Bonjour de Nice, France no. 1 - First post from France


The plane ride was uneventful, flying has become so boring and pedestrian,know I sound like a snob when I say that but years ago, you could smoke, you could drink and you could even meet someone in the bathroom for a little nukkie, yes these things did happen.  It was the thrill of the unexpected, the romance of flying has just flown out the window.  I was seated beside a very nice woman. They were traveling to Italy for 2 weeks, the Amalfi Coast which always brings to mind that wonderful film The Talented Mr. Ripley, the version with Jude Lawe and Matt Damon.  The setting was glorious and the topic suitably enigmatic to engage my film lover's interest.  There was an earlier French version called Plein Soleil with a beautiful, resplendent Alain Delon.  Not quite as polished as the American version (more bucks in that one) but still worth a look for its locale.  This version was filmed in the South of France which is a nice segue to talk about where we are right now.

Note:  If you don't enjoy these mini digressions of mine just skip them.  

We arrived at the airport ready to pick up our car.  The airport is much bigger than it originally appears. There are two terminals and terminal two is where all car pickups are done.  Had to hop on a bus to get to it.  We directed ourselves to the Avis counter where a problem immediately surfaced.  The person who paid with Visa is the person who's name should appear as the primary conductor and that wasn't the case.  It seemed a fairly simple problem to remedy, change the name but the person we were dealing with was being a b&*^% and totally uncooperative, hate it when that happens.  Of course it was middle of the night in Canada so good luck trying to get anybody on the phone to make a change, it just wasn't going to happen.  I made a half hearted attempt did get somebody at Air Transat but that's as far as it got.  My partner was not being supportive of my efforts, ie: should have done a better job of organizing that leg of the trip but that's a whole other blog.  Moving on, I started to get a little angry, went to what appeared to be an empty counter and loudly demanded that somebody help me. After all we had already paid for the lease in full. I explained the problem to a young man (the manager apparently) who took it upon himself to do what I had suggested in the first place....great minds and all that.  We just had to pay extra for the secondary driver, no biggie. 

Finding the car a totally brand new Clio/Renault super cute was fine, getting it started was another question altogether.  There was no key, just one of those push button things to get your car opened from a distance.  We had no idea and didn't want to just stick it in anywhere.  Luckily I found a most helpful guy who came over and showed us where to put it and how to get it started. The thing just purrs, total charm.  Why don't they sell Renault in Canada I would buy one.

Had a bit of a time finding the hotel Les Bastides which I did see out of the corner of my eye but wasn't sure because it didn't say Saint Paul de Vence anywhere.  We went all the way up to Vence, bigger town, lovely views, so green and lush with the mountains in the distance and those distinctive deep green elongated cedars against the clear blue of the sky, those always remind me of the South of France.  Thanks to all the roundabouts, France has to be the King Kong of roundabouts you can get turned around and turned around which is sometimes a very good thing.
Found the hotel, a 3 stars, totally adorable setting.  We have a nice big room, with our own private veranda overlooking the garden, there's a pool, too cold to swim yesterday.  The toilet is separate from the washroom, first time this has happened in an hotel although it's common in most French houses. It's a great idea because if your having a lovely leisurely bath and partner wants to excrete some noxious fecal matter, well you get the picture. Next blog tomorrow.