1st, March. Nantes.

Here is where we are, and where we have been. The black line was our intended route, the red line is the one we actually took.

So today we left our overnight stop and moved quickly on up to Nantes.
We tried to find this site first of all but took the wrong turn off, so ended up going to another site up the road, however, it was shut!! So, we drove back into Nantes and here we are. Glad we did, the site is lovely, "very clean" - not heard that too often!! Plus it's walking distance to town centre, all good!

The gas situation is a bit of a problem.... we don't have the right connectors to buy gas in this country, apparently!!......Having just bought gas, in the hope that we might, I'm quite miffed to say the least.

Bugger it. We are staying here one more night, then we are going to St. Malo for two nights then getting the ferry back to the UK. So can't be bothered worrying about 'euro-gas relations'

In the mean time, it's birthday month!!...
Big happy birthdays to My dad, Janice, Diane and Christine and anyone else who happens to be born this month!!!

Will do pictures tomorrow. We keep trying to get pictures of Katies teeth, but she won't let us!

29th Feb Passing through Bordeaux

Well folks it’s Sandra here again with the need to have yet another moan about the holiday from hell!
We left a rather nice campsite this morning in Narbonne armed with maps (which I have now started to pay attention to), beloved sat nav jean and Ian’s trusted “find an open campsite guide”. We’ve decided to speed things along by driving slightly longer these days to the next campsite (not that I am in a hurry or anything!!). So we’re on the motor way watching for our junction to take off. But my map reading says something completely different to that of sat nav jean…..so yes we get lost. This time when Ian decides to have a strop , instead of shouting at sat nav he smacks his hand across it and it falls and breaks. Now bare in mind we are still on this mental motor way with Ian reaching for the sat nav and trying to continue to drive in his lane. NIGHTMARE!! So it’s stop on hard shoulder with hazards on time. He tries to fix sat nav but the screen is smashed and she’s talking like she’s on speed!
So people, it’s costa del forest park tonight (for our stop!). I told myself now I’ve done this before with no electric. I just turn on the gas and boil hundreds of water for Katie’s bottles. One pan of water boiled, onto the second and there’s no gas. We have no electric and no gas… panic…oh no. Ian brings out that bloody generator to try and fix , yet again. “IT’S BROKEN!”. The next time he brings out that smelly useless piece of tin I am going to hit him across the head with it and drive this heap home myself!!
Tomorrow is another day and getting gas is our first point of call. You know it will not be that simple though…we’ll have some gas bottle that no one in France has heard of or they stopped supplying it yesterday!
Ian says “we would just be sitting in the house doing nothing if we had not come on holiday”!!!!!! You know I am NEVER listening to him again. Moan over ….good night xxx


Ok, my turn.

I think Sandra has lost her sense of humour!

Yes, sat nav jean is done for and yes we have no gas and yes we have no electricity, but hay ho! Life goes on.. Simply a minor set back…

What she doesn’t tell you is that we could have driven another few miles to rectify the situation, but no, Sandra wasn’t going anywhere!
Could be worse, we’re still waiting for the wheel to fall off!!!

Apart from that, it would have been nice to see Bordeaux, but no where was open, so under direct orders we’re off further north to Nantes.

Katie has had a good day, all well. My mother thought my joke about her straining could be something more serious… No, she just likes the sound I think… The milk here is doing wonders for her constitution!!

She had her first up close and personal with a flock of ducks today. We sat outside, and I had a baguette, so decided to feed a couple of them. Low and behold we were swamped by them… even Sandra got a little un easy, however Katie came round to the idea and enjoyed her dads impression of quack, quack!

Usual dramas, we’ll see what tomorrow brings!

28th Feb. Narbonne

In Narbonne town centre right now, had a scout round the market and a couple of local historical bits.

Better stil I have managed to get a wi fi signal so am as happy as a pig in shit with a connection!

Not much to say about the town, usual French town. Did try another France telecom shop for a usb modem. I'm immpressing myself that I can now hold a convesation on the subject of 'orange mobile' contracts, exclusivly in French!! Not bad eh?
She tells me the problem is, in France even pay as you go need some form of bank account for reference, i did say that kind of defeted the purpose of pay as you go, and she agreed but thats the way it is.

Sandra and Katie are both fine. Katie is moaning right now as Sandra has taken away her piece of orange in exchange for her bottle...:-)
Anyway, must go site-seeing.

27th Feb, Narbonne

Arrived at Narbonne today, south west coast of France. The site is immaculate, very nice. We even have our own private facilities.. Sandra’s happy!!

We did a quick walk down to the water but not much else. Tomorrow is market day in the town centre so will prepare for an early set off. We’re still using UK time which has been a confusion all along, it just means we have to be really organised in the morning to do ‘morning’ things. By the time tooters is set and ready it’s about 10 am UK time but 11am here.
We are staying here for 2 nights, then making our way up to Bordeaux.
Still no internet, but this site has it so all good!

Katie had her first go on a swing today, strapped to me. At first she wasn’t sure, then it was hilarious, then she looked as though she was going to puke..! We were going to do the slide after that but wasn’t sure my fat arse would fit!!

Apart from that, all’s well. Will fill you in on Narbonne the town tomorrow.

26th Feb. Arles

Did the tour of Arles today. Lovely town, with lots of olde buildings. The place even has a couple of amphitheatres under restoration, courtesy of EU money (well spent in my opinion) These were quite impressive, although I must admit, the 6 euro entrance fee was a little rich for me. With Sandra nun too impressed and my having visited the one in Turkey (can’t remember the name, Phesious or something) we got the gist.

Tried again, in vein, to get internet access for myself, but no. I even found the exact thing I wanted on the internet (French website) ,at MacDonald, and walked round the corner (to the Orange shop) with my computer to show them that I could have it without a contract (as by their own website)… NON!

Clearly, misdescriptions, hasn’t entered EU law yet… God, I wish I could shout in French!!

So be it. The day around the town was nice, they have lots of ancient buildings, presumably meaning something, on show which makes for a well catered for town. It also has a big university which makes for a vibrant atmosphere.

Oh yes, don’t think I mentioned before, young tooters has her first tooth showing! Aaaannnnndddd, she’s sleeping through the night, down at 6.30pm and not up again ‘till 7-7.30.…(has a wee chat to herself around 6am for a wee bit, then back to sleep, no intervention ) Ah, progress!!

She’s getting wise now. Different noises she makes get different responses, so we go through a range of sounds so as to get attention, from choking sounds to coughing sounds to a hummed whine, the minute you ask her what’s wrong, she produces a broad grin and starts to laugh… We’re getting wise too!!

I have sat her down and explained - we won’t always be in this confined space and in a few weeks she will have to be in her own big house and possibly in a room of her own for a while….I wonder if a big raspberry means I got through???

Poor thing, I was engrossed in the internet today @ Macs, and well, she got bored, decided to let everyone know.. So she had to help uploading our blog today - she loves the computer, don’t know were she gets it from??!!

So, tomorrow, off to Narbonne. I have been told to hurry the process along… Sandra’s done her time in a campervan I think…well I know!

“ How long till we’re back in the UK?” To be fair she has said that since we left!! My response has always been, “ We can be there in 24 hours if you want.. but we have to drive for that long” I fear the next time I say it, she’ll say OK, let’s go!

25th Feb. Arles

We left Biot today later than we usually leave. (did the, search for an internet connection, in Cannes this morning)
We arrived in Arles, near the centre of the south coast of France, late afternoon, so haven’t had a chance to do the tour yet. Though, sat nav jean had us around the town once, before being shouted at and switched off..
Looks a nice place, even better if your reading this, MacDonalds do free wi fi!! Lots of olde type buildings, will tell more tomorrow when we visit.
Back to this morning.. All I’m looking for is a modem which runs on a sim card the same as a mobile phone, how hard could it be??
In total I did about 6 shops in Cannes, in one I was oh so near, I actually had in my hand!!
Of course no one spoke English, so I did my best possible French, I did wonder if that might be the problem at one point.J
However the one shop that had what I wanted, the lady went and got the bumf (pictures included) to make sure I was asking for what I thought I was asking for, I think.
We finally understood each other so she totters off to the back shop and returns with the elusive prize.. Yee Haa!
Unfortunately not… we had a kind of .. ”computer says no” moment, all they had was a contract based model, so she says. For which I would need to take out a 24 month contract and have a French bank account, So near, yet…not.
Hay ho, the other shops either didn’t stock it at all, or were also contract only. However, at least I know I can gat the thing I’m after, I just have to hunt it down.. In the meantime free wi fi @ MacDonalds while Katie gets her arse changed!!

24th Feb Cannes

Got the train to Cannes today. Success we found a few mobile phone shops…but it’s Sunday! Will go back tomorrow.
Cannes is a nice place, a bit dated in parts but plenty going on. It has a nice beach front promenade lined with hotel after hotel battling to the biggest and best to be seen in.
Lots of street ‘things’ going on, a wood sculptor, painters, sand dune sculpting etc, so lots to see. The place is full of all the fashion retailers and designer gear, obviously, but the buildings they are in are, well, shabby! In the uk, if ‘Zara’ or ‘dolce & cabaña’ do a shop it is immaculate, in Cannes they are housed in older building that look a little tired. Perhaps there is no room for new builds.
They don’t really do shopping centres, which makes for good high streets.
Apart from that, we walked about, saw a couple of sites, ogled at some very nice eateries, went to MacDonalds, then came back.
Just for the record…
I’m told by my good wife “at least you know the toilets are clean-ish in MacDonalds so I can change Katie”
I don’t want rumours to start about my frequenting MacDonalds or better still, dragging Sandra past all the nice restaurants and instead taking her for a slap up meal, big mac style!!
On another note, I’ll give you a laugh…
Katie has taken to straining very loudly during her time of need. The face goes purple and the veins go. She just likes to let everyone in on the act…..Well..
We were sitting in the motor home the other night politely looking the other way as you do and Sandra turns round and says, ‘imagine we were in a restaurant‘?
Well I buckled over..
…the place would empty
or you would spend the entire evening giving that acknowledging nod to your fellow dinners mouthing the words, while pointing,… ‘she’s doing a shite’

Hi everyone …Sandra still here in camper land. Yes Katie is getting into this phase were she likes to tell everyone around her how she is feeling. When she was meant to be sleeping on the train I am sure she knew if she shouted loud and often enough she would get her own way. Wee monkey just looked at everyone (the train was full) with her gummy smile as if to say “ha ha if you think I am sleeping”. And as for this straining, it’s all the lovely healthy veg she’s been eating here…or it could be something to do with this new milk she has to drink. Ian assured me that there would defiantly be SMA milk when we got to France , and low and behold France decide to stop stocking SMA the day before we arrive. Just our luck really.
Monte Carlo was another one of those days where I wished I stayed in the camper and watched some more crap French tv. We get off the train all proud because we managed to get the correct train without any complications. Now mastering the train station exits was a task in it’s self. Ian was his usual hot and bothered while I walked about in a trance. We got the hang of it eventually. We walked along the harbour which is full of rich, beautifully clothed people all “doing lunch” and there Ian, Katie and I at the vending machine scraping enough euros together for a mars bar ice cream!!

Now I must point out that this site we are staying at has no washing machine so in the photos if it looks like we are wearing the same clothes all the time, it’s because we are!! I know, “Sandra you used to be someone!” I hear you all cry. But never fear now that Ian has stopped his mission impossible, to find a internet shop, we have found a laundrette. Today we put Katie in her sling and filled her pram with our dirty laundry and off we went. We must have looked like a homeless family walking down that
Road.
Oh now we went some where today…yes I remember (every where looks the same now) We got the train to Cannes. Yes I quite liked it there. It was busy and sunny and I could imagine all the film stars visiting during the festival. We found a MacDonald’s and had a fabulously unhealthy breakfast and that is it. Hope everyone is well back home and we miss you all xxx

23rd Biot & Antebes

Today was spent looking for an internet connection!! All I needed was a half decent mobile phone shop…. Lets just say, there is a definite gap in the market!!
We went into Biot centre but found 1 phone shop who directed me to a place in the opposite direction, perhaps I got lost somewhere in translation. When I asked for a USB modem, he looked puzzled and told me where to find a computer shop… I had a good look around the shop and they didn’t have what I was looking for. I know it’s new technology, but not that new??
So Biot was a failure, so in the afternoon, while Katie and Sandra had their afternoon siesta, I took myself off to find the place the guy had directed me to. Well I found myself in the next town over.. No luck, I had a good scout around, no joy.. By this time I was knackered, the next town over ‘Antibes’ is about 7 miles away.. so I decided to get the train back. That’s another story.. very nearly ended up in Nice!!
Anyway, long story short and all that…didn’t get one!!
Cannes tomorrow, should have better luck!?

22nd Feb Biot - Monte Carlo

Took the train to Monte Carlo today. Katie’s first train ride I think.
She was meant to sleep on the train journey, we had planned the times especially. Katie had other ideas!! Too much going on to be missed with this sleeping nonsense..
Needless to say, it all ended in tears, a tired baby on a train is no fun. Oh well, the return journey was much worse!! J
Arrived in Monte Carlo and were immediately lost, not a good sign!!
Monte Carlo is built on a mountain, a sheer face cliff, actually.
Well the train station is ¾ the way up this cliff face and the place you want to be is down at the bottom…
So, first of all we couldn’t even find our way out of the bloody station, having done so, eventually, we were faced with two options. 1. Find a way down this mountain which doesn’t include walking. ( going down hill with a pram is one thing, coming back up is quite another!)
Or 2. Find out how everyone else manages to do it, clearly folk wouldn’t walk up and down everyday??
Well we found the answer.. Lifts.
The trouble is, lifts don’t do diagonal movement, so you find one lift , get in, play Russian Roulette with whether your going up or down (floor 14 is the basement, we discovered ,and 0 is the top floor!) then get off that lift and find another and repeat the whole game again.
Most cities in the world would connect the different lifts by way of signage, passageways, marked pavements…something. No, not Monte Carlo, you simply have to fumble around the streets until you find a shinny silver door or a very small arrow saying ‘public lift’
All good fun, we got there eventually..
Very busy place, usual marina town, with the exception of the boats, which are huge. These things are lined up like Cal Mac ferries. I don’t suppose they leave harbour too often but they are a good feature!!
Apart from that, the place is just how you would imagine it to be.
Once again, nice to have seen it, but unless I get a VERY good street map (lift cycles included) I wouldn’t rush back.
I would like to see how they conduct a rally in those streets though. These roads are hair pin bends going up this mountain and every available inch has been built on with high buildings. You couldn’t see the corners, forget what’s around them!!

21st Feb. Biot

Left Diano Marina today. We crossed the Italian Border to France into a place called Biot. The site is nice, at least it’s open, even the bar and restaurant!! J
We had a quick wander round the town and not much else today.
Oh, yes, we don’t have internet access in France.?? 3 mobile have really irritated me on this. It’s was the only reason I bought the dam thing and I was assured ‘yes it works all over Europe’ today apparently I have to have a contract….blah, blah….
Never buy 3 (Three) products, boo…..
Sod them, so I will look for an phone shop to buy another modem. Hopefully it won’t take too long!