Bonjour!
Well…we have a new car. A Toyota. On our first trip to Cannes, Dad found the Episcopal Church and then we walked down to the beach. It was beautiful…we stopped at an Italian restaurant where I got water and Dad ate Lasagna with Wine. How wrong is that!
Anyway, on our way back to Mougins Dad was established in the center lane of a round-a-bout…the have round-a-bouts about every 100 feet I think…instead of doing intersections. Anyway…Dad was established in the middle lane of the round-a-bout when this older Portuguese woman entered the round-a-bout, crossed 2 lanes and smacked into the side of our car. I saw her coming and tried to warn Dad but he had no where to go. So...boom. The lady got out and started yelling…until she saw Dad. Fortunately the Cannes police were right there and saw the wreck. Dad was frustrated because he couldn’t reach the rental car company but one of the Cannes police spoke English. We got all of the forms filled out and off we went. We finally reached the rental agency when we got home…they asked us to come to the airport and swap the car…so now we have a blue Toyota Yaris…with 4 doors. Dad really doesn’t like the car…the clutch is iffy and the radio won’t connect to the iPhone so he has to use the iPhone with an earpiece for directions…but we are adjusting.
Dad and I are getting out of Mougins more and more. We went to Nice to swap out the car and found the Episcopal Church downtown. Then we returned to Cannes for an appointment at the Apple store…which took about 30 seconds. Dad has everything up and running in our flat…computer, an American iPhone and a French iPhone…along with his iPad. He is also pleased with his purchase of the Amazon Firestick. Dad installed VPN software directly on the Firestick so now we can watch American Live TV…and Netflix and Hulu. Doesn’t matter to me but Dad is pleased with things so…I am too.
We went back to Nice on Saturday for lunch. Dad met some people who live in Nice and they walked us around the old town where we saw the house where Matisse lived and painted for 10 years. Everything here is old and beautiful. Amazing to be walking on streets that have been here from 500AD. Nice is deep in preparation for their Christmas market…should be fun and Dad promised a return…if we can find parking.
We went to Antibes on Friday afternoon…another beautiful old village on the water with ancient buildings and many small restaurants with outdoor seating. Antibes is the home of the Picasso museum…Dad plans to return but (unfortunately) I can’t go in. Ill either stay home or stay in the car while he tours the museum.
Today we went to Monaco! Lunch and walked around. Beautiful place and the sun was shining. We saw where the palace I but you have to be local to go there. Dad had his first French Oysters…and loved them. (See photo!). Monaco is about 45 minutes from Mougins on the highway…no problems driving over and back…but we did have to stop three times to pay tolls. Dad was frustrated when he first encountered the toll booths upon our arrival…but he’s getting it down and keeps a pile of Euro coins in the car.
So, we are off for another walk…maybe a glass of wine in the village.
Both Dad and I are adjusting well to France…we plan to head to a market in Italy on Friday morning and then a prolonged stay next week in Verona and hopefully Rome. I hope they are as kind to me in Italy as they are in France…I hear the food is fabulous…
Until later…
Maggie (and Doug)
Comments