Home again

Well we’re home. We’re pretty shattered at the moment. What should have been just over an hour drive from Manchester airport took nearer two and an half hours. There been an accident on the motorway resulting in long tailbacks all the way south of Preston (about the half way point on our journey). We were very grateful that we’d decided to go by taxi rather than drive down to Manchester ourselves. I don’t think we would have coped after a bad night’s sleep, an early morning & all the hassle, particularly at Nice airport.

We have at least come back with a sense of real pleasure at seeing our own home & its environment. Last night we went down to our local pub to eat – fish, chips & mushy peas. The sight of the great gleaming white flakes of cod as you broke through the crispy batter was a joy, even though we didn’t finish the meal. I think they’d caught a cod the size of a whale from the sheer quantity on our plates.

As for the holiday, I will tell you more of that when we’ve sorted out some photos. They’re still in the camera & mobile phone.

For now I will give you a more general view. The first couple of days were wet & fairly cold, but that didn’t bother us. It was still warmer than England & we needed to be forced to take things easy & re-gather some energy – after all that was the main purpose of the holiday. The rest of the time it was warm – always in double figures, even reaching 20°C one day.

Unfortunately the hotel’s heating/air-conditioning system was still on winter mode. After a couple of nights we had to complain. It was just too hot to sleep & there was no windows we could open to let cool air in. The hotel was very good. They found us another room, lower down, where the heat had been switched off for the last week or so. They also provided a fan. We slept the rest of the time with just a dressing gown as covering – the quilt provided was too much - & to the sound of a noisy old fan whirling around. We were also given a couple of free meals in their restaurant, aperitif & a bottle of wine included, as well as several free drinks in the bar.

By the second week we were much more relaxed & able to enjoy some trips out.

We soon discovered that Nice has massively expanded now. It seems to be almost permanently built up, as village joined onto village, all along the coast as far as Cannes & quite a distance inland. With the sprawl came city traffic – a nightmare to drive in for people used to the quiet roads around where we live. We were staying in Juan les Pins, in the midst of the sprawl. We’ve come to the conclusion that we won’t be visiting this part of France again unless it’s just for a long weekend break in Nice itself. We prefer more rural France & the quiet life.

As for the Fox’s eczema that did not do well. Where the sun got on his arms seem to clear quickly. However his legs & hands are in a right state. The tube of ointment he’d been prescribed by the hospital was so small he had to ration what area he could put it on. His hands, particularly around his fingernails look awful, even bursting into blood at times. As soon as Easter is over, we will be trying to see if we can get him an appointment at the doctors’ once more to see what he’d best do. The second cream he was supposed to use next, states that you mustn’t put it on cracked or bleeding skin.

I think on the whole we have come back more relaxed than when we went. We did manage to put most of our worries to one side for a bit. Once we’ve recovered from the exhaustion caused by the travelling, I think we will realise the benefit of the trip & remember with pleasure some of our days out, the meals we had & the people we met.