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8th June - We had a late start as the internet was so slow in the hotel last night it took us until 2 a.m. to update the blog with all the photographs and videos.We headed back into Grenoble (parking everywhere in France is much easier on a Sunday as its a quieter day, people-wise, and parking fees do not apply and so we managed to park on the riverfront) to take the pod style cable car up to Fort de la Bastille, which looms high above the city and therefore offers great views of the area (and we have worked out that I am a sucker for a view!).On the way we walked through a typical French flea market, full of lots of second hand goods you wouldn't dream of buying (although the French were buying them at an alarming rate!) and a few pieces of really good Renaissance style second hand furniture. After a look around at the view from the top of the Fort we got a cable car pod back down and headed back to the car to start our long journey to Nice in the Cote D'Azur region in the South of France.The journey was just under 6 hours from here, so we shared the driving equally.On the way we drove up mountains, back down mountains, around mountains, everything you could think of really (mountains mind you, not hills!).The poor Micra had a lot of work to do, we were constantly gearing up and down for the steepness of the mountains on the way up and then always on the brakes on the way down.We saw some beautiful scenery but there was nowhere to stop and take photos as the roads were so narrow.There was even a lake in the middle of a mountain range that was perfectly aqua in colour.We then started to drive through villages where it seemed that time had stood still for years, every house had an old crumbling advert painted on the side for products that stopped being produced before we were even born.It was really quaint and totally unlike any part of France we had ever seen.When we arrived in Grenoble this morning it was overcast and threatening to rain, and since hitting the mountains and little villages it had been steadily raining - making the mountain passes rather slippery!!!Suddenly, through the mountains we could see one mountain that was bathed in bright sunshine, and as we arrived at the dividing line between the last mountain and the new one, the rain stopped and we entered into the sun, and it was absolutely red hot.From having our coats on in the car we went down to our t-shirts, the windows on the car were down (of course we don't have air-con, this is my Micra we are talking about!) and we knew we were in the South of France, where the weather is always hotter than the rest of France and very Mediterranean.We arrived at our hotel and after checking in we took the car and had a drive along Nice's extremely long beachfront.Nice is an extremely beautiful place and with its pebble beaches, it reminded us a lot of Brighton.All over France there is great excitement at the moment and the bars and restaurants are more full than usual due to France's being in Euro 2008, and Nice is no exception.We took a walk around the old town and ended up at a restaurant (another Italian - France is packed with restaurants selling pizza and pasta) for dinner before going to the main square where there was a tremendous fountain and statues of human bodies which are lit up at night and change colour every few seconds which have a great effect on the area below.We then headed back to the hotel ready for a full day of exploring tomorrow.
9th - We got up and drove around 20 miles (which actually took quite a long time along winding, narrow roads and through the middle of mountains) to the independent principality of Monaco (they pronounce it very differently to how we do, a bit like Mon-ARR-ko), the world's second smallest country after the Vatican.Monaco is its own sovereign state, with its own national holiday, red and white flag and dialect.We headed straight to the Palais du Prince to watch the changing of the guard, always carried out everyday at 11.55 a.m.We then took a tour around the state apartments of the current monarch, Prince Albert, former home of his parents, Prince Rainier and Princess Grace (Grace Kelly).The tour of the apartments was fairly short but did give you an idea of how they live, and it included a tour of the Louis 15th bedroom and the throne room, where new Princes are crowned as the ruler of the country.We then took a walk around Monaco's narrow and pretty pedestrian streets before picking up some bits and pieces for a picnic ouside the Cathedrale de Monaco, where Prince Rainer and Princess Grace are buried.We then made our way back to the car in the scorching sunshine and drove back to Nice to check into our next hotel.Once there we decided to take the bus into Nice, which was around 3 miles away.We were told that a one way ticket for the bus was about 80p each, but when we got on the bus driver said we were too far away from Nice to be included in this offer (even though it was being advertised on the bus stop!) and charged us about £3.50 each for an all day ticket.We were sure we had been conned!Getting off the bus we took a painful walk on the extremely pebbly beach and I even dipped my feet in the sea (I am not a big sea lover as I have an extreme fear of sharks!) and then we walked up the length of the beach which was filled with sunbathers and, most surprising, a tramp with his trousers and pants down clearly pleasuring himself for all to see!Just when you think you have seen it all!!We then walked up hundreds of steps (more steps, our whole French trip has been about steps!) to get to the Parc du Chateau, a lovely hilltop park which has great views over Nice and the beachfront area.It also has access to a waterfall which you can see cascading down the hill in Nice, especially at night.We headed back to the old town for dinner which was once again packed as France were playing in the football and chose a fairly expensive restaurant for a change, but unfortunately the food was only average and the service was appalling, so much so that at one stage they had to stop all food coming out of the kitchen to try and catch up with themselves.We then went to catch a bus back to the hotel (it was only about 9 p.m.) and we noticed that the bus stop showed that there were no more buses after about 8.15 p.m.We were then even more annoyed that we had been sold an all day bus ticket and had only been able to use them once.Lazyboy-Ralph was more concerned about the fact that we now had to walk 3 miles back to the hotel when we had been walking around Monaco and Nice all day, but we got on with it and were exhausted when we finally got there.
10th - We got up and went to see the Cathedrale Orthodoxe Russe St-Nicolas, which is the largest Russian cathedral outside Russia and is topped by six onion domes.Unfortunately we were not allowed inside as they were closing for lunch (even priests seem to take a 2 hour lunch in France!) so we left Nice and headed on to Antibes, home to Marineland and Aquasplash.As the weather was so hot we thought we would spend half a day looking around Marineland with all its animals, and then spend the afternoon at Aquasplash (a waterpark) to cool down from the incessant heat.Unfortunately when we got there they were working on Aquasplash (probably to get it ready for the kid's school holidays) and so we only had the option of Marineland, a sort of smaller French version of Seaworld in Orlando.We saw all sorts of marine animals and three really good shows with sealions, killer whales and dolphins.The dolphin show was by far the best as I had never seen dolphins hoola hooping using their noses before, but there is a first time for everything, right?An old French women who was sat at the side of us also added to the enjoyment, shouting things like "allez" "woooow" and "C'est dance dolphin!!!" ("It is dolphin dancing") at every given opportunity at the top of her voice, seemingly forgetting she was not watching the show on tv at home!!Scorched from a day in the sun at Marineworld we drove on to Cannes, movie resort of France, where the film festival is held every year.We managed to find a campsite just outside Cannes and got a pitch for us, the tent and the little Micra for about £15.00.We thought that as the weather was so hot we should give camping a go, especially as we have brought all the camping equipment along with us.As we pulled up onto our pitch another couple pulled up onto their pitch at the side of us at the same time.They must have had one of those pop-up tents as by the time we had got the stuff out of the car their small tent was up and they were off to have a look around the facilities - we couldn't believe it!!!Tent up, we were pleased to discover that the campsite had a pleasantly temperate outdoor pool, ideal for cooling off when you have been putting a tent up in blistering heat, so we jumped in and cooled off before going out and finding a lovely local restaurant which served the best pizza Ralph has ever had.Even though the campsite was near a busy road and there were a group of Dutch people drinking and laughing until all hours of the morning, we somehow managed to get to sleep, inside the oven that was our tent!Ralph was on top form that night though, commenting before we went to sleep, "all that money in the bank and we are sleeping on the floor under canvas at the side of a motorway!!".
11th - Happy birthday to our friend Anita in Alwick - we owe you that New York City hot dog!!We woke up to realise that the heat inside the tent had only got hotter and was now like a furnace so I went to take a shower while Ralph took down the tent and all the equipment (see what I did there - not daft am I!?).We now know that French campsites do not provide you with toilet paper in the toilets and you are meant to bring your own, something we will know for the future, in the meantime a small pack of travel tissues that I had from my mum's house had to suffice!We finally left the camp site and headed into Cannes and were not entirely impressed by what we saw.The streets are overrun with cars and the back streets are quite dirty.The main front harbour area is filled with expensive designer shops (think Jimmy Choo, Louis Vitton etc.) and the whole place seems to live on its reputation as the well-heeled place to be for the film festival throughout the rest of the year.Most people there were extremely pretentious and were only there to "be seen".The only thing we found to recommend Cannes were lovely sandy beaches, the first we have seen in the south of France (all the rest have been pebble) and lots of the buildings on the back streets had at least one whole side of them painted to look like movie lots, actors, scenery etc.Moving on we headed to St Tropez, which I would describe as a much nicer and compact Cannes.It has the same wealth and expensive shops and boutiques, but it doesn't seem to shout about it in the way that Cannes does.It also has pretty, narrow streets filled with little restaurants and bars and a seafront where I managed to buy a copy of last week's Heat magazine (now that's cosmopolitan!) and we saw ex-footballer/manager Rudd Gullit in a restaurant eating lunch with his wife - now we are truly mixing with the rich and famous!!! We headed up a steep hill (yet again) to the Citadelle de St-Tropez for a view of the bay but we only got a small glimpse as the Citadelle was closed today due to refurbishment work (we don't seem to be having much look with things being closed!) and I kindly told a French family, in French nonetheless, not to bother struggling to the top with the pram as it was closed.I am truly getting kinder in my old age as just the other day I rescued a Frenchman's baguette from the rain sodden road after he dropped it (yes I know it sounds like a comedy sketch from Allo, Allo!!).Ralph said he has never seen anyone with such a look of utter devastation as that guy when he dropped it!! We treated ourselves to a drink outside one of the bars on the waterfront (we usually try to avoid wasting money on things like this as we can get a bottle of water from shops up the side streets for a quarter of the price) and then decided to push on to Marseille, in the region of Provence.We had been told, in our guidebook, that Marseille can be quite a dangerous city and you should not leave anything in your car, even the boot, as it would get broken into. We therefore arrived at the old port (Vieux port) and headed straight into Marseille and decided to pay to put the car in an underground car park to avoid the risk.On the way there we passed through the back streets of Marseille and we could understand why people find the place dangerous.It was filled with people just hanging around with no obvious purpose, just watching us and the car as we slowly made our way past.Once we got to the car park which was located on the waterfront things were infinitely better, but I wouldn't want to have to even drive never mind walk through the back streets of Marseille again.The water front was absolutely full of bars and restaurants all of which (apart from one which was really odd out of hundreds of places) were packed out.We found a nice Chinese restaurant and had a meal there before walking back to the car through the streets of Marseille with some interesting entertainment, including the worst karaoke we have ever heard!
12th - We woke and headed back into Marseille to see the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde, which dominates the skyline in this town, and yes, this meant more steep hills!The Basilique is lovely and has been built with alternate almost black and white stones, which gives a beautiful effect.It also has a gold Mary holding baby Jesus on top, which again has to be seen to be believed.The views from up here are incredible and, in the blazing sunshine, Marseille looked much prettier than it did last night.It's a huge sprawling city, something you don't really realise walking around until you see how far it spreads out when you are high above it, and its actually France's oldest and largest city after Paris (though Nimes also claims to be the oldest - more about that tomorrow).We then look a quick look at the small fish market which is held on the waterfront until 12 noon, with each stall selling whatever their specific boat has managed to catch that morning.We then left Marseille and headed to Aix-en-Provence, a lovely chic town, similar to Paris, with wide boulevards to walk on (they actually make a huge amount of difference in making a place feel less crowded and relaxed), tree lined streets, public squares, loads of lovely fountains (some supplied by hot springs found here) and statues.We had a walk up Cours Mirabeau, Aix-En-Provence's equivalent of the Champs Elysee in Paris, and found a restaurant to have lunch.Mine was a strange lunch in that, for the set menu, they served me with a pizza, followed by a massive plate of noodles bolognaise (it was meant to be spaghetti but they were definitely really thick noodles, the kind you can buy to use if you are making your own Chinese meal!!)After that I got a desert too and was vowing never to eat again!We then got into the car for the last time today (we have decided not to go out again tonight as we are taking a break from eating out) to head to our hotel in our next destination, Avignon. Arriving at our coffin-like hotel room - we found a chain of hotels very early on, which are called Premier Classe and are anything but, and have tried to stay in them whenever we can because they have free internet and sometimes aircon too, for just £28-30 - we caught up on emails, news, etc and got an early night because we were knackered. One last memory from today - courtesy of the thinness of Premier Classe's walls we can now say that Frenchmen, at the overture of lovemaking, do utter the cliché 'Mon Dieu!'
13th - Happy birthday to our friend Nick from Alnwick - we owe you a beer in New York City. The vocal amour next-door scuppered our plans of getting a good night's sleep (but hearing the bed breaking was damned funny) so quite tired we drove into Avignon and managed to park in the free student car park along the city walls next to the beautiful university.If you were a student, this is the sort of building you would want to study in, just stunning. The whole of Avignon's old city is surrounded by 4.3km of intact city walls built to protect the home of the Popes that resided there for most of the 14th Century. The Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes) is an enormous combination of palace and churches in one beautiful edifice that (like every other building in the south of France) remains fresh and new looking unlike buildings elsewhere that are dulled and dirty looking due to centuries of rainwater. Like Aix-en-Provence, Avignon has a central area with wide walkways, trees and beautiful Renaissance architecture, unlike Aix-en-Provence, it has a building whose front is a living carpet of flora and moss. It is quite rightly referred to as 'The belle of Provence's ball' - in our opinion. The only downside is the amount of tourists (which, of course, we are also guilty of adding to) as there are tour buses vomiting out scores of Americans, Japanese and Australians to clog up the streets and push the prices up. However it was definately another unanticipated beauty. A short drive away is the small city of Nimes, which holds the world's best preserved Roman ampitheatre, where we whiled away a good few hours on their excellent audiotour, telling us all about Roman society, gladiatorial combat, bullfights and the history of Nimes. Nimes is one of only a few places in France that is licensed to hold bullfights through to the execution of the bull, though these being held in September this year so we did not get to see one. The streets of Nimes are yet another maze of winding pedestrian walkways lined with all genres of architecture since the 13th Century and are very much like Provence, despite being in the neighbouring Languedoc region. The only other main attraction here is the Maison Carree, an intact Roman temple built to honour Emperor Augustus' adopted sons.We couldn't get a good shot of this as they have covered the majority of it up as they are installing a 3D film about the gladiators called "Heros".We then took a long drive to Carcassonne to see the city's ramparts and turrets near the Spanish border. The clouds came over as Kirsty tries to flog the life out of the Micra and it has provided a nice respite from the scorching heat - I don't want to sound like I'm complaining though, if the sun continues all the way until after Glastonbury, we'll be as happy as pigs in the proverbial.The hotels we usually stay in were full in this area so we had to go for the camping method again, our second night under canvas in France (again a bargain at a cost of £15.00).We headed into the town of Carcassonne for dinner and were surprised to see how quiet it was, there was no one around and the streets were empty.The waitress at our restaurant obviously felt sorry for us as, when we were the last people in the place, she brought over half a bottle of wine for me to drink (Kirsty is not a wine drinker) that someone on another table had bought and then left.Of course I did not refuse!!
14th - A much more comfortable night in the tent last night as although the weather is still sunny and warm, its not as scorching as it has been down on the south coast.I had the added enjoyment of a donkey who must have resided near the campsite and who delighted me a few times through the night with his braying.I am not sure that everyone else on the campsite will have felt the same though!There were loads of British staying at the campsite and it makes you realise how popular this area of France is with us Brits.Monaco, Nice and Avignon were jam-packed full of Americans too.We packed up our stuff and headed up to the old walled city (called La Cite) for a look around.It was quite a surprise to us to see that inside the walls were loads of really sweet, quaint shops and restaurants as we had not expected anything to be inside the walls, just something to have a walk around.After a good look around we headed back to the car to move on to our next destination, Lourdes.We have so far noticed the following things about France (1) They drive like maniacs - this mainly applies to the motorbike drivers who wear only shorts and t-shirts, but always helmets, and who screech up behind cars, overtake on bends and frequently drive on the wrong side of the road in busy areas to get past traffic.(2) We have never seen as many McDonalds in all our life - seriously, France must have a bigger percentage of McDonalds restaurants (sometimes called Ronaldland here) than America - they are everywhere.(3) We have never seen as many Italian restaurants in our lives, and we have been to Rome.We don't know why, perhaps because it is quick and easy to make, but every other restaurant is a pizza/pasta place. (4) The French toll roads are an absolute fortune.Every hour's driving on the motorway costs us on average £10.00 which really adds up when you are doing as many miles as we are.We often try to take a route avoiding tolls, which can sometimes be a few less miles but can add a couple of hours onto your journey, as it is often through countryside, vineyards and villages.Still it's nicer to drive through that sort of area than drive on a motorway.(5) The French are given 2 hours off work for lunch - yes lunch!Restaurants become packed between 11.30 a.m. (when the first lot of workers stop for lunch) and 2.30 p.m. and lunch is a really big thing here, with everyone seeming to eat 3 courses in a restaurant rather than stay at their desks or take sandwiches in.(6) Children in France drink bottled water rather that pop!Children of all ages, babies, toddlers, teenagers etc. all choose to drink bottled water and we have yet to see a child with a can or bottle of pop! Lourdes, within a stones throw of the Pyrenees Mountains is a very busy place - not helped by the motorcycle rally held here this weekend. It has, of course, the largest concentration of old, infirm, disabled and disfigured people we have ever seen, accompanied by the helpers and nuns of the local hospitals, all dressed in specific outfits, some with white nuns outfits and some with almost adult school uniforms accompanied by berets. This concentration is a little distressing as it is obvious that most of these people are here in the hope of being cured of their sorrows by the waters near The Grotto (where a 14 year old girl called Bernadette Soubirous saw the Virgin Mary in 18 visions in 1858). The Grotto is an alcove in the rockface that supports the giant church at Lourdes and, since these visions, some people have claimed to have been healed by the spring water that trickles there and are now available to bathe in nearby- even to the point that people queue for hours to touch the trickles on the cave or try to absorb some with tissues, often holding pictures of loved ones in their hands. While this is clearly a moving experience for millions and a focal point for the desperate to pilgrimage to, the odds are clearly stacked against them (5 million visitors each year and the most recent confirmed case was in 2005 - I believe Las Vegas or the lottery are better odds; though Vegas tends to cause ailments rather than cure them). Around the fast running river there is a hugely ornate basilica that sits on the rockface with gardens sporting all manner of Catholic iconography. There are two processions a day in summer (at 5 and 9pm), the second one being candlelit. As people of 'little faith', we found little to identify with or enjoy in this spectacle, but the thousands present, bubbling with religious fervour, were clearly in their element and very moved by the whole atmosphere. In the more secular areas of Lourdes (which is the bulk of the town) it had a more 'Blackpool' feel, with tacky souvenir shops selling everything from Lourdes backscratchers to mousemats with the Pope on them - not just little shops, department store sized ones too! Suspecting that Ralph's colourblindness had not yet been cured we got something to eat and went back to the hotel to catch up on emails and book a hotel in Biarritz for tomorrow.
15th Happy Father's Day Dad, Dad and any other fathers reading this. Having seen all we wanted to of Lourdes, we took the long drive through the rich green countryside, keeping the green or snowy peaks of the Pyrenees to our left, on our way to Biarritz. Kirsty has had occasion to stop a couple of times as she has spotted donkeys in fields near the roads - which cheered her up no end - I suspect its not a dog she'll want as a pet when we get back now! I think I had the idea that Biarritz is a bit like Nice but on the Atlantic coast. It is rather more like Scarborough, with sunshine. It has a Victorian seaside resort feel about it with no grand ancient buildings, statues or much history except for it being a quaint seaside town full of wealthy people, surfers (its known for its surfing) and tourists. It is part of Basque Country (Spain is only a few miles away and can be seen along the coastline). There is a lovely lighthouse, craggy islands dotted along the shore and some rather nice looking restaurants. We took a good walk through the streets and the seashore and then had some beef and fish skewers in one restaurant, which were lovely, before heading back to the hotel (a better class one for a treat!) to update the blog… ouch! Kirsty didn't think much of Biarritz, but I really liked it - if there's sunshine and sea I'm happy. Kirsty, however, was happy to hear that on checking into the hotel I confidently strided in and declared 'Je suis un reservation' (I am a reservation)!
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