Vacances de Nice France

King Franc throttling the new euro currency on a carnival float, Nice, France;
Vacances de Nice France

Праздник nice Франции

Праздник nice Франции

Διακοπές της Νίκαιας Γαλλία

Διακοπές της Νίκαιας Γαλλία

De vakantie van Nice Frankrijk

De vakantie van Nice Frankrijk

好法國假日

好法國假日

好法国假日

好法国假日

프랑스 좋은 휴일

프랑스 좋은 휴일

フランスの素晴らしい休日

フランスの素晴らしい休日

D�a de fiesta de Niza Francia

D�a de fiesta de Niza Francia

Feriado de Nice France

Feriado de Nice France

Festa de Nizza Francia

Festa de Nizza Francia

Nizza Frankreich Feiertag

Nizza Frankreich Feiertag

Carnival decorations, dedicated site and links

NAIN DIARY & EXTRACTS

HTTP://NAINDIARY.BLOGSPOT.COM
http://naindiarybaptism.blogspot.com
http://naindiaryboats.blogspot.com
http://naindiarychildren.blogspot.com
http://naindiaryfestivals.blogspot.com
http://naindiaryfishing.blogspot.com
http://naindiaryhunters.blogspot.com
http://naindiaryhuskies.blogspot.com
http://naindiaryicebreak-up.blogspot.com
http://naindiarymailboat.blogspot.com
http://naindiarymailplane.blogspot.com
http://naindiarymedley.blogspot.com
http://naindiarymission.blogspot.com
http://naindiarypeople.blogspot.com
http://naindiaryschool.blogspot.com
http://naindiaryscouts.blogspot.com
http://naindiarysportsday.blogspot.com
http://naindiaryviews.blogspot.com
http://naindiarywilderness.blogspot.com
HTTP://NAINREMEMBERED.BLOGSPOT.COM
http://battleharbour.blogspot.com
http://blacktickle.blogspot.com">
http://capecharles.blogspot.com
http://cartwrightphotographs.blogspot.com
http://charlottetownphotographs.blogspot.com
http://davisinlet.blogspot.com
http://fishingshipsharbour.blogspot.com
http://foxharbour.blogspot.com
http://georgescove.blogspot.com
http://henleyharbour.blogspot.com
http://hopedale.blogspot.com
http://makkovik.blogspot.com
http://marysharbour.blogspot.com
http://mudlake.blogspot.com
http://nainphotographs.blogspot.com
http://north-westriver.blogspot.com
http://northwestislands.blogspot.com
http://paradiseriver.blogspot.com
http://pinsentsarm.blogspot.com
http://postville.blogspot.com
http://redbayphotographs.blogspot.com
http://rigolet.blogspot.com
http://squareislands.blogspot.com
http://williamsharbour.blogspot.com

HTTP://PORTHOPESIMPSON.BLOGSPOT.COM

http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpson34_49
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpsondiary
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpsonflh
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpsonhist
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpsonsnaps
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/vsoinlabradorflh
http://porthopesimpsonchallenge.blogspot.com
http://porthopesimpsonclues.blogspot.com
http://porthopesimpsonsdevelopment.blogspot.com/including ORAL HISTORY as recalled by Mrs. Kathleen Mina Squire (formerly James, known as Bunty James) interviewee, who lived in Port Hope Simpson in 1935 as a guest of her life-long friend, Katie Doreen Williams, daughter of J. O. Williams. Interviewed by Llewelyn Pritchard in the company of John (grandson of J.O. Williams) and Sheila Illsley;11 January 2003
http://porthopesimpsondiary.blogspot.com
http://porthopesimpsonrighttothetop.blogspot.com/
http://porthopesimpsonwildbay.blogspot.com/
http://twounsolveddeaths.blogspot.com
http://vsoinlabradorarticles.blogspot.com
http://vsolabradorclues.blogspot.com

VOLUNTARY SERVICE OVERSEAS

vso Canada
806-151 Slater Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 5H3 Canada
http://www.vsocan.org/
Phone Toll Free: 1 888 876-2911 Local phone: 613 234-1364 Fax: 613 234-1444
Contact: Kim Weatherall
Email me!
vso India
iVolunteer Overseas, D-134, 1st Floor, East of Kailash, New Delhi 110-065,India
http://www.ivoindia.org/
Phone/Fax: 91-11-26217460
Contact: Rahul Nainwal
Email me!
vso Ireland
Brunswick Street North, Dublin 7, Ireland
http://www.vso.org.uk Phone: +353(0)1872 7173
Contact: Carmichael Centre
Email me!
vso Kenya and Uganda (VSO Jitolee)
PO Box 49843-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Phone:+254 2 575312/561603
Email me!
vso Netherlands
Oorsprongpark 7, 3581 ET Utrecht, Netherlands
http://www.vso.nl/
Phone: +31(0)30 23 20 600
Email me!
vso Philippines (VSO Bahaginan)
Unit 505 Pacific Corporate Center, 131 West Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines, 1105
http://www.vsobahaginan.org.ph/start.asp
Phone:(63-2)3746450/3746452
Contact: Malou Juanito
Email me!
vso UK
317 Putney Bridge Road, London, SW15 2PN, United Kingdom
http://www.vso.org.uk
Phone: +44 (0)20 8780 7200
To receive instant information about volunteering:
Email me!
OTHER LINKS
http://biarritzfrance.blogspot.com
http://canada.gc.ca/
http://fatimaportugal.blogspot.com
http://genevaswitzerland.blogspot.com
http://majorcaspain.blogspot.com
http://malagatorremolinos.blogspot.com
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/vsoinlabradorflh
http://nicefrance.blogspot.com
http://romeitaly.blogspot.com
http://veniceshortbreakvacation.blogspot.com/
http://www.gov.nf.ca/
http://www.heritage.nf.ca
http://www.hvgb.net/~themdays
http://www.labradorian.optipresspublishing.com/
http://www.labradorsociety.ncf.ca
http://www.labradorvirtualmuseum.ca/gallery/porthope2
http://www.mun.ca/labradorinstitute
http://www.nunatsiaq.com
http://www.nunatsiavut.com/en/nain.php

This site is dedicated to obtaining justice for Erica and Eric Williams

This site is dedicated to obtaining justice for Erica Anitoff Williams, four and a half years and her young father Arthur Eric Williams, 27 years who died in their Labrador Development Company home, Port Hope Simpson in acrimonious, suspicious circumstances in the early hours of 3 February 1940. The R.C.M.P (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Serious Crimes Unit, Gander, Newfoundland have recently in 2002, opened up their own investigation about the deaths. If you know anything at all about what happened please do not hesitate in contacting your local RCMP detachment or the police force of jurisdiction in your area. If you live outside Canada, please contact your local police service and ask them to make a request for assistance from the appropriate Canadian law enforcement agency.
The main RCMP website address is http://www.rcmp.ca or Email me!
Links
http://biarritzfrance.blogspot.com
http://fatimaportugal.blogspot.com
http://genevaswitzerland.blogspot.com
http://majorcaspain.blogspot.com
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpson34_49
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpsondiary
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpsonflh
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpsonhist
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpsonsnaps
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/porthopesimpsonvisit
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/vsoinlabradorflh
http://porthopesimpson.blogspot.com/
http://porthopesimpsonchalenge.blogspot.com/
http://porthopesimpsonclues.blogspot.com
http://porthopesimpsonsdevelopment.blogspot.com
http://porthopesimpsondiary.blogspot.com
http://porthopesimpsonwildbay.blogspot.com/
http://twounsolveddeaths.blogspot.com
http://www.heritage.nf.ca
http://www.hvgb.net/~themdays
http://www.labradorian.optipresspublishing.com/
http://www.labradorsociety.ncf.ca
http://www.labradorvirtualmuseum.ca/gallery/porthope2
http://www.heritage.nf.ca
http://www.mun.ca/labradorinstitute
http://www.nunatsiaq.com

In one of the parks of Nice, France: an old tiles mosaic echoing the Roman conquest, trade and this area's dependence upon the sea.

THE EAGLE OF THE ROMAN LEGIONS AND TWO MERMAIDS OF BACCHUS IN ONE OF THE PARKS OF NICE IN FRANCE.

A FLEUR DE LYS FLOOR PATTERN USING THE EDGE OF SMALL PEBBLES TO BEST EFFECT IN ONE OF THE PARKS OF NICE IN FRANCE.

FOUNTAINS IN A PARK, NICE, FRANCE;

A CASCADING WATERFALL IN THE PARK OVERLOOKING THE CITY OF NICE, FRANCE;

THE OLD FLOWER MARKET WITH VIBRANT COLOURS AND WONDERFUL SCENTS, NICE, FRANCE;

THE HARBOUR, NICE, FRANCE;

THE HARBOUR, NICE, FRANCE;

THE HARBOUR, NICE, FRANCE;

THE PORT OF NICE, FRANCE AS THE BIG YELLOW MACHINE IS ABOUT TO LEAVE.

MONT ALBAN AUBERGE DE JEUNESSE, NICE, FRANCE; OVERLOOKING THE CITY BELOW.

A VIEW FROM MONT ALBAN AUBERGE DE JEUNESSE OVER NICE.

A VIEW ALONG THE PROMENADE ANGLAIS, NICE WHEN THE ENGLISH ARISTOCRACY PARTOOK OF
WATERS AND AIR.

A THOUGHT PROVOKING SCULPTURE OF EIGHT MASSIVE CONCRETE BLOCKS ON A HILL OUTSIDE NICE, FRANCE.

AN IMPROMPTU BEACH BAND PLAYING IN FRONT OF THE PALAIS DU JUSTICE UNDERNEATH THE SLOGAN OF LIBERTE, EQUALITE, FRATERNITE.

OLD NICE IN THE FOREGROUND;

Tuesday 12 – Saturday 16 February 2002

Day 1 Tuesday 12 February 2002
From Bristol Parkway into Bristol Temple Meads…then a long wait…they didn’t tell me about that the blighters. Left Bristol Temple Meads at 0200. Only four people on board the two Midnight Express carriages. Very slow and expensive journey to reach Luton (London) Airport. Been wet and blustery all day. I am very much looking forward to the better weather. Into Reading Station at 0320 and the London (Paddington station) was waiting on the other side of the platform. Inside was completely empty. I was struck by the murals of houses and castles and such like at the end of each carriage. Presumably to encourage people to trust the railways again after the rail crashes. I’m also struck by the workmen who carry their small rounded bags (with lunches inside?) over one shoulder in a hunched – up, round- shouldered sort of way. Like bag like workman. Work weary. The electrical - driven engine whines and off we go much more smoothly than the last one which was an older Regional train. London here we come! Everything is pitch- black outside with only patches, sprays, dots and twinkles of lights of different colors to lighten up the dark night. Of course, it’s morning and some people’s day is just starting. I’m not used to this and I am feeling very sleepy!
On arrival at Paddington I find the London Underground doesn’t open until 0500 ! So I and a bloke on his way to the mountains outside Malaga agree to share the cost of a taxi for £12.80. Which we will reclaim as compensation from the train company!
At Luton Airport I checked – in OK and at 0700 hrs I am sitting about two meters away from the port side jet engine as we take- off. Exhilarating climbing fast to above the cloud base. Looking down they resembled candy floss and later on crissed – crossed, hardened toffee blocks as far as the eye could see. Almost impenetrable looking down on them. It really was something to behold with the scattered lights of towns and cities showing up beneath the clouds. Another cloud vista reminded me exactly of a sand dune landscape. They were al amazing. Sitting next to me were a chatterbox lawyer and a psychiatrist who were off to Nice to contest a medical decision in a legal case. I tried to doze off but to no avail. The snow- topped Alps from my window looked like sharply creased and folded sheets of paper their edges seemed so clearly defined.
On leaving “Easy Jet” Flight No.251 the warmth of 0945 French time just washed all over me. Off came my “Triplepoint” jacket and I packed it away. So I then caught a bus to the City Centre where I was given a free bus pas by the driver because I had just come from the airport. I decided to head straight for Mont Alban Auberge de Jeunesse to dump my rucksack. The bus just seemed to keep on going higher and higher. Eventually I was dropped off outside the door of the auberge where left my bag after being welcomed by the bloke in charge. Then I walked uphill again to the top of Mount Boron ( a parc) where I am sitting writing this with the most panoramic view over Nice, the Mediterranean Sea and the surrounding mountainous countryside.
I walked about seven miles after that into Nice and back again. Returning up the steep last ascent “Lescaliers du Bois” with sufficient grub for my stay. In Nice I went on to the pebbly beach near La Promenade Anglais, dozed off to be woken by the screeching sound of a seagull and one of two English girls who had sat nearby saying “It wasn’t me!” I checked out Old Nice; saw a Japanese film crew at work outside a very colourful printed cotton sheets shop, bought a plain baguette to fill me up. I returned to the hostel for five o’ clock, paid for a pair of sleeping bag type sheets for E1.60 and cooked my supper of pasta, tomato and basil sauce with some Roquefort cheese. I didn’t like the cheese at all. Ugh! So I had some jam and bread. I had a good chat with an Irish College lad who had just “taken off” with his bike arriving in Nice today looking for a Teaching of English job. After chatting with him I crashed out on my bottom bunk bed to be awoken by a girl’s voice who said,
“I’ll be sleeping on top of you!”
Who was I to argue!!! She said that because there was a shortage of beds and the warden had given her the one above mine. The bloke later turned – up after she’d told me she was a Canadian from Montreal. I told her I had briefly visited that city a long time ago. After dinner I fell fast asleep again and woke up at 0830, had a shower and then came downstairs into the dining cum common room to write this. I think the best thing of all about today was the lovely warm, sunny weather and the flight above the clouds that was worth the money on their own. There is a carnival sort of atmosphere in this hostel with people of all different nationalities chatting with each other. There are only a few children running around. It is a very healthy environment when so many French, Japanese, Canadian, British etc. are mixing so well. That’s what’s so special about staying in youth hostels. There are always people of all ages, races and nationalities. The hostel is closed from 1000 hrs – 1700 hrs. Today there were so many people eating outside the restaurants on tables with their bottles of wine. It’s such a social occasion.
Day 2 Wednesday 13 February 2002…
Got down to breakfast with one minute to spare at 0844 having slept like a sleeping tablet! There is a beautiful view over the whole of Nice from the dormitory window. After breakfast of warm milk (ugh!) with muesli, café au lait, pain and jam. I micro - waved four eggs into a rubbery set of sarnies+orange+cereal bar+apple and off I went down the hundreds of steps of Lescaliers du bois into central ville. That was after I had gone uphill to have a look round Parc de Boron. I was pleasantly surprised to find a quite well preserved round stone fort from about the 1800s. I particularly liked the small multi – coloured tiles on the turret roofs. There was another spectacular view to enjoy east of Nice this time. Where the cliffs fall down to the sea with the small town of Villefranche tucked in between and amongst the cliffs next to the sea. After a while just looking down I turned back towards the Fort and saw a modern sculpture of eight large very heavy looking blocks of concrete. Five were standing up vertically and the other three were laid horizontally across the top, all held in place by nothing more than their great weight from what I could see. Each block of concrete had been carved out to give interesting shapes inside. One block actually had a hole you could look right through. The form and structure of the sculpture was such that it invited you to go inside where you could also gain shelter from any bad weather. Its whole effect was quite startling which became even more so the more graffiti was written on it. A sculpture that was improved by graffiti!!! Carefully sited about 30 metres away from the wonderfully round fort it was making a huge statement to me. When I walked down a path and looked back at it with the fort behind it the contrast was even greater. One of the graffiti, scrawled into the block said Chase = Crimes. (Hunting is a crime). The sculpture said to me that against the beauty of the hills and mountains, land and sea Man’s work was unsightly and unwanted. Down the path about 50 metres away from the fort and sculpture was a very large set of radio antennae bedecked with round dishes of all sizes. I thought the sculptor’s meaning was very clear: We don’t want Man’s Structures on the land! After all that, dropped down all the steps, along Le Chemin de Thon into Nice city centre!
I had a good look round Old Nice wandering amongst its chattering narrow medieval 13th – 14th century streets. I admired shops full of bright yellows, blues, reds and oranges beautifully presented cotton and textile fabrics. (Crisp Bright White together with all shades of Blue is the “In Colors” apparently.) Then I went down on the beach to have a sandwich and nice cold orange drink. Afterwards I fancied a beer so I went and sat down at an open restaurant table where two saxophones and an accordion were jazzing away. Unfortunately I was told that I had to have something to eat as well so I bought a small, fresh Nicoise salad (lettuce, tomatoes, two black olives, cucumber, some fish or other and a few anchovies all oily dressed) + biere. The music was very atmospheric and the food good. Then I wondered what to do next after being struck by one street in Old Nice that was full of antique shops with some hugely expensive items on sale. Lots of people seemed to be moving only one way on Le Promenade Anglais so I decided to follow them (herd instinct.) And jolly glad I did too.
For E10 I bought a standing ticket for the Nice “Battle of Flowers” – a part of the Nice Carnival. It was absolutely fantastic. First of all a float came along with the Carnival bridesmaids followed by the Dauphine herself perched high on top of a 20 foot high pyramid all dressed in a huge blue skirt. (She was fork lifted down at the end.) There were all kinds of stilt-walkers martial artists doing hand to hand combat, somersaults and cartwheels, four rows of Scottish bagpipers with associated instruments, Tahitian and Showgirl dancers. A rock band on their float pulled along by a mechanically steam – driven, all metallic horse whose head kept on nodding most realistically up and down to the adrenalin - pumping rock beat. There were huge, long, inflatable serpents on sticks held by people blowing whistles underneath and the end of the serpent’s tail controlled with strings by a woman at the rear. Thousands of flowers were thrown from the floats into the crowds and kids nearby were squirting party pooper spray back much to the annoyance of one most carefully decked out girl performer! There were three small modern “Smarty” cars advertising some Company or other with their drivers and beautiful passengers. Loads and loads of beautiful women were enjoying themselves! There was one float that I couldn’t fathom out. It was a small trolley like contraption that carried what looked like some medieval hospital or still or something or other. The three stilt walkers with it looked to be wearing death masks. There was a hilarious clown who kept on imitating the guitar players in the rock band with his walking stick and tripping all over the place. The beauty of the Carnival was that it went down one side of the dual carriageway of La Promenade Anglais and then returned along the other. There were sellers walking alongside the floats selling carnival hats and videos. I managed to buy an Official Video for 17 E. It was easily the best Carnival I have ever seen and I really felt a part of the whole pageant. So many of the crowd was just going in for the hell of it. It was great fun. The Portuguese “Ranchario” was warmly applauded. It was very simple and consisted of men and women in rural dress. The men in wide brimmed black hats and the women in farmhousy chequered type clothes. They looked poor and faithfully represented I felt life for many people in the marginal farming land of Mediterranean Portugal.
Everything about the Carnival was so full of fun and so colourful that one couldn’t help being drawn into all its festivities. Along the seaward side of the road were many stalls selling oil paintings, crepes, sweets, candy floss and all sorts of trinkets. I was mesmerized by two (about 5 foot tall),dark – skinned, weather- beaten, swarthy looking Indians from Equador who were playing the pan pipes to some canned music. Whilst they were playing their buddy was collecting money by selling CDs of pan pipe music. Their music was absolutely hypnotic so I bought a CD for Jennifer. After the Carnival I was trekking back out of town when I saw a small powerful tugboat starting to tow out the “Elvikann Express”. I saw they would have to round the white lighthouse at the end of the harbour so I ran to leap over a low wall carrying a “Tesco” bag with video and CD inside. I didn’t make it! Instead I came crashing down with an almighty bang hitting just about every part of me! Luckily I only had a badly grazed right shin, cut finger, throbbing inside right knee and concrete prints on my hands. Anyway, I went on and after a bit more climbing over iron bars and long jetty out to the Lighthouse in the middle of the harbour I saw the boat being taken out to leave under its own oil- driven steam. I then went back to check out the wall because I couldn’t understand why I had caught my left foot. There it was! A concrete lip on the top of the wall. Talk about “Look before you leap!” Taking my mind off my aching badly swollen shin and bleeding not too much I walked quite quickly up the 500 metres or so up the very steep hillside to Mont Alban youth hostel. There I lay inert on my bottom bunk for about an hour. Had a shower made some macaroni cheese followed by muesli (!) and then had a shower that I didn’t want to leave.
This hostel is small with about 30 or so people in the dining room right now. It’s very well managed. Everything is kept “spick and span” and I particularly like the background music that’s on right now. There’s a very very noisy group of French lads in now who had better not keep me awake tonight. Somebody accidentally smashed my jar of Fraise (strawberry) confiture (jam) and very kindly put the lot back in the fridge!!!
Whilst I was resting on the beach, just for something to do I suppose, I tried to summarize many of the things I have seen and experienced in an alphabetical form!
A: accordion, aching shin, aero port, antiseptic cream; B: band on the beach, Bruising, Bonjour! C : carnival, Coffee girl on the beach, civilized, cultural; D : dancers, Delights of Old Nice, Dormitory of Eight; E : Exhibitionist woman on the beach, Escaliers du Bois; F : Fort Mount Alban, Flower market G : Girls, Girls, Girls, Graffiti; H : happiness; I : Inter Marche (supermarket; J : Jets so gracefully landing and taking off like birds from a distance; K : Kylor; L : Lighthouse, Laughter; M : Museums and manners; N: Nice ! O: Octopus sold in the shops; P: Peanuts in chocolate given away by a seller on the beach; Q: Questioning the sculptor’s intent; R: restaurants; S: Sweet shops, smooth pebbles, sax players, T: Thursday, tiled work; U: Ugh! V: Views, vehicles on the right; W: waves, waterfall; X: xylophone (reminds me of an accordion!); Y: Yellow (Provencal style); Z: haven’t got a clue!
Breakfast is between 0700 – 0845 !
Day 3 Thursday 14 February 2002
Very interesting chat with a third year Economics student from Dundee Univ. on his “Erasmus” European year at Grenoble Univ. in France. He arrived last night with two French Univ. mates and said that Exeter (re. Rob) had a really good reputation as a good univ. They had been over to view “The Turin Shroud” but he said that it couldn’t be seen because they were told it was in box. They did see a copy of it up on the wall. A sense of mystery well created. Sense of truth – very doubtful! He also said not to go to Warwick because his sister went there but dropped out because she hated it. I told him that neither Ron nor I had liked the feel of the place when we went there for a look round. They went on after breakfast to look at the sculpture I told them about. (They had arrived I Nice by mistake from Italy. Typical students! )
After breakfast I thought there would be rain and sure enough here was! It absolutely poured down especially in the afternoon. My “Triplepoint” did its job very well. This morning I walked around Old Nice and went into a café run by a bloke from Fulham, London who made me a decent mug sized tea in the converted butcher’s shop. Later on I had a fish burger, frites and a coke so I was Ok grub wise. In the afternoon I climbed up the site of the ancient chateau that sits astride a large partially wooded rock next to the harbour. Its waterfall was quite impressive and I took quite a few photos. Before I went back to the hostel I went up to Mount Boron to take a few snaps of the concrete sculpture in the blustery wind and pouring rain. The concrete blocks looked absolutely black when wet. A surprising bonus. I doubt if any of the snaps will be any good because visibility was so poor. I was eventually pleased to get into the dry of the auberge but I found my food had disappeared! Luckily it was still around.
I had bought a small palm tree for 7 E at the wonderful Flower, Fruit and Vegetable Market in old Nice. It’s amazing how many Japanese there are about the place. Another quite funny sight was the impromptu beach band playing in front of the palatial Palais de Justice with the slogans of the French Revolution on its front colonnades: “Liberte, Equalite, Fraternite” – only to see them be moved on by the French military looking and maybe military minded police.
Day 4 Friday 15 February 2002
A woman from Torquay was boasting to me this morning how “The English Riviera” deserved its title. I said it was laughable because although it was undeniably mild it was certainly not Mediterranean! She was also bragging to me how they had only paid £60.00 return with “British Airways”. Her bottom jaw nearly fell off when I told her how much it had cost me. I had a tasty snack at The Phnom Penh Fast Food restaurant in Nice. I enjoyed deciphering the meaning of the French caricatures about entering the Euro monetary system and the sense of community amongst the people of Old Nice was quite marked to see. On the way back I arranged for flowers to arrive for my Mum’s birthday on February 18th. The Provencal yellow is particularly pretty.
Day 5 Saturday 16 February 2002
Now that’s what I call a sleep. 12 hours!!! Starting to feel normal again. Packed up and off in plenty of time for the 1415 flight back. All buses run on natural gas. No exhaust! Terminus 2 at Nice is being extended to cater for an expected increase of from 8 – 12 million passengers. “Easy Jet” Flight No. 272 delayed for about half an hour but not to bad. Very interesting chat with a bloke who navigates in Monte Carlo veteran car rallies. He also goes around the OK doing the same in his free time. Apparently he gets invited to join drivers on his reputation. Excellent ride over. Picked up train from Luton to Farringdon (where I picked up London. Underground) (on a "Circle Line" train) to Kings Cross to Euston Square to Great Portland Street to Baker Street to Edgware Road to Paddington. Hell of a good laugh on the train back to Bristol Parkway with three drunken Irish rugby supporters.