Cannes: Cosmopolitan, Casinos and Cars

We got a ride from Vieussan to Bedariaux station by one of the workshoppers, thank you, Francine, and took the bus for 1.5 hour to Montpellier, where we spend the rest of the day walking around the town, and the night in a hotel on Rue du Madeline. They promised free WiFi, but it never worked, and this was one of the reasons we chose to stay there.

The following day we took the train for 4.5 hours to Antibe, where our friends Mady and Pat picked us up at the station, and took us to a garden party at their friends' house. We had a very nice afternoon, and enjoyed talking to everybody, especially to two fellow Vancouverites, who also were travelling the world. They were house sitting for up to 3 months at a time, so they really got the opportunity to experience a place. They had been doing this for just about a year now, and if you love pets that's the way to go. 

What a culture shock to arrive in Cannes; the luxury, the fancy cars and the smell of money! Around 40,000 people live in Cannes, which is most know for the Golden Palms film festival.

Mady and Pat has a great apartment with a view of the ocean, and within 5 minutes walking distance of the beach and the shops (not that we could afford to shop!).  

Pat gave us a great guided walking tour.

We spent the afternoon on the beach and in the ocean - a welcome change from the mountains, and had dinner on the balcony.

Believe it or not, after all the pre-packing and re-packing preparations, we still brought too much stuff, so there is no space in the backpack to buy anything new along the way. We went through our stuff, and went to the post office to send off 5 kg of shoes and clothes to my sister in Denmark for storage.

The following day we took the train to Monaco, so Andy could experience this postage stamp size country close to the Italian boarder. The Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state, located on the French Riviera, boarded by France on three sides. It covers 202 ha, has a population of 35,000, and is a unitary state with a constitutional monarchy.

Unfortunately, Andy's visit to the casino and the 20 euro investment did not turn into a jackpot so we can travel longer, but he had a good 20 minutes of fun! And no, we did not steal the $136 million worth of jewelry from the Carlton Hotel in Cannes that week either.

We had a nice lunch and a wonderful home made organic beer at the Brewpub Brasserie de Monaco.

 

This is the only type of Formula 1 Andy will ever drive in Monaco.

That evening we cooked dinner for Mady and Pat, and they had arranged a spectacular 'goodbye fireworks' for us.

 

Thank you for your hospitality, Mady and Pat, for the great conversations.... and (all) the wine! We had a wonderful time.

The French word 'souvenir' means 'to remember', and we have a lot of wonderful souvenirs from our three weeks in France.

One Night in ....... Montpellier

The Singing Retreat finished officially Friday evening, and we spent Saturday morning saying goodbye to the workshop participants, packing our stuff, and chatting with Sandra & Kiet over a cup of coffee.

We were lucky to get a ride to Bedarieux by Francine, as she was taking her friend Odile to that station. Francine did offer to take us to Beziers, as she was heading that way, but we had decided to break up the 6 hour train ride to Cannes with a night in Montpellier, and could catch a bus from Bediareux. Thank you for the ride, Francine, and for the fan, which comes in very handy in the 35 degrees in Italy.

The bus ride took 2.5 hours - we were very happy with the air con in the bus - and was a beautiful ride through the national park and towards the coast. The end station was well outside of Montpellier, so we took a tram into the main railway station, and found a room in a very basic hotel (embedded link) on Rue du Madeline. We chose the place due it's reasonable price, good location and free WiFi, but it never worked when we were there even though we, and others complained.

Montpellier is the 8th largest city in France with 265,000 inhabitants, we only saw the city center. We were close to the old main square, it was very beautiful.

Ice cream made as a flower - very creative and tasty.

We also enjoyed going out for a meal at Entrecote, a restaurant chain that only serves one appetizer, one main course and one dessert. Their menu is famous in France, luckely we went early and avoid the big lineup! We enjoyed going to Monoprix, the local supermarket, to buy our own food. After two weeks of eating predominantly vegetarian food Andy wanted to eat something with meat in it!

Breakfast was eaten on the steps of the theatre, and Andy, an incarnated Starbucks fan, had to give in to McDonalds - not an easy decision!

Volunteering in Vieussan: The Singing Workshop

The workshop had started while we were in Olargues, so everybody was settled in by the time we got back to La Source. The group consisted of 16 French women and 2 men, all around our age, and they were very nice people.Sandra and Kiet did most of the cooking this week, and we assisted as insructed, so it was less stressful for us.

Dorte did Chi Qong with the group every morning, and then we had the pleasure of chopping vegetables to song as the workshop group was doing the rehersal prior to lunch - a beautiful and wonderful experience. 

The group often cheerfully helped us with our dishwashing, and one night insisted we remain seated, while they did everything - what a treat!

 There is no "I" in the word "team"

- Anonymous

We also did a hike with this group through the mountains to Vieussan. We started by the river with a picnic we had prepared in the morning. Then we all had a swim in the river Orb before starting the 3 hour hike.  We slowly climbed until we had a view of the surrounding countryside. 

Dalai eating ice cream

Unfortunately, Sandra and Kiet's dog Sutka fell ill during this hike, having drunk contaminated water in the morning. We carried him in blankets for about an half and hour to the car to take him to the vet, but unfortunately passed away shortly after we reached the car. It was a very quiet evening.
The last night with this group was also particularly memourable, they gathered around us in a circle, and gave us an incredible performance. It was really neat to hear music coming from all sides, with different tones and sounds.