Nice

Tuesday Nice

Interesting day. Up early to catch a train to Genova.  Cold wind, and we walked around the port without packs which was inconvenient.  Saw the statue of Christopher Columbus, and some nice stuff down near the port, but the value of the stopover was questionable. Back on the afternoon train to Nice.  Caught the nominated bus to the hostel, but it went further than the hostel directions, so the driver had to show us where to get off on the return trip.  Rang for the free pickup which was prompt from the bus stop.  Really lucked out with this hostel.  After an escorted tour by the receptionist, we had our room upgraded to a city view.  We have free internet, free wireless internet, free breakfast, laundry service, meals, bar, a guy who arrives at breakfast to help guests plan their day, organised bungee jumps, ski tours, sightseeing and so on.  As I write this, Ashley is down in the lounge with 50 other Australians, all about 18, enjoying the free internet and listening to Justin Timberlake.  He might not want to leave.  No wonder it's been voted one of the top 10 European hostels every year for the past four or five.  Everybody seems to be speaking English.  Europe really is full of Australians.  The hostel used to be a monastery, and the common area was the chapel.

Wednesday Nice

Ashley slept in after a social night so we had a bit of a late start.  Did some internet.  Found Synergy offline, so I had to pay the bill to get us back online.  Lodged our dirty clothes for washing (this is what I call a good hostel).  Then we started one of the recommended tours by walking and catching and nearby tram down to the station.  Caught a bus to the hill top fort town of Eze and wandered around the narrow lanes for about an hour.  It's a walled town, but not strong enough to keep out the Francs when they did come knocking.  Then on a bus to Monaco.  Ash left me to go walking with some others from the hostel, so I wandered down past the casino to the waterfront.  Great view.  Lousy beach.  Along to the marina.  Everybody is in the 'mine is bigger than yours' competition.  Past the Christmas fair and around to the Maritime Museum.  Through the gardens and the high priced shopping area to the train station where I caught the train back to Nice.  Caught the tram back up the hill and walked back to the hostel arriving just on dark.  Oh, and also saw the palace, being kept at bay by a bevy of policeman.  Ashley bought and cooked tea with his friends and went out to a movie with them.  I had a nice Skype chat to Mandy courtesy of Wi-Fi.

Thursday Nice

Finally Ashley got out of bed for breakfast, and we walked down the hill and caught the tram into town where we picked up the car at the station.  A little manual Renault.  Lovely to drive except the manual gearshift on the right took some time to get used to.  Avoided the motorway and took the coast road to Antibes, which was pretty pointless as all we saw were traffic jams.  Couldn't park near the town so we parked somewhere out and walked into the marina.  Nothing open for coffee, so we bought juice and biscuits at a BP station and sat on the grass.  Walked around to the Fort on the hill where Mandy rang Ashley for his birthday.  Seems that Deb and Katie had gone out to lunch in Melbourne to celebrate.  Walked back to the car and kept driving to Cannes where we walked for ages along the waterfront past the beaches and marina into town.  Finally settled on a cafe for a very late lunch around three o'clock outside in the sun.  Comparatively balmy 15°.  Back past the theater where the film festival takes place to the car, and a very slow drive in the dark along the freeway back home.  Ashley expertly navigated us back to the hostel.  Ashley played cards while I had a chat to Mandy on Skype as she woke up for last day of school.