacles. Thank goodness we are in a small car! We also had to have 2 rooms – next to each other, incredibly basic but adequate. The girls didn’t mind having their own room and thought it was very grown up!
Lunch – Zen Zen, the asian equivalent for Fast food – Sushi, wontons, prawns and various other treats. Very nice to sit in the sun next to the port and watch the goings on and how the other half live.
We jumped on a ferry out to the Château d’If. It was the last sailing of the day and there wiould be none on Monday as the Chateau is closed. This island was once a 16th century fortress turned prison. The island isn’t very big but became immortalised in the 1840’s novel – Le Comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo). Political prisoners of all persuasions were incarcerated here along with hundreds of Protestants, many of whom perished in the dungeons. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the dungeons – we all would have liked to!
Tea was at a Pizzeria with a very surly waitress – she never smiled and you felt you shouldn’t be there. The meal was average – pizza, calzone, pasta but the wait for the bill (l’addition) took about 45-50 minutes. I wonder how many get sick of waiting and do a runner! Would they chase you? Would they notice? Would they care?