Time to go

I didn't really want to go, but it was time. 

It was our last day in Cote d'Azur visiting Maya and her family.  Todd and I were off back to our respective homes in Asia, but we would be catching up soon enough as he already had a trip to Hong Kong planned.  Saying goodbye to Maya and the family, that was much tougher.

After checking out of where we were staying, we drove to meet Maya and her family in Antibes.  The weather was great and the sky was an intense blue.  There wasn't a single cloud, but the weather was still very temperate.  In short, it was a lovely day to be out.

We had breakfast together at a small cafe that served a very "Australian" style breakfast and then went for a stroll through the town and along the waterfront.  This whole region would be different in only a few weeks.  As the weather continues to warm, the tourists will start flocking in and the peacefulness will be replaced with bustling crowds.

We enjoyed ourselves as much as we could.  We pointed out interesting things to each other, bought some more snacks and joked with each other.  I bought my last crepe for the trip and made sure to buy some for the kids as well.  These goodbyes are always tough.  The morning started off with everyone in a good mood, but as time progressed, we could see that Maya's kids were starting to get very quiet and down.  Their usual limitless energy had changed and there was a bit more sadness to their faces.

It was a nice and pleasant way to say our goodbyes.  Walking around the picturesque Antibes during the daytime was quite lovely.  Even with their feelings of sadness, the kids were still able to run around.  As we got closer to the streets as we were walking I found myself screaming out to them to walk further in and away from the cars!  We stood around and looked out at the ocean and had a last photo together.  With the different hues of blue, no clouds, an old town and the ocean in the background, this image felt like it captured the mood of our entire trip. 

Before we headed to the airport, I had one last thing I wanted to do.  We walked over to the markets and I stocked up on some supplies to take back to Hong Kong.  I bought some nougats, some preserves and several wheels of different cheeses.  Hong Kong isn't too bad for a lot of these things, but the prices here were a fraction of what they were in Hong Kong and the quality was also much better.  Todd on the other hand didn't even have that option in Jakarta and so he was buying simply so he would be able to have some.  The markets were well organised and very tidy.  I've never quite understood why it is that markets in Asia seem to be so chaotic in comparison.

Cote d'Azur is an incredible part of the world.  It's not a place to visit just for the sights, but rather it is a somewhere you want to be able to really experience the lifestyle.  That is probably the case for large parts of Europe, but if you were to ask me whether this is a place you should visit as your first destination to Europe I would probably say no.  There are far better places to satisfy your urges to "see" Europe as a tourist, with the famous sights and beautiful monuments.  This place though, this was for life and for living.  This isn't a place for a lightning trip through the continent, trying to jam in as many photo opportunities as possible whilst ticking things off of a list.  Here, you want to be able to sit in the cafes and lounge in the restaurants; to eat the socca and to drink the wine.  Having a car made all the difference this time as well.  Without it, there's no way you can fit in the activities you would want to do or have the flexibility you would need to change your plans on a whim.  Honestly, I'm not even sure it would be practical to see half of what we saw if we didn't have our own transport.

I had left the last time thinking I might never be back to this incredible part of the world.  It was very different this time, as I thought about how much I wanted to plan another trip to visit Maya and her family again.

Dinner in Cannes

Cannes is lovely at night.  

The buildings are also lovely during the day, but at night they shine like beautiful little beacons in the darkness.  The whole area is so incredibly wealthy, but unlike other parts of the Cote d'Azur, the buildings in Cannes exude the same image of wealth and opulence.  They all have such a classic facade that is in line with what you would expect of high class French architecture.  Walking through the streets at night, you feel that this is an elegant place and that everything in it is in good taste and refined.

The bright white of the buildings with the blackened backdrop also gives them all a look which is incredibly dramatic.  From certain angles, they almost look like the backdrops to the stage of a musical or a play.  Maybe it's life imitating art or vice versa?

We caught up with Maya on the promenade and walked towards the hill leading up to the old fort.  I remembered that there was a long street leading up the hill full of restaurants, but I couldn't quite remember where it was.  We walked around for a little bit and we found the street.  It looked just like I remembered, but the location was more to the right of where I thought it was.  It turns out that my memories of Cannes and its streets were not as perfect as I had thought!

The small street Rue Saint-Antoine is best described as "quaint".  It is narrow and lined on both sides by small restaurants and cafes.  Tables and chairs are pushed up against the walls of the buildings for patrons to sit and to look out into the street.  When you picture a stereotypical little French street, you would be imagining a street like this.  A man playing an accordion on the street would have completed this cliched image, but you can't always expect everything.

After dinner, we walked back to the main part of Cannes.  My friend Marine lives in Cannes and we were able to catch up for a drink.  It's been a long time since we worked together at Cirque du Soleil.  It almost seems like a different life now.

The last time I visited Cannes, I was staying a few streets back in a small hotel.  Marine had taken me for dinner up the same street we had just eaten at.  It was nice to be able to retrace some of the steps I had previously taken.  There was a sense of familiarity to Cannes that made it feel more welcoming and comfortable.

My memories of Nice

I find it hard to believe that I'm in Nice again.  I really never thought I would be back in the South of France, let alone in Nice.  I still have memories of briefly passing through a few years ago and kicking myself for not being able to spend more time.  The city seemed to have that balanced blend of all the things I wanted in life.  It wasn't too big as to be suffocating, but it had enough people to be lively.  It had a rich mixture of different people and cultures.  It was by the seaside and yet wasn't too far from the mountains.  It had an old and unique history.  The architecture of the city was beautiful.  It had its own cuisine which was itself a blend of French, Italian and Mediterranean cultures more generally.  I remembered walking around through the city when I was backpacking, having less than a day to see everything and having this annoying feeling gnaw at me.  It was a strange feeling that I can best describe as injustice or even having been hard done by.  It seemed so "unfair" that I wouldn't get to experience this place more and I felt like it was an opportunity that I wouldn't get to have again.  It was such a lovely place to visit back then, and I'm happy to say that it's still a lovely place to visit now.

This trip to visit Maya and her family was organised quite suddenly.  We needed to go and see Maya, and their family had only relatively recently moved to the South of France.  The priority was of course to see Maya and the family, but this opportunity to see Nice again definitely filled me with excitement.  For the first part of the trip, we hadn't really visited Nice other than when we arrived at the airport.  Maya didn't know Nice all that well yet given her recent arrival in the area, but I spent lots of time fawning over the city and my memories.  Todd and Maya didn't seem entirely convinced, but I wasn't going to change my views.

Finally, we started to drive towards Nice.  With the waters now to my left, the road wound its way along the coast until I could see Nice coming into my vision.  We drove through the outer suburbs and down the road next to the promenade itself.  It was a slow drive and I happily soaked in all the sights we passed.  Every now and again, brief flickers of memory popped into my head as I started to recognise buildings I had seen before.  Streets became familiar and the beach looked just like it did when I had last visited.  We parked the car and we walked out into Nice.

The city is still as beautiful as I remember it to be.  The deep blue waters of the Mediterranean still hugging the grey pebbled beaches.  The city itself still a lovely colour of reddish terracotta and sandy yellows.

We climbed to the top of the hill to the South East of the town.  It gave the best views of both the city of Nice and the ocean as well.  It was strange to be standing up here again, I remember looking out years ago and seeing a strange unfamiliar landscape.  This time, the beauty was still there, but I felt an intimacy with everything I looked at.  In the distance, I could see the hills where Maya and her family lived.  I could see in the direction of Grasse, St Paul de Vence and Gourdon.  I could see towards Antibes and Juan le Pins.  I wasn't looking aimlessly out with random curiosity anymore, but rather with a happy familiarity.  We walked around the top for a bit longer and jumped up and down a few walls to try and get a better view, nearly killing ourselves in the process.  Then we walked to the back and towards the old town of Nice.

The old town of Nice is everything that is lovely and comforting about a Mediterranean town.  The colours and the style of architecture give this feeling of the casual and relaxed attitudes of southern Europe, whilst still having the more refined elements of France in their design.  It was relatively busy this time compared to the emptiness of the last time I was here, and the atmosphere was warm and inviting.  Tourists were taking photos, looking at the random shops and eating socca.  We stopped at some shops ourselves, admired the architecture and went into some wine shops to look for some wine for Todd.

We had been fortunate to have been visiting lots of old towns with very traditional architecture over the last few days, so we decided to go towards the more modern part of Nice.  This too wasn't far away and the walk over took us past other beautiful parts of the city.

We walked down the main boulevard which I remembered very well.  Just as was the case when I last visited, both sides are lined with cafes where people sit, drink and watch the world go by.  We sat down, ordered our coffees, and joined in with the people watching.  I was very much repeating all of the activities I had done the last time I had visited Nice.

We started walking back to the promenade by the water.  Along the way, we walked through what seemed to be the main square of the city.  It was clean and modern.  As a public space, it was great.  I didn't know this until later, but much of these vast open spaces in the middle of Nice are actually the course of the river which runs through Nice, but which has now been completely covered over.  Apparently it is usually just a series of streams, so covering it up still allows it to flow to the sea whilst providing the city with far more uses for the space.

Arriving back at the promenade, we decided to stay a bit longer before we headed back towards Juan le Pins.  We walked up and down for a bit, enjoying the ocean air and also the sight of people lounging on the beach, eating and drinking.  This was the tragic scene of a terrorist attack a few years back when a truck was used to plough through hundreds of people who were out celebrating Bastille Day.  We could see some of the result of that attack, with various bollards and obstacles having now been constructed periodically along the walkway to prevent anyone with vehicle from ever being able to cause such damage again.  It barely seemed possible that such an awful crime could have occurred in this calm and serene place.

As we continued to walk down the promenade, we decided to stop for another drink.  This was one of the great things about having more time and control of your travel.  That ability to entirely self determine your own trip was a freedom that I enjoyed immensely.  I wasn't in a rush, I didn't need to get anywhere quickly.

We stepped down to the pebbly beach itself.  There were cafes which were intermittently located along the beach.  We found one with the most comfortable looking chairs and made our orders.  I knew what I wanted from the moment I arrived and I ordered a Kir.  It had become my drink of choice since I first tried it in Aix.  Todd on the other hand looked through the menu.  He browsed through the beers and initially asked the waiter what beer was on tap, then suddenly he checked himself, closed the menu and instead asked for a glass of rose.  It was a small change, but a nice demonstration on the impact that the trip had had on Todd.  Always embrace what is local whenever you can.

As we walked to the car, I couldn't help but think of the change in my own circumstances and how different this trip was compared to my last one to the region.  Having more money undoubtedly changes your experiences.  I always enjoyed my backpacking and the experiences I was able to have doing it, but there are definitely times where having additional resources creates some new opportunities you wouldn't otherwise have.  I'm not talking about the need for extravagant levels of wealth, but it's definitely good being able to sit down to enjoy that extra drink or to be able to choose a restaurant because it looks good rather than merely because it's the cheapest spot in town.  Still, I'll always look back at the more adventurous times just as fondly. 

Saint Jean Cap Ferrat

Maya and Adam had an appointment to be at so Todd and I had the day free.

To the East of Nice is a long peninsula that juts into the sea.  Apparently this is where the truly wealthy of Nice and this part of world live.  There may be more tax friendly locations further to the East in Monaco, but there is an exclusivity to living in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat that seems worth the price to pay.  Once again, having a car proved invaluable as we drove around the peninsula trying to find a good spot to look around.  We struggled to find anything as all the best land was unsurprisingly taken up by private estates and properties.  Instead, we drove towards the central area which housed the "Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild".

The villa and its surrounding gardens were some of the most opulent I've ever seen.  The whole place just felt... rich.  Everything looked expensive and at times I felt like I was trespassing.  Surely it was only a matter of time before an old Frenchman come out of the villa with a shotgun to chase all of us riff-raff off of his property?

Every part of the entire property was diligently maintained and visually beautiful.  The interiors and the gardens, as well as the views they provided of the surrounding region were stunning.  It was one of those places where at every spot, you could quite easily decide that what you were looking at was worthy of being in a painting or portrait.

As we walked around the grounds, we didn't talk too much.  We just wanted to enjoy the surroundings, to relax and experience the peacefulness it provided.  In the middle of the gardens there was a large pond with fountains.  Soft classical music came out of speakers hidden in the ground which were choreographed to the fountains.  The villa and grounds were by no means empty either, there were other tourists doing similar things to us, just walking around and looking at the beauty of the place.  Like us, they seemed to all do it quietly.

Loud noises and chatter seemed so out of place here and so people stayed quiet.  To have done otherwise would have ruined the place for others, but it would have also ruined the place for that person as well.  Instead, everyone was content with simply sitting and looking out.

Sometimes a bit of quiet is all you need to feel refreshed.

A quiet evening

Walking around this area at night has been peaceful.  The lack of the tourist crowds has meant we have generally been uninterrupted and we haven't had any issues with parking or having to lineup.  I can't imagine how busy it must be during the peak of the summer months.  Many of the easy strolls and simple drives we made would have been congested nightmares.  Even the visits we made to the various towns in the area would have been complicated by the delays getting in and out.

We were tired from the long day, but we still needed to get some dinner.  We had learnt that Juan le Pins was too quiet, so we made our way over to Antibes again.  The night was quiet, but there were still some restaurants and bistros open.  We sat down inside one restaurant just in time to order dinner.  First, we needed a drink.

I had learnt in my short time here that the reds from Cote d'Azur aren't to be trusted, so instead we went with the safe option and ordered a Cotes du Rhone.  Lovely wines are to be had everywhere and always at affordable prices.  For me in HK, I'm lucky that I can still get access to these unique products, but for poor Todd, the ability to anything but the most commercial brands was often not an option.

Dinner was simple.  Bistro fair.  Given the long day we had had, it was what we wanted.  It almost felt like the food was an accompaniment to the wine rather than the other way around.  We didn't even linger and once we finished eating we started to walk back to the apartment.  The lights were still on though, so the streets had a surreal feeling to them.

The whole area seemed almost a little bit artificial with the complete lack of people.  It was as though it was still being built in preparation for all the people who were meant to be there, but who hadn't quite arrived yet.  It was nice to wander through the area though.  There was a peacefulness to the solitude and something incredibly calming about being able to hear my own footsteps echoing through the streets and alleys.

We walked through the silent streets to get back to the apartment.  There was occasionally someone who cried out to a friend or the sound of steps, but again, it was otherwise empty.  By the time I was back at the apartment, I was exhausted and went straight to bed.

Mushroom!

Maya has always been a special person when it comes to food and decision making.

I remember she once drove from Canberra to Sydney just because she wanted a felafel at a particular restaurant she liked.

We shouldn't have been surprised when she told us she wanted to go to Italy for lunch.

Now this sounds much crazier than it actually is.  The drive to said restaurant in Italy from Biot was only a bit more than an hour, so it was a very reasonable drive.  It's another one of the great benefits of the Cote d'Azur region, the ability to just pop over to Italy for a quick day trip whenever you want.  I was quickly becoming enamoured with this region of the world and every new experience just seemed to add to my love.

The drive over took us over the same roads that we took to Eze and Monaco.  There was no real differences apparent at all as we drove into Italy except for a change in the language of the road signs.  We made our turnoff to head to the restaurant that Maya wanted to try and here we started seeing some real differences coming through.  The roads and streets were definitely not as well maintained and there was noticeably more trash strewn around the side of the roads.  As we drove further inland, the road followed a small river which snaked its way through the valley.  Eventually we got to our destination, which was signposted by a huge statue of a mushroom.

It was all very rustic.  We were taken out front of the old farmhouse style restaurant were we were given small glasses of wine and olives while we waited for our table.  Sitting outside as we waited, we soaked up the fresh air and sunshine whilst looking up in the hills.

Once we were seated inside, we were asked about what we wanted for drinks but nothing else.  This restaurant didn't offer any choice in food, every course was planned and we would eat what we were given.  I had no problem with that approach to dining.

It started out simply enough, with a traditional Piedmont dish called "bagna cauda".  It's a fondue like dip, but made with anchovies and accompanied by fresh vegetables.  I loved it.  The combination of the fresh vegetables and the intense saltiness of the anchovy dip was exactly what my palate enjoyed.  I cleaned up the platter quickly and then waited, feeling relatively satisfied already.

After a short pause, we began to be inundated with food.  We would be given about ten more courses for our lunch.  Most of the dishes had some form of mushroom in it, being the theme of the restaurant, but everything was quite balanced.  We were given cheeses, frittatas, pastas, risottos, meats and other nicely cooked vegetables.  One particular dish that will stay with me for a long time was a cheese and egg torte that was like a cheesy Italian version of a tamagoyaki.  It seemed to skirt the boundary between being a cheese dish and an egg dish, with neither one being quite dominant enough.  It was incredibly tasty.

The food kept coming, but somehow I found a way to keep eating.  Finally, we got to some of the last of the savoury courses which were deep fried artichoke hearts and grilled lamb cutlets.  Both lamb and artichokes are dishes which are found far less frequently in Hong Kong, so I enjoyed these very much.

Desserts were brought, and somehow I managed to eat that as well.  We finished everything off with a few glasses of their home made liquor.  Adam laughed as he immediately handed the keys over to Maya.  There was no argument and discussion from either of them, it was clear that neither he, myself or Todd were in any state to be driving.  She would have to put up with three drunk and laughing children on the drive back to France. 

Monaco again

I didn't really want to go, but we decided that a visit to Monaco was needed.

I remember visiting Monaco and disliking it.  It felt grimy and all of the famous sights weren't worth the journey.  I never thought I would return, but here I was driving in the direction of this overrated tourist trap.

We had to go though.  Todd had never been, and Maya and I both agreed that no trip to this region would be truly complete without a visit to Monaco.

But before we actually went into Monaco itself, Maya had a nice surprise for us.  She directed me up some roads that actually took us into the hills overlooking Monaco.  We parked the car and went for a short walk until we were standing in front of a view that I personally thought was worth more than all of the tacky garbage in the city itself.

On the course of the walk up to the top, there were definitely some VERY high spots that I found myself as captured nicely by Todd.

It was lovely to be able to sit and just stare out into the ocean and the city.  Maya had brought us both up to this vantage spot, but she was terrified enough of heights that she stayed back away from the edge.

Knowing her terror, Todd and I began to do as much as we could to scare the hell out of her.  We tried to coax her to come closer, tried to push her towards the edge and when that didn't work we started jumping around in a way to freak her out on our behalf.  It was all fine though, there was no danger as the edge wasn't actually steep and had a very gradual incline.  It did make for some dramatic looking photos.

Up at the top of the hill, we bumped into a young couple who had made the hike up to the top of the hill all the way from Monaco.  They were taking pictures but they looked exhausted.  They asked if we had space in our car to drive them back down, which we were happy to do.  The look of gratitude and relief on their faces was hilarious.  The drive down the hills was fun as always, and when we entered into Monaco itself, I experienced a slight thrill at driving around on the roads made famous by the Grand Prix.  The location of the parking garage we went to also meant that I got to drive around the "hairpin turn".

So we found ourselves in Monaco.

Full of the wealthy elite of the world who have more money than taste.

The city had improved a little bit since I was last here.  There were some new buildings and some of these developments didn't look too bad.  On the whole, it was still the same old Monaco though.  The place felt tacky and the people looked trashy.  The old buildings were all still in need of an update and they still had that 70s look about them which I hated so much.

There still wasn't all that much to do either.  You'd walk around the harbour and gawk at some ridiculous megayachts, go and look at the terrible little casino, get bored at seeing supercars everywhere.  Monaco has always survived on its glamourous reputation, but when you are actually inside that veneer is gone and you're left with a fairly boring little city.

There were a whole bunch of discarded office chairs behind the casino.  So we decided to chill out for a bit before we left.  This was probably the highlight of my time in this overrated city.   Monaco still has this strange reputation for glitz and glamour, it will probably last but I will never quite understand it.  It's a tax haven on the Mediterranean that offers good proximity to better and more interesting places, that's where it's true value lies. 

Eze

A few weeks before we arrived, Maya had taken the kids up to the small town of Eze for the day.  She insisted we visit again.

We had nothing better to do, so why not?

The drive out to Eze from Biot was a scenic journey that took us on a highway that overlooked all of Nice.  Part of the highway was raised significantly over the rest of the city and went straight through the middle of the city.  The views were stunning and the city of Nice really is incredible.  It's one of the cities blessed with lovely old architecture as well as the natural beauty of the ocean.  After we drove past Nice, we hit the mountainous roads which I love driving on.  We started climbing quickly and the road began to hug the coast.  Some of the drives we had done on this trip were some of the best I have ever done.  If anyone loves driving and scenery, I think they would be hard pressed to find a better spot than on the Cote d'Azur.

As we got closer to Eze, we could see it in the distance.

It was another lovely little French town on the top of a hill.  This time it was on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.  We were bound to get some pretty incredible views.  We stopped by the side of the road so that we could get out and admire the view.  

The old town of Eze is incredibly small.  Probably even smaller than Gourdon was.  However, unlike the town of Gourdon which is mostly all on the same level, the town of Eze feels almost like a medieval apartment building.  The houses and shops are built up on top of each other and the town continues up several levels.  You need to have good leg strength to climb all the stairs when you visit Eze.

At the very top of Eze is the "Jardin Exotique d'Eze" or the "Exotic Garden of Eze".  Apparently after the Second World War, a couple of the residents decided to create the garden in the ruins of the old castle.  The garden is full of succulents and has a very strong "Mediterranean" styling which isn't surprising. They did a good job and the garden at the top of Eze is now the best place to view the city and the incredible view of the surrounding areas.  There were visitors from all over the world walking around the garden taking pictures and the instagram girls were out in force on that bright and sunny day.

From the top of Eze, you could see all the way across to Saint Jean Cap Ferrat and even parts of Nice itself.  Off in the far distance towards the horizon, you could just make out Nice airport and some planes taking off and landing.

We stood around and soaked in the fresh air and the sweeping views.  Maya was sitting "downstairs" (I'm not sure if that's the correct description, but she was several levels below us) at a cafe waiting for us.  Since she had been up to the garden only a few weeks before, she couldn't be bothered to do the climb again.  As Todd and I walked around chatting about nothing and making random quips at each other, a girl who was probably in her late teens or early 20s asked us if we wanted her to help us take a picture of us.  It was better than trying to take a selfie, so we agreed and thanked her, noticing she seemed a bit weary.  She started chatting to us and as she got ready to take the picture, her parents appeared and started instructing her on how to take the shot.

Todd and I both laughed a little and talked about it later.  The poor girl seemed to be German and was clearly being dragged on a French holiday with her parents.  We guessed that she was probably desperate for any interaction with people who weren't her parents.  We both thought back to when our parents used to drag us out on holidays and the torture that it was to have to slowly follow them around.  At least Todd and I both had younger brothers who could keep us company... 

Aix-en-Provence

I'm not really quite sure what it is about Cote d'Azur which makes it feel a little bit less classy than it should.  Don't get me wrong, it is an incredible part of the world and I am very fortunate to be able to spend some time visiting.  I  really do love the place, it's just strange that it seems to have this odd vibe to it.  It might be the seaside nature of the place or the type of people it seems to draw, but it does have a bit of a griminess at times and something about the buildings feels very... 70s.

The next place I went to was the exact opposite of this.  I hopped in my car and I drove into the heart of Provence.  I was headed to Aix-en-Provence.  The drive wasn't too long, and only took two hours.  In that short amount of time I could see the landscape around me changing from the sparseness of Cote d'Azur to the greener countryside of Provence.  Once I reached Aix-en-Provence, there was only a little bit more of a trip before I was able to find the main parking garage in the very centre of town.

This place was stunning in every regard.

The buildings were beautiful.  The streets were elegant.  The people were attractive.  Everything about Aix-en-Provence (or simply "Aix") seemed to be well packaged and polished.  I was quite surprised that there was even a big change in how everyone was dressed, and I was impressed by how all the girls were fashionably dressed.  In Aix, the girls were definitely adopting a truly French sense of dress, with a very refined and chic style of fashion.  The image in my mind's eye of how French people should look was how the girls in this city dressed!

I wasn't just here to look around though.  I was here for a very specific reason.  My old housemates, Manon and Gabby were back living in France and were by chance, both now based in Montpellier.

A drive from Cote d'Azur to Montpellier was a bit too far for me to do as a simple day trip (it was about 4 hours drive), so we decided instead to meet in the middle in Aix.  I had a bit of time before they arrived, so I wandered around the town for a bit.

The historic old town of Aix isn't too big, so it's an easy place to explore walking.  The churches were beautiful and the houses were large and clearly built during a time of great wealth.  That was probably my main take away from wandering around Aix, the whole place just exuded a feeling of wealth, money and privilege.  Every building was designed and built with the highest of standards and the gardens were all meticulously maintained.  There wasn't anything in particular which seemed to stand out as a tourist attraction though.  That was fine for me, much like many other parts of France, it was clearly more the ambiance and atmosphere which a visitor should embrace in this town.

After walking around for a few hours, Manon arrived!  I hadn't seen her for a few years, so the happiness we both felt seeing each other was incredible.  She and Gabby used to live with me and they were like my little sisters.  After I left Australia, one of the toughest things I went through was moving from an apartment where I used to see them both almost every day to living by myself.  There was a sense of community and family I had living with the both of them that I missed dearly.  Gabby hadn't arrived yet, so Manon and I wandered around Aix a bit more.  We went and bought and ate some calissons (which Manon first introduced me to and which I still love to this day) and then found ourselves a nice cafe to sit and chat.

We ended up at a cafe called "Le Grillon" on the main street.  It was a classic French cafe, with the old wooden chairs and tables and ornate decorations all along its front.  We watched the world pass by as we ate crepes and I drank my first Kir.  

Time past, but we didn't feel like moving.  There wasn't much to do other than enjoy the surroundings and one another's company.  We stayed in our seat and just kept chatting way.  The waiters came and brought us more drinks and offered us small snacks of bread with fish and olives.  Manon saw a plate of popcorn, which seemed to be far less French, and grabbed that to munch on whilst she drank her beer.

After sitting for a little longer, Gabby arrived.  Seeing both of them again made me immensely happy.  They both screamed with laughter being together and I really felt like I had my two kid sisters back with me.  The last time I had seen the two of them had been back in our apartment in Coogee and now we were all wandering through the streets of Aix.  It was a strange flip as well.  Back in Australia, I was the local and whenever there was a need for any additional language expertise or knowledge of the area, they would both come to me.  It was strange that I was now relying on them to guide me.  We went to a restaurant that had been recommended to Manon to get some dinner.  There, I was once again surprised by these two French girls.  Both of them are incredibly slim, but when it came to the ordering they didn't hold back.  The each ordered a pot of foie gras as an entree and then they each ordered a grilled sirloin topped with a slab of seared foie gras.  Maybe there is some truth to the old rumour that French girls don't get fat....

We walked back to our cars after dinner through the now dark streets of Aix.  The city was still beautiful and the people were still well dressed.  It was strange to say goodbye to them.  When you get accustomed to having someone around, goodbye is normally just a polite comment, a passing statement until you see them next.  When you say goodbye to someone knowing that it'll be long time before you catch up again, the words become so much more charged and tinged with sadness.  Hopefully it wouldn't be too long till the next meeting.