Day 13 – 8th May
Woke after a surprisingly good sleep considering Graeme’s bed went downhill on one side and Danni’s camp stretcher was so up and down we had to pad it up with a blanket underneath! On the road again by 8am – not sorry to say goodbye to Lyon.
We passed though pretty countryside along the way, even saw a basilica which was apparently built in honour of Mary Magdalene. She is said to have gone to live there for some years until her death, in France where she lived in a cave dwelling and it is said when she died, that 2 angels came and took her this particular place.
We drove for 2 hours, a stop in an auto grill for toilets and a cuppa, where the TD gave Danni a tin can filled with nougat that the staff gave her for us all going there I think! Danni went and said ‘merci beaucoup Carine”. She is keen to try the language and I think she appreciated us all trying?! We have had 4 people of various nationalities come up to us already and say how great Danni is on the bus, so that’s nice. PSP certainly helps alleviate long bus hours!
Arrived in Avignon after another 1 ½ hours where there were celebrations taking place. Today is a public holiday today in France to celebrate the end of WWII, and there was a ceremony with Veterans going on. Wandered around there for 1 ½ hours and we all picked up our baguettes that Carine had pre-ordered for us – freshly made with olive oil, tuna, egg and salad. We really enjoyed this town after Lyon, and everyone was feeling better. Saw an amazing papal palace and statue of the Virgin Mary and walked the grounds of it in the warm barmy sunshine – Yes the weather had fined up beautifully as we moved south. That is the plus of such a large land mass – when you move on a few hours to the south you have a completely different micro-climate.
On the road for another 3 ½ hours!! And we passed through the famous Cannes, then Nice and onto the principality of Monte Carlo- such opulence! OMG everything there is top end and there is apparently no crime at all. This was the one place we could leave our bags on the bus – yay, cos it was now 30C plus!
Wandered around this decadent town that spans only 2 kms. Gray was buzzing as this is where the Monaco Grand Prix is held in a few weeks, the barriers were up ready for the race and he knows it well from playing his computer racing game.
The road cars you see there are another thing, Lamborghini’s, Ferrari’s, Bentleys and many Smart cars! The lifestyle these people lead are so foreign to us – I just cannot imagine living like this and holding my head up in snobby pride! Saw 1 young ‘Paris’ look alike being chauffeur driven in the Bentley, while talking on her cellphone! The yachts there are also out of this world. Walked around for an hour or so as we couldn’t go into the casino with Danni, but that was fine. Gray bought a limited edition 2007 Michael Schumacher racing cap there, so he was happy!
Back to the bus and we were all pretty hot and tired with the long day, but happy with it. Drove back to Nice and were dropped at a restaurant on the edge of the Mediterranean, it was great. This included meal was the best one yet, salad for starter, chicken, beautiful potatoes and green beans for main and a strawberry layered sponge cake for dessert. We are getting to meet lots of people on the bus due to the seat rotation and the restaurant meals which is good.
I am impressed with Nice for sure and we have all day free tomorrow as we aren’t doing the morning optional sightseeing- will be great to have a sleep in.
Our hotel, Hotel Splendid was a ‘splendid surprise’ with 2 rooms again – Danni has the fold out double and we have 2 singles!!! However it also is on the corner of the building and we have these unusual windows that open on the 5th floor, and overlook several streets - looks great and only 3 blocks from the waterfront.
The french riveria is tres magnifique!
Impressions of France so far – Weather varies a lot from region to region.
*Countryside is expansive/picturesque and not crowded like the cities.
*There is a lot of unrest politically that see’s youth rioting in the streets.
*Graffiti absolutely everywhere except Monaco, but at least it uses real words and looks like the tagging from the 80’s – artistic!
*People have good manners on a whole.
*Moving around this country, you feel like you are entering new countries as they are all quite different.
*They have 19 nuclear power stations. Drove past 3 today.
*Road costs- petrol is $3 per litre and to drive the circumference of France as we are would cost you € 450 in a car and € 650 for a bus – shocking!! Toll bridges everywhere charging.
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