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Vikki: When you hear about the French Riviera, it conjures up a picture of beautiful people, flash cars, glamour shops and endless money. Well you wouldn't be wrong. While there are lots of tourists like us (at the other end of the scale) you can't help but just stare at everyone and everything. It really is a different world. We are in Villeneuve Loubet, a smallish village between Nice and Cannes, nicely placed for checking out the general area over the next few days.
With blue sky and blue sea as the back ground, cars and scooters zipping around everywhere (the lanes for driving in are really skinny and people cut over all the time) and people crossing roads at every turn, there is a lot to look out for when you're driving. Parking buildings are all underground (going down not up like home) so tight corners are the norm. I have to say it left me somewhat shaky driving through narrow streets, reading signs and being guided by GPS to get to our parking building today in Nice. Note to self - next time look for a parking building on the outskirts of town, not in the centre amongst tiny skinny one way streets!
Having arrived in one piece and the car no worse off, it was great being able to just wander, not feel pressured to check out old historic sites or main attractions. More so just meandering through markets and shops, along the beach promenades, and swimming when you get too hot. All in all a very pleasant way to experience the area.
Tonight, an evening walk for us on the beach was another delight. Warm, no wind, kids still swimming in the sea. Restaurants jammed packed with people, many still arriving after 9pm for a late dinner. For us, a trip past the local supermarket on the way back to pick up cream pastries was a not too healthy but throughly deserving way to finish a fab day.
Raj: I love the water and beaches here. A little cool too start with, but so clear and refreshing. The coastline stretches for miles, full of people working on their tans. We are also getting used to the boobbies which appear everywhere, and Vikki and the kids are happy to point them out to me as well (just in case I missed any)! Cannes was particularly nice (for, mainly, the beach I mean) as I preferred the sand to the stoney beaches of Nice. There is no pool where we are staying so there is no contest about where we swim. All in all very relaxing for me as I've left Vikki to cope with the city driving and parking. Better her than me as I would be honking at arrogant drivers, hitting people walking on the road and generally getting stressed at the confusing roads and road markings. Highway driving for me thanks.
Anouk: Yesterday we arrived in Villeneuve Loubet, near Nice. Today one thing that I really enjoyed was going to a beach in Nice. Instead of sand there were stones, so it wasn't very comfortable to sit. The water was so clear that you could easily see the bottom. The stones really hurt my feet so I had to wear my shoes in the water. Since I had my shoes on when I jumped over waves I fell down because shoes put more weight on my body. The water wasn't cold this time but it wasn't too warm either.
Harley: One of the things that I have done while I have been in Villeneuve Loubet was going to the beach. The beach that we went to today was a stone beach. While me and my dad were swimming in the Mediterranean Sea we saw big and small fish out deep. It is nice and refreshing to go to the beach after walking in the hot sun that gets up to 35 degrees. I've also seen lots of mega yachts and flash cars like Ferrari's and Bentley's. Tomorrow we are going to go to Monaco which is a tiny country about 2 square kilometres, and is the second smallest country in the world.
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