An attempt to have a holiday

Thursday was forecast to be a good day, at least in the afternoon. So, despite the (my) various ailments, we decided a bus trip to Menton, near the Italian border, was a good thing to do.

We caught the local bus to close to the Gare Routiere - had to walk/limp about 300 metres - where we looked for the appropriate bus bay for buses heading to Menton. Should have guessed - it was the one with hundreds already waiting!
However, immediately behind it, and with few if any waiting, was the bay for buses to Grasse, the perfume capital of the world. So, demonstrating incredible agility of mind (and not wanting to wait for the next Menton bus!), we changed plan and got on the bus to Grasse. Similar journey time estimated - about 90 minutes - so no big deal. I should add that I only paid €2.60 for both of us - and
it should have been €2! They're robbing b*ggers here as well!

As an ex-professional bus driver, I take my hat off to these idiots! I would think twice about taking a car down some of the roads they have to use - and, as for the speed at which they travel, don't go there. Occasional closing of eyes and breathing in was the order of things. However, he got us there in one piece and more or less on time.

Naturally, the bus station (gare routiere, see above) was at the top of the hill with all the points of interest down the hill - this just seems to be the natural turn of things as far as we are concerned - it was going to be interesting to see how "the ankle" coped. Well, it got me as far as lunch! A classic French setting - in a town square, under plane trees with the sun shining - the kind of caricature I'm happy to live with.

We decided that salads were what was required - Carol had a Salade Nicoise whilst I had Salade des Foies de Volaille (chicken liver salad). Brilliant! I had to help Carol finish hers although I wasn't allowed any tuna! Beats MacDonalds any day!

After lunch, we mooched down to the cathedral, which was right by an outlook point as well. The cathedral was very dark with huge pillars (we reckoned they hadn't had the necessary architectural skills to make them any slimmer). However, there were some lovely artworks inside including, astonishingly, 3 paintings by Rubens - just hanging on the walls. Classy!

We then outlooked from the outlook - you can actually see yachts on the mediterranean from this far up - then decided we'd gone as far as sensible. So back, up the hill, to the bus. Joining the queue for the bus (those of you who have travelled in France will recognise the falsehood in that statement!), we reached Nice at about 5 o'clock.

Before being allowed to partake of a small glass of beer during happy hour, I was told we must find something for dinner. We couldn't remember where there was a butcher although Carol vaguely remembered seeing one somewhere near the entrance to the old town. We looked...........and there were about 6 or 7 butchers! We chose one on the simple merit of it selling meat (???) and bought 2 cotes de veau (veal chops). Some bread, a few french beans - now we were set for happy hour!

Came back to the apartment on the bus (these bus passes are a thing of wonder) and started to cook - pan fried with shallots, white wine and cream. Magnifique!

There, we're up to date!!