Happy New Year!

Ideally, I’d have written this yesterday, I know. But I’ve got the world’s worst cold at the moment, and when I got back to the hotel yesterday afternoon (which is when I meant to write this post) all I could do was sleep and feel sorry for myself. So, my year can only get healthier, but it’s started in a warm, sunny place, visiting somewhere we used to live and remembering happy times. There are definitely worse ways to start a new year!

So, here are some photos of where I used to live, before I moved to Brussels. The weather is certainly better here…

I wish you all a happy, healthy 2015, full of opportunities to do things you like, with people you love.

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