Cannes

Bonjour from Cannes!

 

We were all very excited as we were finally going to visit the Wood-Floyd's, our friends from Sumner that lost their house in the earthquake and decided to spend a year in France. They had moved from their house in the mountains and found a very cool house in Mougin Village (just above Cannes). They had only just moved in when we arrived so they were very kind to let us stay.

 

Mum and Woody cried when they saw each other and we were really happy to see Ella and Samuel. Woody said that we would be flat mates for the two weeks that we will be staying with them. We were all giggly and excited.

 

Woody had prepared the most amazing lunch (she is the most awesome chief) and while we swam in their new pool the parents all ate outside with friends of Floydos from London - Caroline and Charlotte . They surprised us by saying they had booked dinner in a fancy cafe in Monaco! We could not believe our ears!

 

Monaco is only 40 mins away on the motorway and it's like being in a different world! That place is seriously flash - you should have seen the cars! Our eyes were on stalks!! We were so sure we would see some famous movie stars but no... We ate at the Paris cafe right outside the famous Monte Carlo Casino. Kids were not allowed inside but by the end of the night we would be, but more about that later!

 

After dinner we all walked down to the harbor to watch the famous annual fireworks extravaganza. It lasted for half an hour and it was insane. We have never ever seen another as crazy as these. They were all done out on a pontoon in the water. Vi thought they were a little loud which they were but they were still cool.

 

Just as they were winding down - out of nowhere - they wind picked up and huge rain drops started to fall from the sky. Next minute a full on thunder storm and tornado hit Monaco. It was crazy - people started to run for their lives, screaming and yelling to take shelter. It was so freaky. Daddy took me, Woody, Ella and Sam but Mummy, Vi, Charlotte, Caroline and Floydo were separated from us in all the madness. We made it to the casino for shelter - they let kids in - but they had to shelter beside a building. The wind was way too strong to even walk. It lasted for 15 minutes then started to finish. We found each other but we we all completely soaked. We headed home after that but what an adventure! Mum's dress went completely see-through!

 

The next few days were spent exploring the artist village just behind the Wood-Floyd's new house and going into Cannes. We looked at shops and walked around the marina which had the most flashest boats in the world. We had never seen anything like them. We all chose our favorites.

 

We spent most of the days just swimming and enjoying in each other company! We also had two birthdays to plan for! Violet was turning 7 and Mummy 39 a day apart. Woody started cooking up a storm 3 days before hand. She truely is the best cook. We were all very excited.

 

Dad booked a beach club in the beach front in Cannes - it was so awesome as we got our own deck chairs, fluffy towels, shower and special lunch. Mummy was pretty happy. The meal we had was the best one we have ever had and we all chose our favourite dishes. We all enjoyed it so much. While we were the we were lucky to get to see a real life music video being made! It was a Dutch euro-pop band called The Dutchables. They were so cool and the girl had very cool outfits that she changed into. We got to meet them and they filmed us dancing on the beach! We might be on MTV!

 

The next day it was Violets turn. She was so excited and woke up early to open her presents. She had decided she wanted a 'Hello Kitty' party - its everywhere here and she loves it. She got heaps of stuff (all small as we still have to carry it home!). She was so happy. We had a really special lunch and played party games all afternoon. We did pass the parcel, egg and spoon races, the chocolate dress up game and disco in the rain!

 

Another day trip was over to the island just off the coast of Cannes. It has amazing beaches and a really old fort that has a very famous prison. The 'man in the iron mask' spent time there and we got to see his prison cell. It was very cold and dark with a hole for a toilet and a small fireplace. We all tried to imagine living there and could not. His true identity was never revealed and there are many rumors - one being that he was the twin brother of Louis XIV. He wrote lots of letters while he was inside, all in secret, and hid them in a tiny hole in the wall.

 

One thing that Woody and Mum did was get a fish pedicure. It was very weird and they said it felt so odd. They reckoned it was a gimmick and would not recommend doing it again - they also had a lot for the fish to nibble on but they hardly touched the surface - ewwwwwww.

 

After a great two weeks it was time to pack up again and say goodbye to our friends and also to France. Italy here we come! We are nervous but also excited! See you soon in Italy!!

 

Love from Isla and Violet xx

 

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Cassis

Bonjour from Cassis!

 

The day we left Provence was sad as we had just left our Cuzzies but exciting because we were heading back to the coast to a place called Cassis. Our french friend Delphine had told Mummy about this place and that we should really go there because it had heaps to explore and see.

We rented an apartment for a week all on the Internet! We had seen photos of it and couldn't wait to try a new town. It was another crazy drive back to the coast as the traffic was stills nuts. It was also still very hot. When we drove into the town, it was awesome - surrounded by hills and cliffs that went straight into the sea. We had read in the lonely planet that Cassis had the largest sea cliff in Europe and we believe it! It was humongous! It was a pretty port town that had heaps of boats and fishermen. Our apartment was right up the back of the village high on the hill. It had amazing views of the cliffs, village and port. The sea was as blue as the sky and we were excited to go for a swim. We also had a huge swimming pool that the complex shared.

The only bad part of our new house was it was the top floor of 8 sets of stairs and NO LIFT and very hot. Mum and Dad sweated heaps getting all our stuff upstairs! It was funny. We helped too but only with the light things.

That first night we went to the village for a flash dinner at the busy restaurants. So cool. Vi has fish and chips but not like the fish and chips you get at home and I had the calamari rings (yum my favourite) and the parents had seafood too. It was delicious. BUT...

That night poor Violet and Mummy were up all night with vomits and poos. Oh no! Mummy was a little bit better the next day but Violet was not. She could not stop throwing up. It felt bad for her because me and Daddy were fine and could go swimming at our swimming pool. We also had no air-con and it was a heat wave so we were finding it very hard with the heat at nights. Mummy thought of a great idea of freezing a pair of knickers (clean of course!) and we put them of our heads to go to sleep! They worked well!

2 days later Violet got a bit better but had to take it easy. Me and Mummy walked into town to get her some stuff from the pharmacy and we did some sneaky shopping for Violets birthday that was the next week. We also did some not so secret shopping for us! I got a cool pair of leopard skin Birkenstocks and Vi and I got a new bikini each. Lucky as we have been swimming so much our togs have stretched and nearly broke.

Once the whole family was better we did heaps of cool stuff like taking a boat to the Calanques. These are amazing naturally made habours with high cliffs that surround them. Most can only be accessed by boat but there are a couple that you can get too by foot. It was far too hot to do that so boat it was.

We also drove to the highest point above Cassis - the view was fantastic but made us a little freaked out as it was windy and there was no barriers!

Another adventure was to take the tourist train out to the end of the Cassis bay. We saw really beautiful houses and beaches. Most of the beaches out that way are no sand or pebbles but huge rock/cliffs that you can jump straight off into the sea. Someone has kindly put ladders all along so you can get back up. People just sunbath on these huge flat rocks. We did learn that this rock is special and unique to this area and was also the rock used to build the Statue of Liberty that is in New York!

Speaking of beaches we found our favourite which was 10 minutes walk from our house - it was called Bestouan Beach. It was pebbly and clean with clear blue water. It was so beautiful and we could snorkel around the rocks - as well as dive of the rocks. We also found out the the beach was so clear beacuause it had under ground streams feeding into the beach - they make the water colder too - We loved it. As a treat one day we hired comfy beach beds at a private club. That's what you do if you don't want to sit on the rocks. It was colourful and trendy. Mum loved it - we all did. We felt very posh. We could shower and use their fluffy towels. Yum.

On our last night we explored more of the cool town and visited the street markets. We meet a man that makes you into a cartoon so we decided to do it. He took about 15 minutes to draw us and he was really good. This is the result...

Next week is very exciting as we have two birthdays in our family and we are off to visit our friends from Sumner that now live in Cannes (just along the coast up near Nice - pronounce Neece not Nice like I first thought). We are all excited as we miss the Wood-Floyd's and have not seen them since November last year. Yay - party time!

Miss you all lots, love Isla and Vi xx

 

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