Ok so after the month of May, one of the most amazing of my life, I was expecting to leave Cloud 9. In reality I stayed up in the cosmos and the next weekend I spent way from Paris was in Chartres. Famous for its cathedral I went there with a good friend I had made in Paris from Mayotte a French territory located in the Northern Mozambique channel in the Indian ocean. She was perhaps the most patient and kind of all the French speaking people I met in terms of helping me develop my French whilst there. An English teacher in France, we never once spoke English, aside from when a friend came over from London. The progress I made in French was in large part due to her patience. Anyway, we spent the ... read more

After a few days drinking and before setting out for Saint Tropez, I managed to squeeze in a 4hr walk around Toulon. The walk was pleasant and Toulon seemed like yet another French city I could quite happily spend a lot more time in. Unfortunately my time in Toulon was in a way a bit like doing an ice-skating session, just as I was beginning to get a feel of it and about to enjoy the most enjoyable part, i.e the beach, my time/session was over. I also ended up hanging out at the train station when I came back from Saint Tropez. Other than reminding me to watch my step, there's not much to write about as it was in between rides, in the early hours of the morning. Not minding my step meant a ... read more

Èze is a pretty ancient village set spectacularly 427m above sea level at the top of a cliff that I spent an hour or two climbing up to get there. The walk up was definitely the highlight for me, although Èze itself was interesting enough, just a shade to touristy for my liking. The history of the place as per normal is interesting though. I didn´t realise the Moors had gotten as far as there, occupying it for 80 years. I spent 3 or 4 hours walking there and walking around, then I hopped on the bus to Monaco...... read more

As the legend would have it Saint Honorat, the brother of Sainte Marguerite, set up shop on the island now named after him, around 410. Apparently and understandably he wanted to be a hermit, but was soon followed by various disciples who together began the monastery that still exists on the island today, despite various invasions and power struggles involving the island over the centuries. I went there the second time I was in Cannes, again to escape the madness of the festival and also to learn something about the area. For me the island was stunnng, infact I could have quite easitly stayed there had I had the means to do so. Oozing in tranquility, it is not to hard to see why it houses a monastery and why one would choose to shut himself ... read more

Erin had a day off, on the 18th so she kindly took me to Menton, a beautiful French town next to the Italian border. Apart from being stunning, it also has le cimetière du vieux château - the graveyard where William Webb Ellis, rugby's reputed inventor was put to rest. As I had no idea that I would find his grave, it was quite a nice suprise. The cemetery itself has a fantastic view over the Mediterranean that unfortunately I don´t have too many pictures of, as as Murphy´s law would have it I ran out of battery at about the time we arrived.... read more