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.