Nice Day

Today we had some housekeeeping to do, ie get more money, do some more shopping including groceries and Lyndie bought a dress she liked. This took most of the morning and our plan of going to Le Turbie this afternoon did not eventuate as the bus we needed to catch was at 2.15pm and we were only arrived back home thinking about getting lunch at this time. We decided instead to go to the cemetry and to the beach for a swim as it turned out to be quite a hot sunny day. While we were at the cemetrie the clouds came over and it spitted a bit on our way to the beach but Lynd went in anyway and we collected some stones to bring home (useful for getting the kilos up in our bags to get our moneys-worth on the plane ticket : ) ).
We came home to cook tea and as I was turning the hotpalte on we lost electricity.So I had the tricky job of explaining our predicament to the landlady without any language. We found the word for electricity in the french book and the lady came up to check out our unit and connected us again and told us not to put both the microwave and hotplate on together. I followed her instructions and just did it one at a time but as soon as i put the hotplate on again the electrity blew so I had to trapes down to get her again. This time with the frypan in my hand, she didnt understand so I brought her up to show her that it was just the hotplate that was blowing the fuse. We agreed that I cook in the microwave and not use the hotplate anymore, so we cooked our veal in the microwave. We had a yummy dessert tonight which we bought today at the bakery to have with our cup of vanilla tea

Monaco and Menton

We headed off on the bus to Monaco . It was overcast when we left and raining when we arrived in Monaco. We walked past the casino - Lyndie walked into the gaming area (not the main building), and could have been at the Redcliffe Leagues Club. We tried to go into the main building but they said not until 2 pm . Then we walked around to the port and then up to the palace to see the changing of the guard but a sign said it was not on today probably because of the rain, however there were crowds waiting hoping they would change their mind and it fined up around the guard changing time and we did see a small number of guards changing but it wasnt a big deal so i think they cancelled most of it. There were some cute streets near the palace and we wandered through and found a place for lunch. As it was still drizzly we sat down near an American couple who we ended up having a huge yarn to. They were from New York and are practically our neighbours in Nice renting a unit in the building 2 doors down . We then went to the vintage car museum and saw lots of old cars ...funny that! Then we caught the bus to Menton and walked to the old town finding some good shopping stops along the way. We found a store where we could sample some gourmet jams, pates, liqueurs etc . On the way home in the bus a lady nearby was motion - sick into a paper shopping bag. Lyndie doesn't cope with this real well but was able to offer a serviette instead of sympathy chucking - her legs still went a bit wobbly though! Today was a good way to spend a rainy day, though the photos would have been nicer in the sun. Lyndie's worked out it rains (statistically) 1 day in 7 days (it rains 60 days out of 365), so we've now had our 2 days of rain in Nice. There's 50% chance of rain tomorrow though...We're backing the other 50%!

Contemporary Art Museum

Today I wanted to get my painting done so Lyndie went her own way to Cannes to shop and I stayed at the unit to paint. By 2 pm I was happy with my progress so I went to the Modern Art Museum.Saw sculptures by Jean Tingley,models of Chrisco's wrapped buildings and works by Leger and Matisse but was disappointed as a whole . Lyndie had a dodgy set of keys (Which opens everything but the front gate) so we had arranged for me to go down every half hour to see if she was back yet from 4.30 on ,by 7.30 i was hoping ahe was alright but it turned out the bus was in a traffic jam and she was in the bus for 2and a half hours. she went there by train this morning and it only took 25 minutes by train. we had tea at home and went for a walk. Lyndie had had a good day shopping with quite a few purchases in the shopping street, and walked through the old town again and he walked up to a church and castle, and then walked out on the port pontoons after not being able to find Johnny Depps hand-prints around the Cannes Palais .

A Taste of Provence

Today we booked a half day tour to Grasse, Gourdon ,Tourette-sur-Loup and St Paul De Vence. The main reason was we want to go to Gourdon and can't do it by bus. We havent been to the other places either except St Paul De Vence and we are happy to go back there as there is more to see. On the tour was an Australian couple from Perth and 3 chinese people - a son and his parents and the tour guide called Morgan. We were in a VW Caravelle minibus.
First stop was a perfume factory in Grasse where they gave a tour of how they used to make perfumes and how they do it today. We could try the different fragrances and we all got back in the bus smelling beautiful. Then on to Gourdon, a clifftop medievil village set above a huge gorge where they do canyoning and rockclimbing. We just wandered the very few streets in this little town. Just a photo stop outside Tourettes and then an hour in St Paul De Vence . We went down different streets to the last timeand along the fortress wall with views to the valley below.We came back for our lemon meriague gelati that was fabulous last time and this time.
Back in Nice we stopped at a restaurant for dinner and shared a nicoise menu that included a nicoise salad, a beef provential casserole with polenta and an apple pie (not at all like the apple pie we know but very nice just the same.) It was a lovely meal and plenty for both of us

Museums

We went to Museum Beautxarts and Museum Massena in the next 2 days .I really only knew about the Dufy and Sisley works, most of the rest were too old for me to know about. I did find the portraits in the Massena to be amazing with the abililty to portray velvet,lace, leather with such realism. I also enjoyed the colourful works of Cheret.

Cannes

This morning we took the bus to Musee Matisse which I found to be OK but wouldnt rave. Then next door to the musee archelogical which is an excavation site of old Roman baths and a building housing some of the finds. Lyndie found it more interesting than me probably because I have recently been to this sort of thing in Naples , Athens and Ephesus.... Seen one dug up pot seen 'em all!
We got ready to go to Cannes by bus for the art opening. The trip took longer than expected (1hr 40min!) and we arrived just a bit late after walking down a cute shopping street - checked out a cheese shop and a butchers shop which sold quails (poor cute little things) and ducks with large clawsand heads intact ...we didn't have too much time to really look at Cannes before the art opening. We had hoped to wander around for an hour or so.
The exhibition had 100 artists work and some very interesting work and some quite ordinary. Some nice nibbles and wine.
As we went to catch the bus home an artist/craft market was set up in the square and it would have been good to wander a bit more slowly through it but we are still a bit over waiting for buses after the other days, so we jumped on the one that was there. The market will have to wait for another day ....or year!!!

Cagnes-sur-mer & St Paul de Vence

We caught the bus to Cagnes-sur-mer but we didn't go to the seaside bit we walked up the hill to the Renoir Musee. This was his home(photo) for the last 11 years of his life. It is in a magic spot with a view to the old town of Haut-de-Cagnes, a hilltop fortified village in one direction as well as a 180 view of the ocean in the other direction. It is set in a very old olive grove and is quite a large home with modern facilities which means he can't have been a starving artist before he died. His studio is set up like it was before he died except for the 760 paintings that were in there which I guess have been sold by now. There was a short video of him painting showing his crippled up hands...he had very bad arthritis, and a cheeky twinkle in his eye.
We then caught a shuttle bus to the old town and walked around(photo)but the shops and art galleries were shut as it was midday . Then a bus to St Paul de Vence - the most famous little hilltop village in the region - and by the time we got there all the artisans shops were open (2pm). There were lots of lovely galleries with very good art.We took lots of photos of the cute streets, so much so that both our cameras were on their last legs by the time we went home. We had a lemon meringue gelati (photo) - YUM with real meringue on the top!!. This flavour has now taken over from my previous favorites , pistatio and fig.
At home we did a bit more grocery shopping .There has been a notice in our lift which we asked about and found out it was a notice to say the water would be cut off for some time today.The water was a lovely brown colour when we returned showing that they had been doing some work. We hope we are cleaner after our shower tonight and not dirtier!!! We had a cuppa and some little pastry biscuits and a rest before dinner at home and our evening stroll .

Villefranche-Sur-Mer & St Jean Cap Ferrat

We caught the bus to Villefranche-sur-mer stopping to change buses at the old port of Nice which we walked around . A small market was at Villafranche where we saw them making the local dish, socce, so we had some - a sort of savoury pancake made with chick pea flour cooked in a pizza oven . We walked down to the citadel (photo) , an old fort that housed a sculpture exhibition but the most interesting bit was all the ceramics that they had recovered from the ocean beds nearby from past centuries showing how rich the area was. We then walked through the old town and bought a fruit tart. The place is a bit like Portovenere with coloured houses (photo) but there was an old 'street obscure' which was interesting.(photo)
We then caught the bus to St Jean Cap Ferrat not far down the road . At St Jean we did the 30 min walk around the rugged coastline passing a lovely little bay(photo) where people were snorkling. The coastline was quite remote and we figured the locals put the walking path in to get the tourists out of their town for a bit. Our walk ended at a swimming beach but we went back to the original bay and for a swim. The weather is pleasant with a nice breeze. We caught the bus home and had a late lunch .

Nice Rest Day

This morning we didn't really have a plan for the day we checked the weather and it said it was due to rain. We decided to have a museum day so set out to walk to Massena museum stopping at our cheap breakfast spot for croissants and coffee and Lynd bought a french towel nearby (so we can stop sharing the mini-towel provided in the unit). The museum wasn't open so we gave museums the flick and went on to the shoe shop we had seen the other night .By then it was properly raining and we thankfully had an umbrella between us. We bought a pair of shoes each and went back to do our fruit and grocery shop and then headed home as today is a bit of a wipe out for going anywhere. It only rains in Nice for approx 60 days of the 365 days in the year - this was one of them. We are heartened by a forecast of sunny weather for the next few days.
By evening it was sunny again and we went out to find a post office and the church's social at Carros beach but didnt find either. It was still pleasant to wander at a different end of the promonade. We got home had dinner including proscuito and rockmelon for entree -typical italian dish. Lyndie had bought a rose wine but we discovered it had a cork in it and we dont have a corkscrew do we!??. We were stumped as to how we were going to open it when Lyndie had the brainwave that there possibly might be a corkscrew in the cultery drawer here in the unit since we are in France! "Walah"... yes there was.

Eze Day Trip

We went to the antique markets which replace the flower makets but only on a Monday. Lyndie bought some shoes, then we took the bus to Eze, a hamlet perched on a hilltop. It is described as a fortified feudal centre high in the hills overlooking the Provencal coast built during the early Middle Ages to stave off raids from corsairs (whatever they are!!). It is a bit of a tourist'' must see'' with lots of artists galleries and an ancient feel . We took heaps of photos again of lovely stone alleys winding up and down around the cliffsides...not too many steps though(photo). You would think our legs would be feeling fitter but quite the opposite!! they feel like jelly whenever we start to climb up any steps.
We bought some lovely soap and i nearly bought a tea box like the one at our first b and b at lake como but didnt .Don't know if i will regret that decision ...probably. We then took a different bus down to the sea and sat in a park(photo) at Beauleiu-sur-mer to eat banana on baggette for lunch (at 3pm)and then we walked to the beach area there but didn't go for a swim (photo).
We then caught the bus which ended up being an airport express bus. The driver let us off at our stop but only after pretending that he wasn't going to and getting us to resign ourselves to the fact that we were going the whole way to the airport and back. Also yesterday at the market a man wouldn't let Julie through a shortcut through his shop, and then relented saying he was only joking - I think that's their sense of humour.

Vence Day Trip

This morning the manager lady came to give us a spare set of keys. We are a bit paranoid about the keys as we will be a bit stuck if we lock them inside the unit. At least we know where the manager is in the building if we need her ...thats if we can get into the building! (and mind you, she doesn't speak a word of English, so she rattles away in French and looks searchingly into our eyes for some sign of comprehension ) We are in the habit of saying 'keys' as we exit the unit! We had cereal for breakfast, the lovely crunchy europe cereal with the dried strawberrys and blueberries. We then caught the bus to Vence, seeing the cute "st paul de vence" (photo)on the way but it is not on this bus route unfortunately but it is a place I want to see. Vence looked very ordinary and we walked to the chapelle matissee but it was closed. We then found the old town of Vence and ambled through the gorgeous old narrow alleys(photo). another plus was a secondhand market in progress in the square so our fears of wasting a day were alleyed! I bought a plate (photo) from the Lions club stall. Lynd had a coffee and we caught the bus home. I did 3 postcard size paintings in the afternoon.
We went out to find the English baptist church service in a nice old building with a dome ceiling and lovely acoustics. The people were very friendly and we stayed for supper .
It rained during church and we walked home in the drizzle but it was a lovely walk. We tried to catch the tram at one stage but it was full so we continued walking and discovered some lovely streets and a pedestrian mall lit up with lamps, and found a shoe shop we will probably return to.

Nice Day 1 & 2

We caught 3 different trains to Nice. No delays and we only forgot to validate the ticket for the last 2 legs but no ticket collector came to check .Phew! .The trip was particularly pretty as we got closer to Nice. We walked to the gallery 20min 1.2 km and then we had to walk to the residence as they didn't offer to drive us another 20min with our luggage (15kgs each!!) The lady who showed us the flat didnt speak any english so we tried our best to understand how to work the keys....like a swipy thing to let you up the lift like at hotels. The unit is very basic (photo) and although the building fronts onto the promonade we are in a back unit and it faces a garden and another block of units. We are on the top floor the 7th floor which means we can see the mountains behind Nice and some lights of Nice at night. We went to find a place for tea with wifi and ate pizza at a sort of bar place with ELO and old style music that was nice to listen to . It was lovely to walk along the promonade(photo) and dispite having done a lot of walking today we managed to go quite a way before turning back. The lights along the waterfront look lovely and their were lots of people out walking.


In the morning we found a pastry shop nearby with a breakfast deal for 2 croissants, 1 juice and a coffee for 2euro20 bargain!! We walked to the tourist office and got some info then bought a 7 day bus pass and walked to the residency gallery. At the gallery we were able to get a wifi password which means we can have internet in the unit. YAY!!! We walked to the old town which was very quaint and went into a musee 'Palais Lascaris' with a display of old instruments. We bought some things for a picnic lunch and went through the flower market (photo).We ate lunch on the promonade and then climbed the steps up the big rock headland with views of Nice and the promonade(photo) .The water colour here is out of this world, an icy turquise near the shore going to a deep turquiose a fair way out. Lotsos people on the beach. We caught the bus home and had a siesta.Yes we have succumbed to the french way as it makes a lot of sense to get out of the heat and to be able to enjoy more of the lovely evenings. We both slept! and after an hour and a half we were ready to think about going out again. We went to the grocery shop just around the corner and Lyndie ahd a swim.We cooked our first meal. Chicken with cooked zucchini and caprese salad with a syrup of kiwi and banana to drink.

Portofino

We were woken by the shutters banging ,a child crying and a chorus of roosters crowing across the valley at 5.30am. We had breakfast in the garden with 2 couples and it was nice talking to them. We wanted to take the ferry to Portofino today but it was suspended due to windy weather so we took the train to Santa Margarita Ligure and the bus to Portifino and got there at around midday. It certainly is as beautiful as everyone says. The water colour is incredible and the colourful houses make a memorable impression. We sat down for a picnic lunch on the harbour in front of the millionaires boats and discovered that the grape juice we bought at the grocery shop was in fact red wine! (photo). We should have known with an 11% marked on the front. We found some very good art galleries and walked up many steps to Castello Brown with great views over Portofino.(photo) We also went into a church that was again very impressive and passed Lyndie's hallelujah chorus test with flying colours.
Portofino done and dusted, we walked the 5km back to Santa Margarita Ligure stopping at a small cove (photo)and Paraggi beach (photo)for a swim .
We had dinner and caught the bus home over the mountain affording wonderful views over the coastline and hills.

Camogli and San Rocco

We had a leisurly breakfast with an english couple celebrating there 50th anniversary We said our good byes and caught the train to Camogli.The Lady from the b & b picked us up at the station to save us a very long uphill climb. We left our luggage there and went down to Camogli (photo) to check it out.It is again a lovely town with cute fishing harbour and beach. We had crepes for lunch and sat on the rock wall watching the kids jumping into the water. As it was only 3pm we decided to do the steep uphill walk to San Rocco . We think it took about an hour and a half and while it was not very scenic on the way up the view at the top was worth it. we could see back to camogli (photo)and the other way to san fructossa. we continued a little way along the scenic walk around the coast for a short way until it started to go downhill too much. We returned to our b & b Villa Rosa and settled into our room which has 2 windows with views to the hills (photo)and is decoated in old antiquey stuff. a good choice .

Portovenere

We gave trains the flick today and had a relaxing day on a boat trip to portovenere which is just south of the cinque terre near la spezia. It was an amazing place to enter by boat as there was a huge church built on what was a roman fortress(photo), and then the rows of colourful narrow houses like cinque terre(photo). We had some hours to kill at portovenere so we walked up a shady allyway sampled some genovese pesto saw some pasta shaped like huge plate and rolled into a tube...weird.(photo)We then went to the church fortress and looked inside, climbed to the top for a view and looked down the other side into a sort of blue grotto. Nice! wandered into another church which had amzing accoustics so because we were by ourselves Lyndie did her best rendition of the hallelujah chorus until we realised others had also come in. We found an art exhibition . The artists work is not dissimilar to the works I have just put into the Graydon Gallery in the city exhbition.ie Loose dribbly textured cityscapes. We then went to the square and found a shady spot for some packed lunch and a gelati. We caught the boat back stopping off at Monterosse for a swim with the thousands as it was VERY HOT TODAY!!! back home for tea and biccies on the balcony (photo)

CinqueTerre

We went by train to Vernazza and walked to the harbour and up to a lookout, up some other alleys and were tired even before we had started our hikes of the five lands. We did start it and what was suppose to be an hour and a half walk to Corneglia took us 2 hrs and we were not being too slack! It was quite torturous with ups and downs (though it would have been worse coming from the other direction). Mind you it was a very hot day, and the signs say not to walk in the middle of the day - we are Australian though!). We bought some cold water at a halfway point (good marketing !!!). Corneglia was very quaint and we had a gelati and some packed lunch and a lovely pastry. We then found out the next section of walking track was closed due to a landslide so we caught the train to Manerola. At Manarola we walked to the harbour and had a swim in the deep blue water floating around because of the high salt content of the Meditteranian. Some kids were jumping off a huge rock into the water. The next section of walk to Riomaggoire is called the 'walk of love' and was only 30min and mostly level . At Riomaggiore we bought a slice of pizza and caught the boat back to Monterosse .Seeing the towns from the water was special and Monterosse was a pleasnt surprise - we were originally going to give it the flick. It had a lovely harbour and esplanade with shops and trees along the beach. We sat watching some people fishing - Lyndie went for a swim but I rested on the sand (well little rocks!!) It was 7pm and the beach was in the shade a lovely time of night and we were in no hurry to go home but by the time we were ready the trains were delayed and we had to sit on the platform for 30 min (one of the trains was delayed 2 hrs 40!! Glad ours wasn't). We got home around 9pm bought some apricots for tea and had our cuppa and biccies.

To Moneglia

We had breakfast at the hotel but it was all packaged stuff so not great.Then we checked out and bought our tickets but had some time to kill before we caught the train to genova.We tried to find wifi but no luck.we had to change trains stations at Genova which we didnt realise until we arrived so that set us back a bit -Had to change from the intercity station to the regional station. So we had a bit of waiting around at platforms.The trip to moneglia from Genova was prettier as we were travelling along the coast and arrived in Moneglia at 3.24pm then walked 10 min to the b and b through a cute alleyway. The B&B is really beautiful inside. We have a balcony with views of the ocean, mountains and church tower. But it is also right next the train line so we will close the door at night and use the aircon so we deaden the train noise.
After settling in we went down to the water for a swim and then wanderd along the waterfront and found a place for tea.the meal was a bit disappointing though especially for Lyndie who thought she was ordering scallops(scalopini but it turned out to be veal or pork?I had minestone but it had a strong pesto flavour.We later found lots of restaurants in a very quainr square so will try them the next few nights.

Milan

We dropped Jim at the airport and returned the car and found Lyndie waiting patiently at the Hertz car hire place.Her plane had got in at about 7am. so she had been there a couple of hours. We said good bye to Jim and got the bus to the city and found our hotel.,had showers and went for a walk to the Duomo and the huge galleria next door going through a garden on the way. We stopped at maccas opposite the duomo just to say we had eaten opposite the duomo as Jim had eaten(a frappe) at a restaurant opposite the duomo a few years ago. We stopped for gelati and fruit salad(photo) on the way home as it was a long walk. .
Walked back and tried the internet again but it is not working for us at this hotel unfortunately.
We went out for tea around the corner and had pizza and grilled mediteranian vegies and walked passed a stone church on the way home.

Lake Maggiore

Our last full day together, we were woken up by a huge clap of thunder followed by a big electrical storm during the night but by morning it was fine if a little foggy. We had breakfast in the kitchen which felt very authentic (photo).We took a drive to a shopping centre to buy some last minute gifts and then went to Laverno to walk around the town and possibly do a boat trip but we found a cute hardware shop that Jim loved so much so that he said he could now live in Italy! We got some lunch and had a picnic by a stream. we got home early so we could do some packing and sorting and have a rest before tea.
We both have a better appreciation of Italian drivers as they are excellent judges of whether cars will fit through tight spaces, though there seem to be quite a few scrape marks on the walls.
We walked to tea and had pasta .then home for an early night in readiness for getting Jim off to the airport tomorrow

To Lake Maggiore

After three and a half weeks of glorious sunshine, last night poured rain and today was our first wet day, with rain on and off, some quite heavy. We had a leisurely morning enjoying a sleep in and then travelled to Lake Maggiore via the beautiful Lake Lugano. We arrived after lunch, which consisted of fresh figs and greek yoghurt with honey and nuts.
Our final b and b together is Antico Borgo Sando which is a renovated 14th century convent, and is very cute with a great view. Our older hosts have been very helpful and funny already and this is more like experiencing Italy than the last place. Our room is done with old antiques and the garden terrace for breakfast is quaint .My kind of place and the roads to get here are not too bad compared with the last place.
We went for a drive to the lake and went in to Saint Catarina, an old monestry set into the base of a cliff. On the way home it poured down rain but fined up in time to walk down for tea. We sampled a number of fish dishes in a degustation menu but were too full by the end and it cost too much so won't do that again.