Navigating makes me sweat but driving when you don't know where you're going is worse

After mum and dad fell in love with Grasse in the south of France last year, they booked a few weeks in Grasse this year and generously offered to have the Heslops come for a visit.

Dad sends me the directions to the house but after trying to get there following the same directions tells me to throw them out and he'll explain where the house is when we're in France. Makes sense. Until we get to Grasse after a 5 hour drive in the rain, with no map because our internet/phone etc doesn't work in France, no address, and unable to call dad.  Our entry into France is also tainted by me trying to navigate freeway exits with a map downloaded in Italy but on a resolution too large to see which off ramp to take...and a heated discussion in the car in front of the kids because I didn't get an address...what point would an address be anyway if we can't look at a map and there's noone around to ask directions because it's pouring with rain!??

Tense beginnings aside, the week in France is fantastic. Despite early and very hesitant attempts to speak French after a very long hiatus, I start to enjoy speaking French, albeit badly and always low volume so noone can hear how badly I speak it.

Ladybeetle

 Shane's detailed research again pays off with a day trip to Theoles Sur Mer, one of the top ten beaches in the Cote D'Azur and only about an hour away from Grasse.

Tea time

Cloud gazing

Yum, no pizza or pasta for me!!

Shane and I head to Nice one night to catch up with Andrea, Shane's new cycling friend, a lovely guy from Biella who has a bike shop. Despite best intentions we get totally lost and drive around Nice for an hour trying to find Andrea who is trying to find us. The directions of 'head to the ocean' and 'head towards Monte Carlo' don't really help because we've got no bloody idea where we are!
We get there in the end, and ride into Nice on Andrea's bikes with my dress hitched up around my thighs...next time we catch up with Andrea I'm definitely wearing jeans. We head into an amazing seafood restaurant in the heart of Nice where we end up eating a huge platter of seafood...all raw...raw sea snails, raw mussels, raw prawns, raw scallops....


Shane had a few great rides into the hills behind Grasse and discovers a town called Gourdon, which is a beautiful town at what seems the top of the maritime alps with the best ice cream I've had (and I've had a lot). Favourite flavour - lavender - don't knock it till you've tried it.

Walking in Gourdon

Nonna in Gourdon

The last few days we discover a lot of places that the kids would love, so we'll definitely be back and now that we know how to get there, it will be a much more relaxing ride.