Exploring Nice

We slept ok but woke quite early so decided to go explore Nice a bit. When we came two years ago with the kids and James parents we had a lovely explore of the old city but didn't get much further due to limited time. So this time we decided to walk up to the gardens and castle ruins for a few over the city. It was a nice walk up and there was a gorgeous waterway at the top and lovely gardens to walk around. It was beautiful view overlooking the port on one side and the Nice promenade on the other.






We walked down through the old city and the beautiful Monday antique market to the waterfront. We decided to hire some city bikes and go for a bike ride. The help clerk at the hotel had told us that we couldn't hire the bikes as they were for residents only and instead gave us the number for a bike hire place. He told us to tell them that he had recommended them. It was quite expensive and we were sure that we could hire them if they were like the Toulouse ones so decided to give it a go and it worked. The system works that if you hire it would less than half an hour it is free. We stopped along the way and returned our bikes, took some photos and then rehired them and it was free for mine and 1 euro for James.

The cycleway was great and we felt very safe cycling along past the airport and beside lots of busy roads - without helmets of course. We stopped at the next town of Cagnes-sur-mer and returned our bikes, again costing us just one euro. We found a great little cafe for lunch where the service was very French as he chatted to every customer and took ages to get to us but then once we had him we had his undivided attention. Our tummies were still adjusting to the time zone so I had a salad and James had a good ole French steak hache, frites and salad and of course rose wine.





We jumped back on our bikes and cycled back to Nice. James had a meeting and then conference registration so I was free to explore. I had a nice look around the shops and bought a few presents for the kids. I found a little supermarket and bought some cheese and crackers for dinner and then went back to the hotel. I was a bit overcome by jetlag so ended up in bed asleep before James came home.


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Long haul to London

Our trip started the way it was going to continue in that there was a difficult but it was overcome thankfully! First hurdle was in Christchurch due to fog. There had been flight cancellations in and out of both Christchurch and Auckland in the morning which led to flight delays all day. The lady that did our tickets was very doubtful I would get onto the 5.55 flight and then the next flights were all full. I was seriously thinking that I would have to go home and then try again on Saturday. James was confirmed so he got on the flight and then I had to wait with about ten other standby passengers and wait for my name to be called. My flight must have been looking after me as only four of us got on and I was one of them!!

We got to Auckland with about four hours to spare but ended up needing that much time as the link between LA and London was down and so no boarding passes could be printed. Thank fully they got it sorted and we got our boarding passes after about an hour. I had paid for an upgrade on my staff travel ticket but unfortunately the flights were almost full so I didn't get to be in business class with James. Luckily I had an empty seat beside me so had a bit of space. The flight went well and James and I met up on the airbridge. In LA even though we were just in transit we still had to through immigration. I also needed to get issued with a proper boarding pass as only had a standby ticket. We got to immigration security and my fingerprints were scanned and unfortunately they didn't match my passport. I had to be taken into the immigration secured office escorted by a big burly security guard. Luckily as I was in Transit I was priority and got seen quite quickly and was cleared. It was a bit scary though and I did worry at one point that I might get sent back to NZ - I must not look like much of a threat. James was waiting for me outside the door and lovely lady from AIr NZ (who was called Lovely) came to check on me and helped to hurry things along.

We made it to the gate with plenty of time to get my boarding card issued and unfortunately still no upgrade, even James didn't get into business class as it was full. He did get a premier economy seat though and he very kindly let me sit in it and he had my economy seat. It was nice to be in the nice seats with yummy food and a bit more space to spread out and the ability to have a better sleep.

I had a good flight although James didn't fair so well with not much leg room and the flight was much more crowded so no spare seat beside him. We arrived in London on Saturday morning which was a bit odd as we had been travelling for 30 hours and had left Christchurch on Friday evening.

We had a lovely taxi drive through London to our hotel and it felt surreal seeing Daffodils and blossom. Our hotel was right by St Paul's cathedral so after we checked in we had a coffee and then went and explored the beautiful St Paul's. James struggled with the no photo policy so just and to embrace the ambience. He was able to take photos from the top of the dome though as it was outside. I had been up there last time and so didn't go with him as the staircase is very steep narrow. The staircase winds up through the cone and is metal and open so you can see right down so not great for my fear of heights. James enjoyed it though and got some good photos.


After St Paul's we walked across to the millennium bridge and along the South Bank to the London eye. We decided to not go on it though and instead walked over to Big Ben and Westminster Abby. We were starting to get tired so decided to catch the tube home. The queue was really long for tickets so we decided to just jump on the bus. The buses no longer take cash and we didn't fancy having to go queue up again so tried to use our credit card to pay. It only worked for one ticket but the conductor let me on anyway.






So nice to get back to the hotel and then had dinner at the English pub down the road it.

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Toulouse to LA

We left Toulouse almost a week ago and am feeling homesick already(that is for my French home). I loved France so much, made all the more special by lots of fantastic travelling, wonderful food and many lovely people that we met on the way. That being said we are all ready to go back to NZ.

We were lucky enough to be upgraded to business class (a perk of being relocated back to NZ by Air NZ) and had a great flight.

Penelope all set up and ready for the 10 hour flight.





James and Hannah were up the front and had to be on their best behaviour as Rob Fyfe (ex CEO for air NZ) was sitting two seats behind them. We arrived into LA at 7.30pm and headed straight to our hotel. Our hotel was right near the airport which was nice and convenient. None of us slept that well and we were all awake bright and early. Our first impression on LA was lots of lining up for everything and huge amounts of food. For our breakfast we had to queue and got eggs, bacon and sausage - not much fruit on offer. It was all very yummy though and set us up for the day. We headed to the rental car company to get our car and were quite horrified by the queue to get the car! It took over an hour to get our car and then we were off to explore!

As it was now almost lunch time we headed straight for the farmers market in west Hollywood. James and the kids had a gluten free pizza and I had Chinese. We then headed to the Grove shopping area which was very nice with lots of lovely shops.

Hannah posing with Isabelle at the American girl doll shop






Penelope was desperate to head into Hollywood so we drove to Hollywood boulevard and found a park. One of the interesting things about LA is because everyone drives it is very easy to get around and also very easy to find a park. The parking buildings are easy to find and easy to drive in - especially after narrow little French streets. Hollywood boulevard was very busy but we still managed to find some famous stars and get our photos taken with a few famous characters (for a few dollars of course).

Outside the Chinese theatre.























Lots of people were lining up to get photos of Michael Jackson's star but James just quickly took one as he walked by!





Jasper was very happy to get his photo taken with bumblebee!





Hannah was very excited to get her photo taken with a minion.





It was very hot in LA so we decide to cool down with an icecream. Jasper found this great ice cream parlour where you chose your ice cream flavours then your add ins and then they mixed them up together - delicious!






We decided to leave the busyness of Hollywood and head into the hills. We went for a drive on Mullholland drive and Penelope chose which house she would like to live in when she's a famous movie star!!






View down into LA from Mulholland drive.






A wonderful day and was topped off by drinks at the hotel bar and then leftover pizza for dinner. Best of all though is that we all had a good nights sleep.
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