11th September 2007

The South of France

After so much mediocre weather on this trip it’s certainly nice to have hit a long settled warm spell. We spent 5 nights near Antibes enjoying the sunshine and the company too! We managed to meet up with our good friend Leonie who was passing through on a Contiki Tour of Europe. By a stroke of good luck, the campsite we had chosen was only a 10 minute walk from her lodgings so we spent a lovely day wandering around Antibes and later, lazing by the pool and catching up on 3 years worth of news.

We also had a day trip to Monaco and a nearby roman monument which overlooks the tiny principality. We also took the opportunity to drive a section of Le Grande Corniche, that famous stretch of winding road that crops up in innumerable spy films.

On another day we drove inland to Castellane and climbed Le Roc to chapel perched high above the village.

We drove on to the breathtakingly beautiful Verdon Gorge which cuts and winds its way through deep limestone canyons for several miles.

Our next stop was Marseille. This is where the planning for this trip began when we decided to buy tickets for the World Cup matches being hosted here. Well, it’s been a long time coming and we had a few problems actually getting our hands on the tickets, but we did it. Many thanks to everyone who helped (or offered to help) in the transport of these precious documents from Ireland to Marseille. The All Blacks/ Italy match was quite a spectacle. It wasn’t much of a competition but we certainly enjoyed a feast of tries and had a great day out along with what seemed like half of New Zealand. Marseille is very proud to be hosting the All Blacks. Wherever we turn there are reminders of New Zealand from the manuka products on sale at the tourist office to the bizarre, but quite wonderful haka installation in the middle of a downtown roundabout.

Marseille has a bit of a bad reputation for crime and much as we would like to report that we experienced no evidence of this, we can’t. While we were stopped in traffic a couple of days ago, someone ran up, opened our back door and grabbed my bag. We were shaken but grateful that the thief had got nothing of any real value as Jane had just taken my wallet out of the bag a few minutes earlier. But we’re not going to let one incident spoil our enjoyment of this city and its surroundings. We had a very nice trip to Avignon to visit the famous bridge and a palace that for a while was the papal residence. We have walked for miles around the city streets and are enjoying the luxury of a hotel room with TV and internet access. Tomorrow night we’re off to see the Italy v Romania match, then we’re back on the road and back under canvas (as long as the poor tired tent can hold out for a few more nights).