We love truffles

Maybe it's a good thing that we missed truffle season in Alba, Italy.

At 300 euro ($400 aud) a gram the rare white truffles of Piedmonte smell good enough to convince you that it is worth the money.

The few small (and affordable!) souvenirs we bought will probably stink out our luggage but no matter, they smell fantastic!

Today the whole old town was a street market with everything Italian for the home and day to day life. It made for a very authentic first taste of Italian life.

Visited the twin wine areas surrounding Alba today: Barolo and Barbaresco.

The patchwork design of vineyards on the 'tongues' (hillsides) created by seismic shift are beautiful to look at and provide an easy to appreciate example of the importance of 'terroir'.

The best sites for the Nebbiolo grape face south west to make the most of sunlight. Without this selective positioning the grapes would not ripen properly. We do not have this problem in Australia! A little over a month ago the vineyards were covered in a metre of snow.

Truffle (and Parma ham) gurus Rita and Fabrizio/ Rach with the fashion police/ The old cellars at Fontanafreda in Barolo.

Au revoir Nice, buongiorno Alba

Friday: A little sad to leave Nice today. Our home for a month, we made some great friends at school.

The month went really fast, and our French is better than when we arrived- especially for Rach. Being forced to speak a language is the best way to learn.

Our teacher was fantastic. She used current affairs and controversial adult topics of conversation and she was a gun on the whiteboard; different colours for different aspects of grammar.

Nicole, our host, only spoke French and she was keen to talk at dinner and breakfast. Dinner usually ran for a couple of hours: salad, charcuterie, main, cheese or dessert. 7 hours of french a day: 4 in class and 3 at home.

It is interesting how a common struggle creates friendships (the French language that is).

We hit a little local cafe for a last taste of Socca with a few school mates and then grabbed a last taste of Fenoccio ice cream. Thyme was a little out there but tasty while the mint-choc was a good take on a classic.

Have just arrived in Alba, Italy. 2.5 hrs on the motorway. As soon as we crossed the border the landscape became a lot more mountainous, the townships a lot more agricultural (even San Remo had glasshouses and terraced olive trees above the ocean) and the drivers a lot more aggressive. The white van driver has returned!

Pics:The gang @ Fenoccio/Torino sunset at 130kms

Cannes

Wednesday: Popped over to Cannes today after french class. It reminded us a lot of Surfers Paradise. A lot of money, a lot of apartments and today a lot of sunshine. It felt a bit soulless, a very transient city with more real estate agents than restaurants.

The beach has sand, but most of it is private beaches owned by the hotels. The roofs of the restaurants on the beach come out at road level and really spoil the beachside feeling.

We are very lucky in Adelaide- if they saw the miles of free and quiet beaches we have they would gasp.

The most fun we had was with the many celeb cut-outs. Matt Cahill you need to get a move on!!

Pics: Rach takes in the view on a hot tin roof/You call that a light saber?

The mountains of Southern France

Sat night: we hit the town with our new friends from school. Dinner at our new fave place, Voglier, followed by drinks in a little 'place' in Vieux Nice.

Lots of action from the drinks around us made for an interesting night- yes we have not been out for a while. Bar fights, crazies and a toothless old homeless lady that went around to finish everyone's drinks. At least she was happy;)

Sun: We took the Pug for a spin through the mountains to the Verdun Gorge.

The roads were hair-raising to say the least- tiny roads, on the side of the mountain with little or no barrier. The mountain jutted out in to the road on both sides and we drove through tiny little tunnels and under rock overhangs.

The cyclists and motorcyclists really tempt fate, but the view at the top is worth it. An emerald strip of water found it's way out to a huge lake. It was difficult not to stop at every opportunity.

Lunch at a little restaurant on the way was amazing. A real family affair- mum maitre'd and running desserts, dad waiting on the 5 or so tables and the son working the kitchen. So very welcoming, and we were very novel- Rach's yellow polish & Trav's height.

They were out of Tarte Tatin and creme caramel but the host ran out a spare creme caramel for us once we had finished our desserts. A full day in every way.

How much money can one person have? Really?

On our visit to Monte Carlo, Monaco, we were again reminded that we really do not know wealth in Australia and that we all have it pretty good down-under.

Monaco is the first place we have visited in Europe that is as clean as home. They even pick up after their dogs!

The general level of wealth in this tiny little country is something that has to be seen to be believed.

The cars, the houses, the boats, the infrastructure, the restaurants and hotels are all the very best of the best.

Valentino have a store that overlooks the water, and while we were visiting the Palace Hermes were doing a home delivery.

The Harbour was jaw dropping. Ex war ships converted to private boats, complete with helicopter and a 30 foot 'runabout' to get to shore. These (numerous) outrageously huge ships dwarfed the many other 30m + luxury boats, almost mocking them.

Many of them had intercoms on the dock. Some had dozens of staff that we could see, and many brought their cars with them. We had never seen an Enzo up close- let alone one covered in dirt dockside. This was about the dirtiest thing we saw in Monaco.

Our host told us that the ratio of Police to citizens is 2:10. They were everywhere, and pulled over speeding cars and scooters on foot.

Lunch at the famous Cafe De Paris in the shadow of the Monte Carlo Casino and Hotel De Paris was a real treat. Proper old fashioned service that probably hasn't changed much in its 100 years of operation.

Pics: Rach in the F1 tunnel/Should we take the Rolls, Enzo or Lexus to Cannes today?/local sailors give way to Super Yachts

A return to the land of the living.....

Trav has spent a week with his head on a pillow- the flu (the flu jab didn't work) and then a chest infection.

Good news is that the doctor spoke English, else it would have been a nightmare. 'if you prefer we can speak English' was the most polite way anyone has offered to share the international language- most just start talking to you in English.

They have good meds here. The doc hooked Trav up with a good dose of anti bi's to counter his high metabolism- a level high enough to make him tired. Also, he prescribed ibuprophen laced with psuedoephidrine and cough medicine loaded with codeine. Australias 'no pain no gain' approach to meds is crap.

Hit a well reviewed local restaurant for lunch- they got the creme brûlée to toffee ratio spot on, although we were at a loss to see how one person could finish it (maybe after too much pseudo ephedrine!).

Happy birthday Jo and see you soon!

Pic- a before and after shot to make a Biggest Loser contestant cringe.

The Petit Pont of Avignon

Sunday...
A romantic weekend away to Avignon fell well short on two counts- Trav in bed all weekend with a virus and more rain in two days than we have had our whole trip. To add, we did not bring our rain jackets. Murphy's Law strikes again.

We struggled through a few of the local sites- Rach this morning at the imposing circa 1300 Papal Palace and Trav dragged his arse out of bed to join Rach for an hour to see the Pont Saint-Bénezet- the most famous site of Avignon and the topic of local nursery rhymes.

The relics are in really good condition- mostly original too. Many we have seen so far are being dug out of the ground or have been ravaged by waves of war and invasion and rebuilt.

Pics- Trav at the port town of Bandol after having a local wine 'degustaion' (on the way to Avignon before being hit by virus)/on the 'Petit Pont d'Avignon' on the Rhone with the Palace in the background.