Goodbye Brigitte! Avignon and Nice

I knew it would all end in tears!
Farewell and bon voyage to Pernes, the 'gite' and to Aude, her chocolate gateau, her aubergine mousse and her never-ending parade of bikinis!
Notice the tears welling in all our eyes: Aude and her husband/brother/uncle (we never did find out) with relief to be finally rid of us, the rest of us with sadness at the end of a great holiday.


Having put Tony and Debbie onto the very fast train to Paris and London, we explored Avignon for a couple of hours before our train left for Nice.
Avignon has a long history back to the Roman times (of course!) and was for a time in the Middle Ages the head of the Catholic church before the Vatican regained control. The Popes of Avignon made sure the city ramparts were up to scratch keeping the barbarians out. Nowadays it is overrun by busloads of American tourists looking to dance 'sur le pont d'Avignon'. We took one look and fled!

Me and Brigitte having a final moment! Le Peugeot 3008 avec sat-nav, oui? She did us proud, and I only put us in danger twice, once pulling in front of a bloody great truck (I swear I was in the right!) and once nearly cleaning up an old biddy in a 404 (not sure who would have won that one).

Nice station: they really know how to do railway stations here!

On the beach at Nice: we were strangely unimpressed by Nice. Very busy, trams down the main street like St Kilda Rd, heaps of shops & cafes and a huge beach full of topless women (many of whom would have been well-advised to cover up!) So why did we not like it? Don't know (accompanied by a Gallic shrug of the shoulders and raised hands)......

Next: Genova/Genoa and the Cinque Terre

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