Azure Rambles

The Azure Coast is a little different to the rest of our destinations. Well, really different actually! In fact, no destination could be as different a destination as the destination that is this destination. This is because of:

1. It's by the seaside;
2. It's full of people;
3. It's really noisy and
4. There's no serenity (or tranquility).

Our hotel is very near a train line that runs, most conveniently, along the length of the Azure Coast (AC), from Grasse at the western end, through Cannes, J-L-P, Nice, and on to Monaco. The trouble is that it runs right through our hotel room. That's right, straight through the middle of it. Just as we are enjoying the last vestiges of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) early in the morning. [This, any psychiatrist worth her salt will tell you, is theos important part of a sleep cycle. Lack of it produces a Grumpy Bumpy for the rest of the day.]. The timetable for this train boasts one every 15 minutes at peak hour, absolutely guaranteeing sleep deprivation of the highest, most annoying order!

Mind you, with Susan's arrival we have changed rooms from the double overlooking a patch of Mediterranean (and the train line) to a triple on the other side of the hotel. Here the sounds of the train are somewhat muted ... only to be replaced, sadly, by screeching motor scooters. These latter modes of transport, driven at breakneck speed by the Young do not appear on the roads till well after midday, so the morning sleep has not suffered today. "Why don't you shut the windows and balcony doors?", I hear you cry. I'll tell you: It's way too stuffy; no oxygen; too hot. Anyway, today was a good test. Now that Susan has arrived, things on the sleep front are looking up.

Let me tell you something else about being in Juan-Les-Pins with TWO gorgeous women: walking down the street is fun. You can almost hear the collective dropping of jaws of the blokes who see me sashaying along with a drop-dead gorgeous woman on each arm! Just how jealous can these men (and probably one or two women) be? These observers of my good fortune can only imagine that we are fresh arrivals from one or other of the Huge Yachts that populate the harbour of Antibes, just around the corner from J-L-P. These people are just going to have to Get Over It and leave me to my lucky break. (Gotta feel sorry for them, though.)

We are hopping on the afore-mentioned train today and heading for Monaco via Nice. Should be rather jolly. I'm thinking of buying one of those ship's captain hats to intensify the speculation about how I arrived here. Should cause some consternation amongst the paparazzi and other star-gazers. What do you reckon?

YBP,

Rambles