To start off with on Saturday morning, we went on a wave runner tour that took us from Villeneuve-Loubet past Nice, to the bay at Beaulieu-sur-mer, a picture postcard town just before Monaco.
Kev and I shared a "scooter" (as they're called here). We had signed up through the activities group at my work, and the price was about 1/2 of the public walk-up price, so quite a bargain. There were 8 scooters on the trip, and we had a guide who directed us.
After we left the beach (we had to swim out to the scooters), we headed towards Nice. We passed the Nice airport and stopped for a break just at the main beach of Nice. Then we carried on to the Nice port, where we drove slowly in to look at the two huge cruise ships that were anchored in the bay. One of the ships we determined was from India, because when we got to within about 150 yards, we detected a very strong curry smell! Kind of funny.
It was pretty amazing to see these ships close up, and from the water point of view. They're like office buildings in the water. And as other boats were coming and going in the port, these ships didn't move at all with the currents and wakes.
Ginormous cruise ship from Norwegian Cruise Lines (this isn't the curry boat).
At the bay in Beaulieu, we stopped at the turnaround point, and got to see two yachts that belong to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.
Le Grand Bleu
Pelorus
A bunch of people jumped off the scooters and went for a quick swim while we just hung out and watched the boats go by. It was such a glorious day, and the water was a deep, turquoise blue. The water was also really clear that day, but the bay was really deep and we didn't go too far towards the coast to see fish or anything.
It was a bit worrying at first, because we had heard reports earlier in the week that the jellyfish had returned, and we weren't sure they would still have the tour. But, the water was coolish once we got going, perhaps too cool for the jellyfish. During our brief swim breaks, no one was stung and no one even saw one.
One of my friends was on the tour also, and after we got back, we went for a beer at one of the snack shacks on the beach. It was a glorious afternoon, with a light breeze blowing, and the heat wasn't overpowering.
We got back to the apartment about 2pm and had lunch. Then we promptly both fell asleep for about 2.5 hours. The trip, while extremely fun, was very tiring. Trying to hold on and not get chucked off the scooter is very exhausting (well, at least for me). I had every muscle in my body tensed, sort of like trying to stay on a wild horse. I was aching for 3 days afterwards! Kev called me a wuss, but oh well. I took b-day dispensation and called him a big blue meany.
That night, we went for dinner at this little restaurant in old Antibes that we both really like. We had a great meal, then met up with a friend for some drinks at this Australian bar that is just near the port. They have a terrace that looks out on the marina. We had a lovely, warm evening and just sipped our beers and rose, and watched the world go by.
On the Sunday, we had a lie-in and read the Sunday paper. Kev made me chocolate chip scones, which were awesome. Just a mellow day.
Then on Monday, my actual b-day, I took pastries to work with me. In both the UK and here in France, if it's your b-day, you bring pastries for everyone. So I had this huge bag of croissants and pain au chocolates to lug on the bus with me. We had a nice lunch that day at a place called Jimmy's Killer Prawns, which is a South African chain. Go figure. But the food was excellent and we had a really nice time.
(If I could go tangential for a moment, it really is nice to be able to take an actual lunch break here sometimes. And the best part is that if you have wine at lunch, no one looks at you twice.)
That night, Kev made me a home-cooked dinner and we just chilled out.
A mellow end to a mellow, but fun, weekend.
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