Ten past seven. Cassis dawn. A red glow on the Mediterranean horizon. Worker hurries into the hotel below me. My breakfast needs preparing. Sounds of shifting beer barrels. Gentle breeze rustles the surface of the water in the harbour, shimmering in the early morning light. Two white vans and two cars drive lights on along the quay in front of Bar Mistral.
…
Comfortable enough drive from Cassis to Nice despite the Bip&Go not working at one of the peages and a big accident holding everyone up for a while as three lanes merged into one. Could have been worse. Sat nav lost the plot a bit around some complicated roundabouts near our destination but we are glad now to have abandoned the car for a while, save the occasional supermarche run.
All is quiet in the chalet after a very pleasant light lunch in which I consumed some duck liver pate with a tomato and bread. We shall shortly make our way to the pool which is nobbut 60m away.
Tonight’s plan is a quiet night in. There may be rugby on the TV in the snack bar. I’m assuming there is a TV though not seen one 🙂
There is abundant public transport here. In an ideal world we wouldn’t need to use it to go to Nice as a taxi would seem to be far quicker and easier, assuming we are able to find one. We are less than twenty minutes by car from the Allianz stadium but by public transport it is more like an hour. Coming back the likelihood of finding a cab seems pretty remote. Thirty thousand other rugby fans will be looking for the same thing.
…
We are in our chalet watching the rugby with the BBC radio commentary. The radio is almost a minute behind but it is better to have it that way than the inane French commentary. They get excited at the slightest thing and are mostly boring. Ok I realise this is not very politically correct but it is what it is.
Our touring party are currently somewhat dispersed. One lot are in an AirBnB on the Promenade des Anglais. Three are in their own campsite on the other side of Nice. We assume this to be the case. Radio silence is being observed. There were no more MoHo slots in this, our preferred choice site. Went in a flash. Ah well.
Tomorrow morning we have bacon. It is French bacon. Almost certainly rubbish but we have to give it a go. I realise that the enlightened amongst you will be saying that I should not pass judgement before trying the bacon but I speak with great experience. Even in the UK there is a lot of crap bacon. Almost any bacon sourced from a supermarket, for example.
Having now settled into our chalet it must be observed that several items appear to be missing after our two weeks of itinerant existence. Firstly my copy of the Band of Brothers book. Could have sworn it put it in my duffel bag but no that would appear not to be the case.
Secondly there were around six bottles of Kronenbourg 1664 somewhere to be had. Posh ones. They must be in the same bag as the book. Bit annoying, especially if I’ve left them behind somewhere. They are all replaceable. This is not a life or death sitch. Annoying all the same.
I have three bottles of particularly fine eau de vie in the boot. Calvados, armagnac and cognac. I am planning a taste test next week when we all converge on the Manoir. That’s after Nice. Eight days hence. The input from the guy in the shop who sold me it is that the bottles need to be kept in the fridge. None of this room temperature stuff. Some of them are at cask strength. The cognac is a blend with 70% dating back to 1990 and some as far back as 1926. Rare grapes. We will enjoy it I’m sure.
Tomorrow we are off to see Wales v Portugal. First a lunch is planned with our old friends @David Hopinks and @Cecile Hopkins. V excited to see them. The game is not until five forty five so a leisurely lunch in prospect followed by a few beers and rugby. More anon…