Soggy British Columbia

Although Chad enjoyed a few sunny days on his return to Canada, I got home to Vancouver last Friday night to three days of rain, followed by two days of rain in Kamloops, and then slightly sunnier skies in Salmon Arm.  The news has been filled with stories of the flooding in the interior, and even though the water is no longer at its peak it's still very high.

The South Thompson River outside my parents' place is far above its average levels - for this or any other time of year.  The rain also means that the fields across the river, which have normally turned a dull shade of brown by July, are brilliant yellow and green.  I grabbed a few shots on the morning when left, as the sun finally came out.

Gratuitous puppy shot of Allie, my parents' amazing dog.

We're now in Salmon Arm, where this morning I pretended to be a nature photographer and went down to the marshes along the overly full lake to take some pictures.

This boardwalk is normally a couple feet above water.  Not today.

The geese have nowhere to nest, as the marshes are totally flooded.  Luckily (?) they have found some logs on which to roost.  Not pictured: the other wildlife I saw, including turtles, osprey, some other random birds, some gross carp, and a mouse!

It's been nice to spend the past week in familiar stomping grounds - Vancouver, Kamloops, and Salmon Arm - catching up with friends and family, recovering from jet lag, packing and repacking, and nursing our colds (my welcome home gift to Chad).  Tomorrow we're back on the road!

Life in the South of France - Cannes

By the time we got to the last day of our trip it was smoking hot, we were tired from walking countless miles and many hills, and I still couldn't quite kick my cold.  So we decided to take it easy and just take a quick trip over to Cannes to check out the locale of the annual film festival.  It's a nice place to wander away an afternoon - we spent much of it people watching in the shade, which was definitely an interesting way to spend an hour or two.

On the train again...

Promenading in Cannes

More yachts, yachts, yachts.

I'm sure this red carpet sees much more stylish walkers than me!

Lots of famous hand prints along the walk in front of the theatre.

There is very little free beach area in Cannes - most of it is covered with beach chairs that you can pay 25 Euros a day for the privilege of sitting on.

And on the way home again.

Life in the South of France - Ritz and Glamour in Monaco

A few fun facts about Monaco: It is a 20 minute train ride from Nice.  It is the second smallest independent state in the world (after the Vatican), and the world's most densely populated independent country.  It is the home of a super exciting Formula 1 Grand Prix race with a track that winds its way through the little city of Monte Carlo.

On the track.  This guy appears to be going the wrong way...

Men sometimes need reminding that you shouldn't wear a speedo while walking the hill up to the Palace.

Another hot day, another day of hilly climbs.  This one was well worth it with great views of Monaco's yacht-filled harbours and compact skyline.

The courthouse.  Monaco has very little crime, maybe because it's filled with CCTV cameras to watch its rich residents go about their days, so I suspect anything happening there is mostly of a civil nature.

Nice little palace - my Mom thought it wasn't too ostentatious and wouldn't mind having something like this.

Yachts, as far as the eye can see.

More track shots - my Dad is a huge F1 fan and we've all watched the Monaco Grand Prix many times.  It's cool to walk the streets where you've seen the race happen so many times.

The lavish Monte Carlo Casino.  Unfortunately we didn't see James Bond.

This was one of my Mom's highlights for the South of France - definitely worth the day trip from Nice!

Life in the South of France - La Belle Nice

La Belle Nice is where we spent our first day exploring in the south of France.  Nice isn't small - Wikipedia tells me it's the fifth largest city in France, but it has a compact old town that is close to the beach and some nice sights to fill up a day or two.  The size also helps it absorb the gads of tourists that flock there every year.  After a rainy final day in Paris, we walked into weather that was about 28 degrees but felt like 35 degrees with the humidity.  It was actually a nice, if somewhat sticky, change.

One of the big squares, as viewed through my Mom's new sunglasses.

There's a nice little flower market that runs daily and also sells all kinds of fruits, veggies, and touristy treats.

The old town is a really lovely place to wander around, people watch, and take pictures.

You can also climb up to the top of a hill where there was once a castle to get some spectacular views along the coast.  My Mom is going to be mountaineering with my brother if she keeps this up - she was game for the hike up despite the heat.

She lost a few bravery points, however, as she went to dip her toes into the Mediterranean for this shot.  Nice is notorious for its very rocky beaches that are steep at the edge and hard on the feet, and let's just say there was some complaining about foot pain... Right, Mom?

We finished the day lounging on the beach as the sun started to go down, eating a delicious Italian dinner, and wandering back through the big square, which has Buddha-looking guys lit up in different colours at night.  Lovely!

Riding the TGV

My Mom and I arrived in Vancouver safe and sound last night, but before I get into to that, let me finish off with our adventures in the south of France.  On Monday we took a TGV from Paris to Marseille, and then another from Marseille to Nice.  (Note: You can take a TGV directly from Paris to Nice.  The short reason that we made a change is that raileurope.ca sucks.  The long answer is available upon request).

This was my first TGV ride and my Mom's first big train travel day.  I have to say that travelling along at 300 km/hour is pretty impressive.  The scenery goes by so quickly it's almost nauseating at times (in a good way!) and you pass traffic on freeways as if it is standing still.

A few shots from our travel day.

Ready to go!

The nice view from the Marseille train station when we popped out during our quick stopover.

Where is that train anyway?

We covered the 783 kilometres from Paris to Marseille in just under four hours, and then it was another 2 and a half hours on a slower track to Nice.  Not bad for a day's work!