The Cote d'Azur

Another road trip today, from Avignon to Nice (or Cagnes-sur-mer to be exact). The motorways make the driving very easy to go between the major towns, although getting out of the town you're in is always a bit tricky! Taking a wrong turn because either you or the gps is confused can result in having to do a u-turn and beeping horns!
Along the way we stopped at Aix-en-Provence and it just happened to be market day. I only managed to buy some scented soap (lavender, strawberry and another I can't remember), while Kate bought a beautiful silk dress for 29 euros (about $45).
The next stop was Cannes. After Kate managing a parallel park on the opposite side and us figuring out the parking ticket machine with the help of a local, we wandered down to the boardwalk. This area is beautiful,  sandy beaches (although no waves) and magnificent views. I think it's an area where people go to retire, from the look of the aging tanned bodies (or maybe the aging is just from too much sun!). I bought an orange-passion slushie which gave me a brain freeze, and we also bought delicious gelatos - coconut for me, rockmelon for Kate. It would be nice to spend longer here but we had to move on.
We're staying in a town outside of Nice called Cagnes-sur-mer and our hotel is right in front of the beach. Parking was a bit tricky but they told us about a street behind the hotel which costs 2 euros for all day and is free at night. Kate wanted to wear her new dress so we got changed and caught a train into Nice for dinner. Checking the timetable, the last train back left at 10.13 pm. So we wandered along the boardwalk (the beach here has rocks instead of sand an no waves) and chose one of the many Italian restaurants  (being so close to Italy) and were served gigantic bowls of pasta. Unfortunately we had a bit of rain but didn't get too wet.
We headed back to the train station in time for the last train, but there were none on the screen. I asked a guy who obviously didn't want to  be bothered, who just said there were no more trains or buses tonight. When I showed him the timetable,  he insisted those times were for the weekend  (even though it said tout les jours, or every day. I suspected there was trackwork). He said we could catch a bus to the airport, then a bus from there. Having visions of getting home at 2am, we asked a taxi how much it would cost. 54 euros (about $80)! In the meantime, a guy on the street insisted there would be no buses from the airport either and offered to drive us for 40 euros. No thanks, random guy! I went back in to ask about the airport bus option and this time he said we would have to ask the bus driver if there would be buses from the airport to Cagnes-sur-mer.  Back to the taxis - we hailed one who said it would be max 45 euros. We decided this was the only option and hopped in. It only ended up costing 40 euros, due in part to the driver going 90kms through 50km zones!
Even though there is a noisy restaurant outside our window, we can close the shutters and turn on the a/c to get a good night's sleep.
The next day is to be a trip (by train) into Monaco and Nice. I'm writing this as we wait for our delayed train (over an hour) due to an incident. The bus to Monaco would be interminably long so we decided to wait for the train, which is a 40 minute trip.
So the train finally arrived and we made it into Monaco. We had planned to only spend a few hours here but Monaco is so lovely, we spent a few more. Monaco is so hilly, so of course our feet are screaming again! We seemed to walk from one end to the other, to the prince’s palace to watch the changing of the guard, along the waterfront ogling the yachts, to the casino and along the Monaco Grand Prix route. We eventually caught the train back and stopped off at Nice to walk through the old part of Nice. There happened to be some markets on the way (I love a good street market!) where I bought a lovely watercolour picture. After calling it a day, we caught the train back to Cagnes-sur-mer to have dinner (and listen to an Elvis impersonator at our restaurant!) and go for a stroll along the waterfront.