Cinema

Took a brave move yesterday and set out for a French movie without subtitles. We only understood 10 percent but the pictures were more than enough to crack up. Like a french Hangover.

You know that you are in a good hood when you can catch a bus to Monaco for 1 euro.

Visited the lovely little town of Ville Franche, on the bus route to Monaco. Houses built in to the cliffs, blue water, an old town a lot like Nice without its hustle and bustle. Their beach is better; in Nice the beach is made up of 'gallets' that are trucked in (this is supposed to be cleaner and lux), in VF it is course sand and you do not have to pay to sit on it. Crazy.

For its size the Cote d'Azur has many galleries- most of which are free. Visited the Matisse gallery set in a beautiful park north of Nice. His experimentation with Impressionism was surprisingly good.

It is funny how easy it is to take the small things for granted- take poster tubes. We searched the whole of Nice for days- only to find one and then get back to the apartment to find that the office below was throwing out dozens in their relocation. Score!

Pics: pasty legs at Villefranche/ moving house goes out the window in our building/sesame and fresh mint ice creams from Fenoccio's

The Tally.

True, Paris and wider France, is very romantic. It's architecture, buskers playing all the classics and soft light
make for a great walk in the town however local dog poo etiquette leaves a lot of room for improvement.

2-0 Trav at 13/3

Tips (so far...)
-Keep to the middle of the path- puppys and owners seem to keep right of the path.
-Do not look up at the old buildings for too long.
-Grass does not work- find a rock and a stick.
-Do not walk it through a store. It is a disaster for them.
-Keep an eye out for hotspots- dark sweeping corners on dog walking routes.
-Try not to be too frustrated with a direct hit- it takes your eyes off the game, especially in a 'hot spot'.
-Avoid sunset walking where possible and opt for the morning, after shopkeepers have washed the pavement.
-opt for shallow treads- herringbone or flats. Avoid deep military boot soles.

Le week-end in Nice

Ahhh. The feeling of relief as Friday arrives, something we haven't worried about in a while... No classes for 2 days, yay!

We took to explore Nice (maybe Monaco next w'end) and the weather played along, a beautiful 20 degrees and sunny- everyone flooded to tan at the beach and some keen beans were swimming.

We headed to the port to see the Parc du Chateau- a garden atop a hill that used to be used as a strategic defense base with views over the bay on both sides.

Caught a Hollywood movie with French subtitles, Carnage, which was a pleasant change. Funny how subtitles delay and miss the point sometimes.

Pics- every man and his dog come out for 20 degs/doves join us for petit dejourner/rach's best shot yet on an iPhone @ Nice' Museum of Modern Art (MAMAC)

Parlez-vous francaise?

We don't!

After 3 days of 4 hour classes of French and 2 hours a night of les devoirs (homework) we are not yet sure if we know more or less french than when we left. How do you say... ignorance is bliss?

Have had our first experience of bad weather in Nice (ironic) and of course Murphy's law meant that we had a 20 minute walk in a torrential downpour. Thank god for Goretex, a shame we did not buy the matching pants.

We have been very fortunate with our host and accommodation here. She has a grand apartment in the centre of the most beautiful part of town ('old' Nice), complete with parquet floors and 3m high ceilings, about 100 metres from the pebbly beach. Plus, she is very nice. She and her grandson speak slowly for us, and dinner times are always a highlight with local meals and banter (ps, all French as they speak little English).

Tracked down a little pizza shop today in Old Nice, recommended by our teacher, to try the chickpea specialty of Nice called Socca. Miam miam.

Glad to be in the one place for a whole month. There is plenty here to keep us busy. Might try the french movies soon, all the US blockbusters are here with dubbing.

Barcelona - Nice

Yesterday...
Left the very stylish Barcelona with many ideas on how to furnish our beachside 4 story mansion with butler.

Visited the imposing and stunning La Sagrada Familia. Grand, modern, based on natural designs like trees and natural shapes and curves. No matter what your religion, it is a great building. It is due for completion in 2020 but the budget and timeline are forever extending. The architect only lived long enough to see the first tower erected.

The main shopping strip is out of this world- Spanish shoe stores everywhere you look, only outnumbered by tapas bars and perhaps Zara. Rach could not resist the Spanish shoes.

Only just survived our carpark at our hotel. It took 30 minutes to park initially, and 30 plus a near crash experience to get out.

A big day of driving to our host in Nice. The ferris wheel is the view from our room, and our host is just as nice. All the roads were blocked for the local Carnival. Rachel's French lasts a little longer in to the night that Trav's, but our host Nicole est tres patient.

La Rioja

Making great time leaving Madrid, we get pulled over by the police for 20 minutes.

Nice guys, although no English, just wanted to hassle a GB plate and make sure the car was not stolen.

Breakthrough came when they understood it was a rental, either that or they were tired of looking at all or documentation in another language. Gave them our passports, license, International license, insurance papers, euro driving cert, and then showed them our euro driving pack complete with high vis jackets, triangles and spare globe kit to which they laughed.

Drove to La Rioja, accross the mountain ranges that protect the vines from the extremes. A lot of bush vines, no trellises. Staying in the Western part, Haro, in Rioja Alta.

Some great wines- La Rioja Alta, Roda, Vina Tondonia, but drank too much as bought a 70s wine travel bag.

We both thought the bag was a good idea at the time/wine discovery- white Rioja rocks! The super dry love child of sherry and semillon

Mixed Madrid

A hidden gem of a hotel is always great. The feeling of discovery is a great travel memory. When your hotel is only hidden though it is annoying. Ours should have been called Hotel Los(t).

Quote of the day: 'there is so much cool stuff in Madrid'. New DeNiro movie was being launched across the street from our digs and had just walked through the main prostitute drag from tapas at the Mercado near midnight.

A big fat tourist day today. Caught a flamenco show, the male lead playing the part of the peacock well. The female lead tried to knock our table over twice on her way back stage. Great show less the sangria on trav's (clean!) jeans.

With only one full day we had to pick one of the many galleries. Unknown to us until today the Reina Sofia experience is up there with Tate & Moma, especially for locals Dali and Picasso.

Had a late lunch at the oldest restaurant in the world for roast suckling pork. The crackling was worth the price of admission- wafer thin, like pastry. Extra master stock brought to our table was fixed with a spoon (t) and some bread (r).

Sangria, done well with good wine is a new fave summer drink. It is summer conditions here now.

Had a jamon tutorial: an Iberian pig's front legs are only for 'leaning on' so they produce a lesser quality ham so our ham specialist advised us, and more acorns the better before they are 'sacrificed'.

Pug is looking dirty, so much so that the person who filled the car with 'Gazole' told me that there is car wash nearby. Very funny guy- after I thanked the spaniard in Portuguese he said ciao! Had only just crossed the border!

The 'Sof' gallery/Hong Phat pork has a rival in Botin/Hotel Los(t)