London favourites

After having spent the (almost) last three months in London, and being someone who enjoys making lists, here are some of my favourite/ not so favourite things. 

Things that are great about London:

• The weather (so far). Come back to me in couple of months or so.
• Eat and Pret. Oh-so close to work and oh-so delicious.
• There’s always something happening. Sunday was looking a little uneventful so I headed for a feast in the field.  
• Europe is so close. Obv this was the main reason to come to this side of the world.
• Long train trips = excellent reading time. My daily commute is currently 2 hours per day and while it is a little draining, I get to read a new book every week!
• So. Many. Shops. Every street I walk down the ££ are sucked out of my account because I have no self control (maybe this should be in the things I don’t like list too... hmmm).
• The tube. While it gets really busy and gross and sweaty, it’s still the best way to get around.
• Sitting at front on the top level of the double decker buses. Yes, I will pretend to drive it I’m in the mood.
• Made in Chelsea. Guilty pleasures.
• Cheap drinks and trips to the pub.
• Rooftop bars. 
• Riding a bike. It's flat and there are no Auckland drivers.
• So. Much. History.
• Squirrels. 

Things that are not so great:

• People never smile.
• I’m constantly misunderstood when I say things like ‘pants’ and ‘jandals’.
• The proliferation of pre-packaged sandwiches.
• The obsession with having a tan. I came to grips with my pale skin a long time ago but apparently brits can’t accept being pale. After a holiday I was greeted with ‘You’re not tanned?’, ‘Why aren’t you tanned?’, ‘Did it rain?’ No, no – I’m just pale.
• Missing out on Georgie Pie (all your posts on FB do not help either!)
• People stripping off and sunbathing in parks like it’s a beach. It’s not a beach.
• People getting in the way. Yes I am running late for my train, and yes I will get angry if you stand on the wrong side of the escalator.
• Black snot. 

The Côte d'Azur: Agay

For our last night in the South of France we headed back to St Raphael, to Agay and checked in to Le Lido by the beach. I didn’t really rate the hotel because it didn’t have any of the beach views or wifi it advertised and it was expensive for such a small room. We were really close to the beach though which was nice.

We headed over to the beach for a swim and some lunch. Then we went round to Guy & Claudine’s place to bug everyone one last time. Dave, Aurelie, Sam & I then went out for dinner at La Tortue, an absolutely stunning restaurant where your table is on the sand and the water is right beside you. The food was delicious but the highlight of the day was getting a proper hug from Jojo when I said goodbye. Yesss she knows who I am. Success.

The following morning we headed to the beach for one last swim and drove to Nice for our flight back to London. 

The Côte d'Azur: Medieval Towns

Montaroux, Callian, Tourrettes, Mons, Seillans

On the Sunday evening after Jojo’s baptism, Sam & I headed off to our next stop – Montaroux. I had very clear instructions from Google maps on how to get there and it was very pretty drive up in to the mountains. Needless to say, I got lost. After driving up and down the same street (note: dusty, dirty, side road where Google indicated the hotel was) I called and said I was lost. 

Although very helpful, we couldn’t really understand each other – me trying to describe my location and him telling me where to go from there. I ended up driving down a million little side roads, all which led to Lac de Saint-Cassien (a lake), I eventually asked a passer-by for help and luckily he spoke great English and called and got me some directions. Back to the main street and turn left. Duh. I’d missed the sign by about 10 metres.

We finally checked in to Les Gites du Lac. There were absolutely stunning views of the lake from our room and the terrace AAAND breakfast was included. Woo – free pastry! There was also a great big golden retriever roaming around (who I invited in to our room to hang out for a bit). This was easily my favourite place from the trip.

We drove in to the centre of Montaroux where they were in full swing celebrating Bastille day! There were impressive fireworks rigged up for when it got dark, wine for €2, Cola for €4 (I went for the wine) and a brass band playing. Very festive.

There are a number of little medieval towns up in the mountains in the South of France, Montaroux being one of them. The buildings are all built up on sheer rock slopes with little cobbled streets winding around the town.

The following day we drove to Callian, Tourrettes and Mons, more medieval towns. We wandered around each and took some photos and then headed to Seillans for our next night.

There was heaps of cool artwork around the towns too.

And rocks on the roof tiles to keep them in place when it gets windy. 

We stayed at Hotel Restaurant de Deux Rocs right in the centre of Seillans and while the location was great, the hotel was pretty basic. I had a bit of a wrestle with the tiny shower the following morning where the shower won and dumped a whole lot of water on the bathroom floor. Good thing they gave us lots of towels.

The restaurant part of the hotel was closed so we ventured in to town to check out the other three eating venues available. One was closed, one was super busy and quite expensive, so we had pizza. It was cheesy and delicious. 

The Côte d'Azur: Saint-Raphaël

Heading over to Guy & Claudine’s place (my bro’s inlaws) to see everyone was very exciting. It was definitely the highlight of the trip seeing Dave & Lili, but mostly Jojo (who I’d last seen in January and who’s just turned 2). They were playing in the pool when we arrived and I quickly joined them.

Hanging out with everyone was great. Jo is saying lots of words but it’s a bit strange when she does because you’re never sure if they’re going to be in English or French. Playing in the pool together she’ll be like ‘the ball, the ball’ (aka give it to me now) and then ‘bateau’ (for boat). So cute.

Lazing by the pool at the hotel the following morning after stuffing my face with pastry from the buffet breakfast was very relaxing. Manda & Fearg arrived the night before (early in the morning after their flight was delayed by 3 hours!) and joined us for breakfast and some pool action. 

Afterwards we explored the centre of St Raphael and then headed over to Guy & Claudine’s to see the extended fam.

There was some present opening.

And then some tickling (this brings back horrible memories for me).

We went for a walk up and around L’Esterel and took in some scenery. It was nice sibling bonding time.

Manda led the way:

Dinner back at the house was delicious pizzas created by Dave, with lots of wine on the side. And then the deserts came out. *Drool* Gateau. Times three. There was one giant raspberry macaron thing with berries and cream in the middle, one layered chocolate amazingness and another layered with chocolate, caramel and nuts. The French know how to make cakes.

The whole reason for this excursion was to celebrate/ witness (I’m not sure of the right word here) the baptism of Jojo. There is nothing like getting dressed up (I was wearing heels but I switched to sandals pretty soon after because my feet were too hot!) and heading to an hour and a half of French mass in a church with only one ceiling fan. I’m sure the service was lovely (I’ve been told it was very detailed) but not understanding any of it was very boring. And it was really hot. And I got sweaty. Then after that the actual baptism started.

Jojo looked very pretty in her pink and white outfit – I’m sorry I didn’t take any photos.

We all headed back to Guy & Claudine’s place for lunch which included prosciutto & melon, foie gras, cheese, salmon, sea bass with hollandaise and delicious salads. Then out came the cakes. We had one Saint Honoré gateau which was like a custardy tart with cream on top and little caramel choux pastry filled with custard on the edge. Oh my goodness.  Then came out the petit fours – little chocolate, lemon, strawberry, raspberry, caramel, custard filled tarts. So. Much. Goodness.

On a side note – in October I’ll have a nephew! This is not really new news but it was super great seeing the bump in France so I thought I’d mention it. 

The Côte d'Azur: Cannes

So. Much. Money. From driving around Cannes it is very clear that some people have far too much money. Bently. Maserati. BMW. Aston Martin. Lamborghini. Expensive cars were everywhere. And there were many expensive boats in the water too.

Cannes is great for people watching. There are a lot of tourists as well as lot of short skirts, see-through dresses and plastic surgery.  There are men you can tell must have a bit of money because they are fat and balding yet still walking around with a supermodel on their arm. It was a pretty common occurrence!

We did the touristy thing and went and looked at all the celebrity mementos everywhere. We took photos of each other on the red carpet. Yay!

Our hotel in Cannes was really little, cute and pimpin’ (if those three words can go together). It was called Hotel le Romanesque and we had a balcony and a spa bath. This was our room:

For dinner we stayed local to our Hotel and went to a restaurant just down the road called Tapis Rouge. It was delicious! We shared some escargots (Sam's first), then some duck and fish, and then crème brulee and more chocolate fondant. Super yum.  Oh and some wine. Super cheap French wine.

We went back to the hotel to enjoy the air con for a bit and thought about going out again… but the heat outside wasn’t very appealing so we flagged it and did a spot of people watching from our balcony.

The next day we packed up pretty early (we thought about going for a swim, but the beach is so crazy full of people, we decided to wait) and drove around the coast to St Raphael.

I'm pretty sure we drove past Brad & Angelina's place. 

We stopped for a swim at Agay (a little beach just outside of St Raphael) and then headed to the Mercure in Valescure to check in. 

I didn’t really enjoy Cannes all that much. It was quite expensive and there were a lot of people everywhere. It was still fun to have gone and seen all the luxury, but I don’t think I’ll be hurrying back.