14th-chapter-Cannes-Spring 2023

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This is Chapter Fourteen – Cannes 2023

Avignon, Saturday, July 1, 2023

We set out with Andy and Michelle in their car to do a bit of exploring.

First stop Lourmarin for lunch at La Fontaine

Lourmarin is one of the loveliest Luberon villages and also officially one of the most Beautiful Villages in France.

After lunch, we headed over to Saint-Remy-de-Provence to visit St. Paul de Mausole Asylum where Vangogh spent two years at the end of his life. We visited his bedroom (not the one he painted in Arles however)

Van Gogh in Saint-Paul Asylum

The psychiatric hospital was founded during the 19th century in an ancient Augustine Monastery nestled among wheat fields, vineyards and olive groves.

Several reproductions of Van Gogh’s paintings are placed throughout the grounds to show where he painted each scene.

After ice cream downtown we headed to the Avignon TGV station for our ride home at 7:12 PM a direct train ride.

Avignon, Friday, June 30, 2023

The day began with a heavy rain so we stayed in all morning and relaxed looking out the window to the city.

The weather broke around noon so we set out independently to do a bit of shopping and I took a few shots

Our friends from Aix (Andy and Michelle) came into town that evening to visit and we had dinner together in the plaza at Carrie de Palais. It is their anniversary weekend.

Avignon, Thursday, June 29, 2023

We awoke at 8 AM to make our 9 AM Lavender Tour leaving from the tourist office a few blocks away.

Our first stop was at a Lavender distillery where we received an education on how lavender is distilled into a fragrance.

Next was a visit to a few Lavender fields including the Abby at Senanque.

The Abbey of Sénanque was founded on the 9 ^th of the Calends of July 1148 (23 ^rd June) by a dozen of Cistercians monks coming from the monastery of Mazan, located in Ardèche. Our-Lady of Sénanque was the fourth Cistercian abbey founded in Provence, after Le Thoronet, Aiguebelle and Silvacane.

We learned that what we saw was actually Lavandin a Lavender hybrid.

The next stop was a visit to Roussillon – The RED CITY, where we caught lunch and took a brief walk about town.

Roussillon, the astonishing ochre village in the Luberon, Provence., officially one of The Most Beautiful Villages in France. It is known for its abundant red ochre h=hence the name.

It was a very charming city and we wished we could have spent a bit more time there.

Then off to visit Gordes –

Gordes , emblematic village of Provence, is perched on an advanced buttress of the Monts du Vaucluse. It overlooks the Calavon valley and faces the Luberon massif. The village looks like a mineral citadel in the Provençal light, like an “acropolis-village” which is set ablaze by absorbing the rays of the setting sun. The assembly of limestone buildings here form a remarkable aesthetic and create a sensational harmony with the landscape. Gordes is classified among the ” most beautiful villages of France “.

Its beauty is best viewed from a distance. Rebecca received a gift from a bird on her head so we stopped at a cafe for a coffee and clean up. We were told that that cafe was featured in an episode of Emily in Paris

On our return home our guide stopped across the river so we could get a city view.

That night we went out to dinner at Pinocchio restaurant for pizza.

After dinner, we walked over to the Palais des Papes which we had explored the onside of on our last visit to Avignon.

The Palais des Papes is a historical palace located in Avignon, Southern France. It is one of the largest and most important medieval Gothic buildings in Europe. Once a fortress and palace, the papal residence was a seat of Western Christianity during the 14th century.

On a hill plaza above, we met a nice couple from California who have a flat in Paris. We had a nice chat before returning home at dusk.

It was a full day of travel for us.

Avignon, Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Today begins our 4-day trip to Avignon. The trip consists of a TGV ride to Marseille and then a connecting TGV to Avignon. Total time 2H 45M.

Avignon, a city in southeastern France’s Provence region, is set on the Rhône River. From 1309 to 1377, it was the seat of the Catholic popes. It remained under papal rule until becoming part of France in 1791. This legacy can be seen in the massive Palais des Papes (Popes’ Palace) in the city center, which is surrounded by medieval stone ramparts.

The first leg went without a hitch.

We had an hour-and-a-half layover in Marseille so I skipped over to the local Sketchers store to check out a new pair of shoes. There are big sales on now all over France.

I returned in plenty of time to make our connection, except…

As we tried to board the train to Avignon our tickets were not read by the gate scanner. As it was becoming close to our departure time we went around the gate and boarded. The train clearly said Avignon TGV station.

As it turns out, yes that was a train to the TGV station BUT it was a local train leaving at almost the same time. Our half-hour speedy train ride became an hour-and-a-half local ride. No problem as we were in no hurry. Also, it stopped at the local Avignon station before the TGV station which is further from town. No harm, no foul.

We arrived mid-afternoon and walked to our hotel –Résidence Les Cordeliers (49 Rue Du Portail Magnanen). The hotel was nice and had a great view of the city.

We dropped the bag and headed out for a simple dinner.

We have booked a Lavender tour for tomorrow morning.

Cannes, Thursday, June 22, 2023

I stopped at the tax offices to pick up some forms and struck up a conversation with one of the helpers. He was very excited to hear that I was an American and from Chicago. He told me that his son lives in Chrystal Lake.

He made me feel like a celebrity and called over one of his co-workers to show me off.

Rebecca’s French teacher told her that having an American accent is considered rather cool.

So much for the false belief that the French are snobby. We have found the opposite to be true.

Cannes, Wednesday, June 21, 2023

We had a busy day today.

We took a walk around town, exploring some of the yachts and local beaches. We also visited a local flower store to check out some plants for our terrace.

In town is the annual International Festival of Creativity

With over 15,000 participants from more than 100 countries, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a place for exchanges between entrepreneurs, directors, creators and the professionals and opinion leaders from the various advertising industries. On the programme: conferences, workshops, networking, tutorials and awards for those in the communications, marketing, design, technology, media and entertainment sectors.

There were many branded exhibits along the beach and harbor area.

We received a call from some friends reminding us that today was also Fête de la Musique a country-wide celebration of music so we returned that evening to the downtown area to explore.

It was an unexpectedly busy Wednesday.

St Tropez, Sunday, June 18, 2023

Today was our day trip to St. Tropez. It is difficult to get to via a train or bus so we took the boat. 1H 15M boat ride for 60 eu each. Bright sunny day arriving around 11:30 just in time for lunch at Le Goustado Tropezien (13 Rue Miséricorde, Saint-Tropez) for affordable lite bites.

After that, we visited the Citadel and wandered around town.

In 1589, Maréchal de Villars supervised the construction of a small fort on the hill known as ‘colline des Moulins’ overlooking Saint-Tropez. This fort was destroyed in 1595, but the military engineer Raymond de Bonnefons chose the same site to build further defensive structures from the start of the 17th century.

The day was warm and bright. We returned via the 16:30 boat arriving in Cannes 17:45

Cannes, Friday, June 16, 2023

Today I FINALLY finished the planter box project on our terrace.

Recapping, we inherited 12 larger planters each with two large but dehydrated (dead) bushes. This occurred because they had not been watered for a year as the apartment was not occupied and the water had been turned off.

I decided to tackle the project myself so I cut the bushes down to the stalks, removed each of the soil blocks, cut them up with a chain saw and hand chiseled the dirt blocks into soil. It took about 10 hours per planter, 12 planters, for about 120 hours total.

Our next steps are to find a gardener to haul away the refuge and replant the boxes.

I’m happy to have my portion of this project behind me.

Cannes, Thursday, June 15, 2023

Do you know the way to St Tropez?

We decided to visit St. Tropez on Sunday. It has been on our visit list for a while.

It seems that this is not an easy place to visit from Cannes by train. So we are taking a ferry. It will take about 1H/ 15M and cost 60 Eu round trip per person. Looking forward to the boat tour.

Cannes, Wednesday, June 13, 2023

A jolly good trip.

Rebecca’s sister, Stacy, will be traveling from Nashville to London in early August so we decided to book a trip to London and join her and her husband for a few days.

Flight and hotel booked. Just a few connections to wrap up.

Cannes, Monday, June 5, 2023

Rebecca Lauer, International Litter Bug

We recently received a notice in the mail from the litter police informing us that Rebecca had been cited for littering.

BACKSTORY- We have been receiving items from Amazon and the boxes have been piling up. So I cut them down and took them to a near by recycling pick up location. They didn’t fit inside the containers so I left them next to the drop off boxes nicely tied up with twine.

It seems this is not acceptable. They saw Rebecca’s name on one of the box labels and sent her a notice of infraction. The proposed fine was 135 EU. We were allowed to appeal at the local Prefecture (Police Station) which we did.

At the station we accepted full responsibility and explained our confusion. The charges and fine were dropped. Phew!

Cannes, Saturday, June 3, 2023

Remember my post from May 15 regarding the dead bushes obstructing our view?

We asked a gardener to give ups a quote on removing the bushes and replanting. He came over a few weeks ago and told us that he would have to rent a Crain to remove the existing bushes and dirt because we are on the top floor (4). That would have cost a bundle.

I decided to to the job myself.

So after cutting off most of the bushes I was faced with the task of separating the dirt from the root balls. No easy job it turns out. It took me three days of pounding at the roots to free the dirt just to do one planter. We have a dozen of them.

So I repruned the bushes and ordered a chain saw. Testing it yesterday it made quick work of the dirt, cutting the binding roots and sectioning the dirt it into smaller easier to separate chunks.

From this

then this

to this

The current plan is for me to haul the cuttings down to our parking garage and have a gardened drop them off at a disposal site. In Cannes it is a specific area just for organic clippings.

We still have to select what we want to plant. Low colorful plants which tolerate strong sun.

Cannes, Friday, June 2, 2023

Tax time in France

We weren’t comfortable with the advice we received last week at the tax office telling us that we do not need to file so we returned for a second visit.

Same basic advise but this time we were asked to fill out a residency form to pay a habitation tax at the end of 2023.

I posted a question on a reliable Facebook group which confirmed that we do need to file a French tax forms for 2022.

Rebecca contacted a tax expert for advice. Her quote 1,500 Eu to fill out the forms and 450 EU/hour to review the information. We will pass on that and do it ourselves.

I will give my best shot at filling out the forms this weekend and send in our first French tax report.

Cannes, Thursday, June 1, 2023

Looks like we made it ….

Finally, my world traveling cell phone made it to Cannes today.

I’m back in the photography game again.

Cannes, Wednesday, May31, 2023

Lavender Fields forever …

Rebecca booked us a tour of the lavender fields for the end June, three days in Avignon. Looking forward to a nice break.

Cannes, Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Knock, knock, who is there?

Not my goddamn cell phone that is for sure.

Remember May 3rd when my cell phone was pick pocketed? Well after over 10 hours on international calls with both Apple and the insurance carrier I finally convinced them that I actually had coverage and I should get a new phone.

Long story short. I bought the phone in France but bought Apple care via the Apple web site so they decided that my coverage was for the US only and the replacement had to be shipped to the US (where I no longer live).

Rebecca’s sister in Indiana, our guarding angel, agreed to receive and reship the phone to me in Cannes.

The phone was tracked as far as Germany and then disappeared. After lighting a fire with UPS here the phone was traced to Melbourne Australia, half way around the world.

Current story. I was told that it will be delivered to me in Cannes on Friday.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

Cannes, Monday, May 22, 2023

It is tax time in France and this is the first year we need to file a return. The process is rather complicated for first timers like us so we arose early and headed to the tax office for advice.

We arrived a half hour before it opened and joined the long que in front.

After an hour in line we made it to an agent who told us that we do not need to file a return because we had filed in the US.

Great news, right?

Not really. We know that we DO need to file and the agent was just wrong. We are hiring a tax expert to help with this years return.

BTW- the Yacht fleet is in town for the Film Festival.

Cannes, Sunday, May 21, 2023

Our friends from Aix-en-Provence drove over today so we went downtown to wander around the film festival and have lunch. It was great seeing them again.

They also gave us some great advice in how to navigate the French bureaucracy.

Cannes, Saturday, May 20, 2023

Another trip downtown to the Film Festival, this time to hang outside the opening of the new film Killers of the Flower Moon. On the red carpet Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, Tim Cook and others.

Cannes, Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Today was opening night of the Cannes Film Festival. https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/

We met a nice couple from the bay area who were renting in our apartment complex for a month for light bites in their apartment and then we went downtown to see the beautiful people mingling about.

Cannes, Monday, May 15, 2023

On our terrace are a row of large planters filled with bushes.

Unfortunately our apartment had been vacant for over a year and all the bushes had died due to not being watered. Also we felt that the bushes were too tall and obstructed the view of the sea and mountains from our terrace.

Patrick Scissorhands to the rescue.

The work in progress looks much better.

Our next steps are to empty the planters and replant with lower more colorful plants.

Cannes, Sunday, May 14, 2023

Just a lovely sunset from our terrace reflected in our window.

Cannes, Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Well our place is taking shape now the the furniture is in place and we are starting to relax a bit.

Before

After

We really enjoy relaxing on the terrace at the end of the day.

Cannes, Saturday, May 6, 2023

Today we attended the ePrix in Monaco, a race of electric Grand Prix cars with our friends from Nice.

More about the race here. https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/races/2022-23/r9-monaco

We took a break for lunch and joined our friends and another couple at a nice Italian restaurant in Monte Carlo Il Terrazzino. The food was great.

The cars, by the way sound like little jets – whooosh- as they raced by.

Cannes, Thursday, May 4, 2023

Death to GPS

We had to return a few things at the furniture store and pick up a few more.

The plan was simple, take the bus to a nearby rental office and rent a small van, to accomplish the job. Easy peasy. Until it is not.

The bus ride to the rental office was uneventful, straight shot, no problem.

Then after plugging the apartment address into the GPS I headed home. That was when the odyssey began.

It seems that the GPS does not well understand height differences between roads. To it, the world is two dimensional. Reality disagrees. Cannes is hilly.

The ride back to the apartment using the GPS advice required several loops though a few narrow streets finally dumping me onto a street near my former apartment. Finally terracognito.

However the familiar streets which we walked many times turned out to be one way driving streets all going the wrong way. After 20 minutes of solid driving frustration, I turned off the GPS and just headed to a nearby major street. Finally problem solved. But the adventure was only starting.

After picking up the items to be returned and loading them into the van we headed out to the furniture store a half hour drive away in Nice. Rebecca my faithful copilot plugged the address into her iPhone and we headed off.

We were making good time but then things became a bit weird. I noticed that we were driving around our old Nice neighborhood. We should have been miles away. Then it occurred to me, she had entered the correct store name but had selected the wrong location.

Reentering the correct location, we found ourselves about a half hour away from our intended destination. Back to the highway. All was well until we were spitting distance from the store. It was there we again encountered the GPS height problem. The road we wanted was just across the valley. But we couldn’t get there from here. Each attempt took us in a spiral through toll booth after tool booth. We were in a holding pattern circling our destination with little chance of arriving. Finally we switched off the GPS and used dead reckoning to arrive.

We unloading the van, made our purchases, and again fired up the van for a relaxing ride back to return the van. Just kidding.

We were getting close to the van return office when the GPS told us to take a round about and circle back on a road near the rental office. It was my turn to add to the days confusion.

I inadvertently , and against Rebecca clear directions, cut the roundabout turn short by one intersection. That dumped us on to a major highway and took us a few kilometers away from our intended destination. A few exits later we retraced our path and finally found the van return location.

The rest was easy just dump the van and grab the 6A bus back to our nearby train station. Just after we dropped off the van the 6a bus arrived at the near bus stop. I held the bus as Rebecca ran across traffic to join me Finally good fortune and easy peasy? Of course not.

We took the bus for three stops when we were informed that we were at the last stop. Turns out in my haste we had hopped on the 6A going the wrong direction. Of course that was also the last ride of the day as it was now after 7 PM and that line was done for the day.

So were were not quite sure where we were.

My iPhone with Uber had been pickpocket the day earlier and Rebecca could not get her Uber app to work. Of course no cabs in sight.

So we started to walk home in the general direction of home. Google maps said it would be a 35 minute walk. The temperature was dropping a bit and it was getting dark outside. We walked for a while until I found a bus stop with an evening route.

We took the bus to the train station and made it home from there. Now that was an adventure.

Let’s Go GPS!

Cannes, Wednesday, May 3, 2023

The perp was carefully watching the crowd at the train station. Suddenly he spotted an opportunity.

The mark was walking quickly toward a bus that was just about to depart. His headphones were dangling around his neck pinpointing the exact location of his iPhone in his front right pocket. As the hurried traveler approached the bus he felt an almost indistinguishable brush on his right side. His focus was on the leaving bus, a fact that the perpetrator took full advantage of.

Upon entering the bus the mark sensed that something was not quite right. He tapped his now empty right pocket also noticing that his headphones were now hanging loosely around his neck. At that same instant he remembered the slight brush on his right side.

His iPhone 13 pro max was gone. He had been pick-pocketed by a pro.

On Wednesdays I was that mark.

Fortunately my Apple care policy is still in effect but that saga is saved for another day.

Cannes, Monday, April 24, 2023

Late morning today we took a walk through the new apartment with our real-estate agent. We needed to note any issues as we would be responsible for any flaws in three years when our least ends.

The empty apartment suggested great potential and we have all week to move our things over.

Having a full time place to live will be a great relief. In France having a utility is a key proof of residency.

Cannes, Week of April 17, 2023

We have a small storage locker where we store our suitcases and much of our clothing. I made several trips to the locker to retrieve a suitcase or two and then return via bus to our current apartment. From there we will call an Uber on next week to make the run to the new apartment.

Cannes, Wednesday, April 12, 2023

We have been shopping and preparing for our move on April 24 into our long term apartment. Trying to wrap up loose ends.

We expect to finalize many of our furniture decisions on Friday and place the order for Tuesday April 25 delivery.

Cannes, Thursday, April 6, 2023

Today we ordered electricity, internet and home insurance for our new apartment.

Electricity – 110/mo, Internet -40/mo includes TV, home land line, and unlimited fiber high speed internet, Home Insurance – 20/mo.

It is nice to have competition here in France.

Cannes, Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Today we revisited our apartment to lay out some furniture ideas. The floor plan and measurement that I had made did not seem to jive with the listing so I took a different path.

After making some preliminary selections I took some measurements and cut out some actual -size paper footprints.

In the apartment we laid them on the floor to explore how they worked together. Our real-estate agent said that in his 15 years nobody had ever done that before, but he admitted that he liked the idea.

We ordered some furniture on line and will wrap it up later this week.

Cannes, Monday, April 3, 2023

We returned to Ikea to review our selections and made several improvements. It was a long day and we returned exhausted.

Cannes, Saturday, April 1, 2023

As noted, having been living out of a few suitcases for a year and a half, we need to purchase everything for our new apartment from a washing machine to forks and knives.

We walked to La Bocca at the end of Cannes to visit some stores and shop.

Cannes, Friday, March 31, 2023

We visited an upscale convertible sofa store today to get some apartment design issues worked out. The layout is rather difficult as it has a lot of glass and little wall space. It makes the place bright but hard to design for.

It was helpful to look into the space at scale.

Cannes, Wednesday, March 29, 2023

We went furniture shopping today in Nice at the Ikea store. It is the go to place in France for good quality affordable furniture. It requires a train and tram to get there from Cannes but it was worth it to see the actual merchandise. Of course we also enjoyed lunch there.

On the way there we met two ladies who were from Ukraine, the first a pediatrician living in Cannes and the second a photographer (Mary) who splits her time between Cannes and Paris.

It was a long day and we returned home rather tired.

Cannes, Saturday, March 25, 2023

Today we signed a three year contract on the apartment in Cannes. Finally our year and a half of homelessness is over.

Floor plan

View from Terrace.

https://nodalview.com/s/2CYs2M8zL2svoE_CXpviFy

Map

Cannes, Friday, March 24, 2023

Received a call today we were approved for the Cannes apartment. We were competing against one other person and our agent pushed for us as tenants.

Cannes, Wednesday, March 22, 2023

We walked to La Bocca to do some preliminary shopping for furniture as we expect to move to an unfurnished apartment by May 1st. No word yet on the acceptance of our recent offer.

I also worked with our Nice friends to get tickets to attend the ePrix in Monaco in early May. .https://www.monaco-eprix.com

It is a race, like the Monaco Grand prix but with electric cars. Sounds like fun.

Cannes, Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Since our return from Nimes have been working full time on finding a long stay apartment in Cannes.

Yesterday we revisited an apartment we really liked but it does has a few issues. It features an amazing view and balcony in a great part of Cannes.

Well, today we notified the agent that we want it. Next steps is to get the owner to approve us so we can submit a contract.

Not a sure thing yet, but we are hopeful that our long spell of hopelessness will soon be over.

Cannes, Sunday, March 19, 2023

First a backstory-

When I was about 4 or 5 I went with my mother to Sperry’s a large department store in Port Huron Michigan. It was Christmas time and the store was packed.

Being the curious child that I was I wandered away from mom and became lost in the store ending up in the managers office. He asked me what my name was. I was flustered from being lost and could not remember my name. But I did recall that my Aunt Dorothy (my moms sister) called me St. Patrick (as my birthday is March 17). So I told the store manager my name was St. Patrick. He made a store wide announcement that “we have a little boy here who says his name is St. Patrick”. My mom quickly appeared to reclaim me.

Present time-

My Aunt Dorothy is now in her 90’s and lives in an assisted living facility. Each year her daughter send out a notice to family members reminding them that she likes to received birthday cards on her birthday.

About a year ago I started to send her postcards from all the places that we were visiting. I signed them St. Patrick. It seems that she posts them on her bulletin board in her room.

Today I received this photo from Aunt Dorothy . It made my day.

Nimes, Saturday, March 18, 2023

Today we checked out of our apartment and stored our bags at a nearby hotel. We then set out to get a few steps in before catching a 4:50 PM connector train to the other Nimes train station (Nîmes Pont-du-Gard).

As we wandered around town we stopped into the Market which was thriving. It was very colorful.

We then set out for lunch and decided to revisit Livestation DIY a restaurant we had visited on Thursday. The food was excellent and the chef and waiter were helpful and lively. We highly recommend it.

After that we took a different path and chanced by an old Roman city gate (La porte Auguste) and a church (l’Egise Saint-Baudeile) .

The Porte d’Auguste, constructed in the 1st century BCE as part of the fortifications of Nemausus, modern-day Nîmes.

Our return to Cannes consisted of a short train ride (4:50-4:59PM) from downtown to the new train station outside of town, then a TGV train to Valence (5:33-6:10 PM) and a connection to Cannes (6:20- 9:26 PM).

We walked over to the train station to check on trains knowing that there were some transit strikes underway.

At the station we discovered that our short station to station train had been cancelled. The gate agent said the the buses were also not running. We opted for an Uber to the station, on the way there I noticed that we passed a connection bus. The agent apparently did not know that the bus was running. What should have been a 1.7 EU train or a 2 EU bus cost us a 39 eu Uber ride.

We were tired on arrival in Cannes and took a taxi home. Oh well.

Nimes was a very remarkable city to visit and one we very well may return to.

Nimes, Friday, March 17, 2023

Rebecca took me out for lunch today at an excellent restaurant (Menna) for my birthday. She had spent hours searching for a great place to eat and we were not disappointed.

We both ordered the scallops, beef and dessert. After we treated ourselves to a sacristain and an apple pastry.

A wonderfully overindulgent day.

Later we went out for an evening walk.

Tomorrow we leave to return to Cannes with an eye on the French rail strikes which are ongoing.

Nimes, Thursday, March 16, 2023

We wandered around the town.

I went to a sushi restaurant (Sushi King) and Rebecca caught lunch at a delightful little restaurant – Livestation DIY ( 15 Impasse Fresque) – where I joined her after my lunch. The food was great and they had a dessert buffet which was included in the daily special.

After we visited a local museum – Musee du Vieux Nimes. Rebecca chatted up one of the guides in French as she gave us a personal tour.

BONUS -Did you know that Nimes is the home of Denim (Des Nimes)?

Later we revisited the Les Jardins de la Fontaine, and the swans.

I sent our bank the final information they needed for our Caution Bancaire.

Nimes, Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Among the things we visited included to Arena of Nîmes (Colosseum) , Les Jardins de la Fontaine (Gardens), Maison Carrée (Roman Temple) , Temple de Diane, and La Tour Magne (Watchtower)

The Arena of Nîmes is a Roman amphitheatre, situated in the French city of Nîmes. Built around 70 CE, shortly after the Colosseum of Rome, it is one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world. It is 133 meters long and 101 meters wide, with an arena measuring 68 meters by 38 meters

The Les Jardins de la Fontaine (Gardens) is a 17th-century park on 15 hectares offers Roman ruins & botanic gardens, plus ponds & sculptures.

The Maison carrée is an ancient Roman temple in Nîmes, southern France; it is one of the best preserved Roman temples to survive in the territory of the former Roman Empire

The so-called Temple of Diana is a 1st-century ancient Roman building in Nîmes, Gard, built under Augustus. It is located near the gushing spring of “La Fontaine”, around which was an Augusteum, a sanctuary devoted to the cult of the emperor and his family, centred on a nymphaeum.

The Tour Magne is an exceptional monument. Built more than 2000 years ago, it is the only vestige of the Roman walls of Nîmes. From the top of this tower and its 140 steps, the panorama it offers over the city is superb.

Nimes, Tuesday, March 14, 2023

We checked out of our train station hotel and caught the 11:24 AM train to Nimes arriving an hour later.

Our first impression of Nimes is very positive, a charming town with many interesting vestiges of Roman times.

Nîmes, a city in the Occitanie region of southern France, was an important outpost of the Roman Empire. It’s known for well-preserved Roman monuments such as the Arena of Nîmes, a double-tiered circa-70 A.D. amphitheater still in use for concerts and bullfights. Both the Pont du Gard tri-level aqueduct and the Maison Carrée white limestone Roman temple are around 2,000 years old

Rather hungry, we scouted a place for lunch and chanced across “The O Café” (15 Rue Regale). The food was homestyle French and we had a nice chat with the lady owner and her daughter.

Cannes/Marseille, Monday, March 13, 2023

Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day ….

As part of our rental contract, we had agreed to vacate our apartment for 3 days in March as he had a reservation already booked. So we booked a trip to Nimes for March 14 – 18.

Around noon, I was out for a walk along the sea and received a call from our landlord informing me that the cleaners will be there in a few minutes. I reminded him that we were scheduled to leave the next day. No, so says the landlord, I notified you that the date had changed by a day.

I had missed the email.

So I called Rebecca as she was stepping out of the shower to tell her we had to be out right now. Fortunately, we had pre-packed much of our stuff.

By 2 PM, we were packed, out of the apartment, booked a hotel for the night, and were on a train to Marseille. Cannes was fully booked due to a conference.

On the way, we texted our friends in Aix-en-Provence and set up dinner for that night.

We scrambled, but it was great to see some old friends again.

Cannes, Wednesday, March 8, 2023

We are spending our time this week searching for a long term apartment in Cannes. It is no easy chore.

To rent in France one has to have a guarantor for the rent. This can be a commercial company who you pay a fee to who then vouches for you. An alternative is to set up a caution bancaire with the bank. Without either agents will not show an apartment.

We are setting up both which requires reams of banking documents.

Cannes, Saturday, March 4, 2023

Our neighbor city, Golf Juan, celebrated Napoleon’s return to France via a reenactment. I visited them to watch.

Golfe-Juan, a coast steeped in history

On 1 March 1815, at a time when Golfe-Juan was nothing more than a humble fishing village, it was transformed into the stage for one of the Emperor’s most incredible adventures: the Hundred Days.

On 6 April 1814, Napoleon I abdicated and was granted sovereignty of the island of Elba by the allies. Having once held dominion over Europe, the Emperor now reigned over a 22km2 kingdom of just 1,200 inhabitants!

On 26 February 1815, Napoleon and his military staff and a handful of men set off aboard the Inconstant under the cover of darkness. A fleet of seven setting sail around midnight. The crossing took place without incident.

On 1 March 1815, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Napoleon arrived in Golfe-Juan. Having armed the bay several years prior to this, he knew it was home to a safe, secure harbour.

His goal was to reach Paris as quickly as possible while avoiding resistance from the royalist towns of the Rhône Valley. He decided to take the Route des Alpes, which was renamed the “Route Napoléon” in 1932.

Cannes, Friday, March 3, 2023

Today we took the train to Nice (30 mins) to spend the day with our friends Sheila and Bruce and retrieved some mail. We took a sea stroll and relaxed on the beach with some lemonade to enjoy the day.

Cannes, Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Today a word about grocery shopping in France.

One word – Patience.

There is no rush when buying groceries in France. A typical session goes like this.

Two people ahead in line.

The person checking out slowly places the items on the counter and begins a conversation with the clerk. They have a nice chat while the clerk slowly rings up each item. Toward the end of the check out process the buyer realizes that they forgot an item so they leave the line to find it somewhere in the store. Returning to the clerk they add the item which is then rung up.

Next the person slowly packs the items in their bag. After everything is in the bag the buyer realizes that they have to pay for the items. Now they search for a wallet or purse to find cash which is slowed counted out. Making change adds a few more minutes to the transaction.

Next person repeat.

A day later my turn to check out.

Cannes, Monday, February 27, 2023

Today was a rest day. The only glitch was that we could not get into the locked closet that held Rebecca’s coffee press, a key tool for her ongoing happiness.

I was able to do a bit of magic and use a different key to jimmy the lock and open it.

We had to resupply the apartment with several trips to the supermarkets. The day was cold and rainy.

Torremolinos /Malaga / Nice / Cannes, Sunday, February 26, 2023

We took the 8 AM train from Torremolinos to Malaga Airport to catch the 11:25 Flight to London connecting for a 8:25 PM Nice arrival. We hit three countries in 9 hours.

Our plane arrived a bit late in Nice so our connection plans were off a bit. We headed over to the airport bus connection bus but nobody was in it. So we walked over to the tram, took it to the center of town and walked to the train station just missing the 10:05 PM train. The next direct train to Cannes was a hour and a half later. Fortunately there was a Nice train that traveled through Cannes that left in 45 minutes. After a taxi ride home we arrive just around midnight.

We had to fumble in the dark, cold and rain to find the code for the lockbox. Finally problem solved.

We are staying at our previous Cannes Air BnB from Feb 26 to April 30.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/49265634