Other side of The North Sea: It's been a long time....!

So a couple of years have passed since the last post. But never mind, I'm here again! Too much to mention about the previous 3 years, so I'll stick with the immediate past. (although I may mention previous trips at a later date)

We've just come back from an eventful trip to Cote d'Azur. Juan les Pins to be precise. The weather prior to departure was terrible...much snow and wind (much like the rest of Northern Europe) As a consequence, KLM re-booked us with SAS/Brussels Airlines due to a capacity problem at Schipol Airport. The plus side to the change of flights was the later departure time. 09:45 is more favourable than 06:10. However, due to three flights to Nice, instead of two, we were all really tired when we landed at Nice and we still had to make our way to Juan Les Pins minus one suitcase!! (The purple suitcase finally joined us two days later)

Our first full day was a trip down memory lane for me as Oskar and I took the train to Nice. I'd not been there for nearly 30 years. It was suprising how much had changed over the years. But some things remained the same and Flunch is still next to Nice Ville railway station! Another blast from the past was going into Nice Etoile It was necessary to combine clothes shopping on this trip to buy what was missing due to the suitcase that went AWOL. Oskar wasn't happy, but I got a smile from him when we made our way down to the beach! Anyone that has been to Nice will know the beach is all shingle. Oskar loved this and began filling his jacket pockets with stones. He was adamant that they would come home with us to Norway (and they did). The temperature was a balmy 13C....much welcome from the freezing temperatures at home. Whilst we were basking in the sunshine, Nils was in Sophia Antipolis, attending a conference at ETSI

The next day started a little chaotic....it was snowing! As you can imagine, snow is rare along the Cote d'Azur, so there was no infrastruture to deal with a few snow flakes! It took Nils three and a half hours to get to Sophia Antipolis.....buses had stopped and the taxi drivers had gone on strike! By the time Oskar and I stuck our noses out of the hotel around 11am, there was barely any snow around. We had a wander around Juan les Pins and headed for the beach! It was a bit breezy, but temperatures reached 9C and it was sunny with clear blue skies. Later, Oskar played in the playpark just in front of the hotel. Nils eventually made it back from ETSI....things were still not back to normal after the freak weather!

Juan Les Pins ( a few hours after the snow )

Our last full day was taken with a trip to Monaco. We visited the Palace and wandered around the Principality. Oskar was very impressed with the performance cars. He saw a couple of Ferraris, a Lambourghini and a Bentley, which was parked outside the palace. So much has changed here over the years, but the views are just as impressive!