Artist Catherine Mc Cue Boes

Thursday 5-8-10 Today we caught the bus of terror to Nice. The drivers are all mad; the streets are so narrow with only enough room for one bus at a time. We visited the contemporary art gallery, which had a special exhibition by Cai Guo - Qiang , Travels in the Mediterranean. The artist use’s gunpowder to produce his large works on paper, fantastic work, he literally blows up his work. The weather which has been hot, with no wind and generally great, turned cold, wet and windy, so we cut short our visit to Nice and headed back to Monaco. Peter visited the Naval Museum, which has also great. As we have a little kitchen, we are enjoying making Mediterranean meals. Friday 5-8-10 Long walk up to the Palace, high above the city, perched on a rock, very impressive, we then checked out the Napoleonic Museum and the local markets. Off an a little train, Peter was not happy with that too many tourists, we then took a bus to the Museum of performance Art, and experienced an exhibition

Sunday 1-8-10 Drove through Italy and on to Monaco, arrived at our accommodation late in the afternoon. We were pleasantly happy with the unit, across from the sea and surrounded by fabulous boats, Later we went walking and were amazed at the wealth, the cars, everyone seems rich, but I am sure that there is another side to the story. Monday 2-8-10 Off to the shops, five hours later, with bags in hand and very sore feet we haded back to our little unit by the sea and had a great dinner. Tuesday 3-8-10 Busy day, we took a walking trail around Monaco, visited all the attractions, car museum, coin museum and so on. So far we have worn out our shoes, we get back to our accommodation late each night and as the sun never sets until late we are eating dinner as late as 10 at night. Wednesday 4 -8 10 Another great day in Monaco, we headed off to the art gallery, another great exhibition, titled Tokyo, fascinating work, prints, costumes, sculptures and medieval times, I bought some more good ju

Friday 30-7-10 Checked out of Como Crown Hotel thank god, we then drove around Lake Como through the narrow streets with terracotta colored houses and villas. Situated very close to the road, houses jut out making it dangerous for pedestrians and cars alike. As we wound our way around the narrow streets, the beauty of the buildings and the color of the hanging baskets that adorned every possible part of the buildings impressed us. We arrived at the hotel old but great, full of junk, antiques with great atmosphere so we decided to stay for two nights, also the owners where friendly and made us feel welcome. We drove along the lake and stopped in to visit Villa Charlotte, a beautiful home and gardens , sixteen century palace given to Charlotte as a wedding present, unfortunate for Charlotte she died young, 23 years of age for complications due to numerous child birth. Later we hit the shops in Como, must to Pater’s disgust, but as Como is famous for its silk I needed to buy some. Later w

Wednesday 28-7-10 Today we went by cable car up to the Niederhorn , nowhere is the scenery above LakeThun , with the mountains ( Eiger , Monch and Jungfrau ) more enjoyable. Next was a bus trip from our accommodation through to Inverlarken to do some shopping, (as if we haven’t done enough ) along very narrow lakeside roads barely enough room for one car at a time yet it was two way traffic. We both bought Swizz watches and some local souvenirs. Thursday 29-7-10 Left Inverlarken and selected dynamic route on the GPS and we set off, well dynamic we got travelling along narrow mountain roads until we got to a railway siding where we had to pay 20 swizz francs to put the car on a train to travel through a 16 KM tunnel in the car on the train. After getting off the train, we travelled higher into the Alps where there was snow all around then going through a narrow mountain pass into Italy there the scenery changed as we drove thru small towns and villages until finally reaching Lake Co

Tuesday 27-7-10 Left Germany today, drove through to Inverlarken in Switzerland. We booked into Park Royal for two days. We took the ferry ride on a 115-year-old paddle steamer on the Thun Lake. The water is aquamarine blue, due in part, to its being an ancient glacier. The hotel was spectacular, straight out of a Miss Marble movie, the guest were old well to do people, well dressed and very polite, Peter and I were out of place with our shorts and thongs . The room looked over the lake and we enjoyed sitting in the fabulous garden. Some of the guests were swimming in the lake, we put our toes in and you guessed it , the water was freezing. Views

Sunday 25-7-10 Another night in Heidelbourg , it has rained nonstop all night, so a big wash out for all the Webber fans, they mostly sit out in the open at the race track, we have a covered seat so we will be ok . The Germans’ are big drinkers, the pubs stay open late and the drunks keep us awake as they sing their way home. And even if you wanted to sleep in, Gods house reminds you that it is time to get up, the sound of the ringing bells walks you up early. Although not as bad as the Abby, where the bells rang every hour. Monday 26-7-10 We traveled through the hills of southern Germany, passing small villages with great views of the surrounding mountains. Each tiny town was a wash of color, as in France, the local houses have placed hanging baskets full of flowers outside every window. Even the local council has arranged beautiful hanging baskets on every bridge and lamppost. The roundabouts are mini gardens full of color. We stayed in a small town called BAD Kioken and in spite o

We arrived in Heidelburg two days early assuming we could book another couple of days in the hotel we had pre booked and found it hard to find any accommodation so we spent two days in a old hotel which ended up being ok as it was right across the road from most of the tourist destinations. Heidelburg seems as busy as Paris as it is the German holiday hot spot. We went to Hockenheim ring today only about 30 kms away to experience F1 first hand we have seats right in front of the Red Bull pits and on the start line. We were there for the second round of practice one and half hours the noise is unbelievable. Fastest times were Alonso, Vetel, Massa and Webber although I think pole position might be a bit different. The weather in Germany is unpredictable, one day hot, the next cold and wet. We have been on a river cruise and as we are staying above the shopping mall, we have been shopping. I still have a cold, but I am determined to make the best of it. So the weekend will be devoted to

Left Reims Tuesday 20-07 heading for the German border, we have decided to take the slow route (with assistance of the GPS ) on the back roads through all the towns and villages and finding it very pleasant but slow as Cathy wants to stop everywhere. We ended up last night in Pont-a-Mousson near Nancy staying in a Abby which has one wing converted to a hotel , room was ok but no air conditioning so it was very uncomfortable during the night. I think we were the only residents there as we haven’t seen anyone else! There is no restaurant close by so we picked up some local cheese, pâté and a bottle of red wine and sat by the river in a private garden behind the Abby and enjoyed the quietness. Great photoes to follow

Second week in France We picked up our hire car ( BMW X3 all wheel drive wagon white ) at the airport, a bit inconvenient as it meant going back to the airport but it was nice to have the convenience of a car again. After a brief time, adjusting the GPS and getting our bearings we headed out of Paris nervously to our first destination Riems. We decided to take the direct route and to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. The pace at Reims is slower than Paris; we stayed in a modern hotel in the heart of town and finally found time to relax. We visited the cathedral, which was all, but ruined during World War 1, built in 1211 it is been restored in part and has the finest stained glass windows in France. But Reims is important for another reason, Champagne, said to have been invented by a 17th century monk by the name of Dom Perignon, ‘’well thank god for him’’. Hightlight to come

After a week in Paris, we are exhausted, the Parisian seem to spend all morning in bed and all night eating and drinking, they never stop talking, moving and worst of all they are all thin. The men are for the most part handsome, the women beautiful, no bear bellies in sight and no fat bottoms. We did the tourism thing each day, trying to see as much as possible. There are countless galleries and museums to visit and although we did manage to visit a great number we encountered problems, for example getting lost, blisters on feet. And then there is the underground tube, scary place, we managed to get tickets for two days and survive the mass network of trains and people, well at least we thought we did. It was like a passage from the movie Jaws as we accidentally got on the wrong train and headed for an unknown destination, we looked out of place, with our camera, and I am a tourist accessory. We realized our mistake and quickly got off and took a taxi back. Hightlights of first week

Chris may like these Sue might like some of these great ceramics

Later the streets are getting busy View from our window very early in the morning Our room in Paris, located near all the small galleries, trendy restaurants and shops