On holiday in the South of France

In mid-September, we went to the South of France for a week to see sunshine – which was lovely. I even went swimming. For the past few weeks I’ve been dealing with plague – blood tests haven’t shown anything, and it seems to be going away slowly, so at least it’s not Ebola, even if it’s been a bit of a drag on daily life. I was ill on holiday, too, and it only started to clear up as I came back to Belgium. Typical.

At least we have had excellent weather over the last couple of weeks in Brussels – my lavender plant has even grown a flower! (I thought it was dead, so this is kind of Lazarus-like.) Today, though, autumn has kicked in with a vengeance, so I thought I’d look through some holiday photos and share some with you lucky, lucky people. Mostly they are of Nice and the surrounding area, with a couple of photos from a day trip to Cassis and Marseille. (For one day during European Mobility Week, usually Wednesday, you get an all-day train ticket to go anywhere in the PACA region for €5. We got as far as Marseille.)

So, here are some photos of summer. I’m open to suggestions for good things to do in Brussels in the autumn, if anyone has any ideas!

blue sky – Nice

Bus driver’s monkey

carnation – Nice

Cassis castle seen from the port

Cassis port – black and white

Cassis port and boats – black and white

Cassis port cafe

Cassis port

Cassis waterfront – B&W

CItadel sea wall – Villefranche

Close up yellow flower

dates on a palm tree

daube and gnocchi

Entrance to St Agnes village

field and sky

Fort above Villefranche

fountains – Nice

fountains in a line – Nice

French flag blowing in the wind

giant wooden turtle – Nice

green tree against blue sky – Cassis

hills and sky 2

hills and sky

Kiki the mini dog

Orange spiky flower

panoramic view from St Agnes

Pink flowers – Ange Gardien

Plants growing on the sea wall – Villefranche

playing in fountains

Purple spiky flowers in sunlight

Restaurant terrace – St Agnes

red and yellow mini flowers

red flowers

reflections – Nice park

Restaurant terrace and bar – St Agnes

Rock covered in lichen

Spiral staircase – St Agnes

St Agnes fort

St Agnes old town – seen from above

Steps down – Ange Gardien

Steps up the mountain – St Agnes

street going up in St Agnes village

street in St Agnes village

Street lamp – St Agnes

Tortoise candle – restaurant in St Agnes

Town hall and school in St Agnes

tree trunk

Two-tone flower – Beaulieu

View down to the sea on the way to St Agnes

view from the bus to Marseille

view to the sea – restaurant in St Agnes

Villefranche bay

Villefranche sea front

Villefranche under a stormy sky

Wine press – St Agnes

Lille, the zoo, and Cassel

Last weekend, I was in Lille.

It was lovely and sunny the first day, followed by an enormous storm on Saturday night, which meant Sunday was a bit cloudy and miserable. So, of course, we started the day by going to the zoo. Lille zoo is amazing, and free, and although not all the animals were actually there (zebras, I’m talking to you), the ones that were were brilliant. And free. You should go, if you’re in Lille.

After that, we went to rural northern France, to Cassel, the highest point in the north, home of amazing views. However, visibility was a bit limited, given the weather, and public transport is non-existent on Sundays in rural France. A nice man and his daughter gave us a lift from the station (which is not actually in Cassel, it’s in the next village along, turns out, at the bottom of the hill…) and having climbed to the tall bit, we started to walk down. A good place to go with a car on a sunny day, I reckon.

And then on Monday I met a friend, did shopping and bought all the clothes and some actual grown up office shoes, and then we got the Eurostar home. (It is not as expensive as you’d think – it only cost us €30 each, which, given we walked up and bought the tickets about ten minutes before the train, didn’t strike me as all that bad.)

This weekend is the last weekend of the Ghent Festival, so we went to visit. It’s hot, sunny, and Ghent is full of music, all types of music. We’ll be going back to see the city itself properly another weekend (because although it’s pretty, it’s not at its best when covered by music tents and stages), but if you’re a music fan, you should have a look at the programme for next year when its issued and go! Photos to follow later – maybe next week…

Now, however, it is time for a long cold shower and a long cold drink. Santé, readers!