Bridget's
school friend and her family live just above the town of
Menton, an hour down the coast from Antibes. Susanne, Catherine
and Christopher came over to us on Saturday, and we returned
the honour on Sunday.
So
once again we loaded up the buggy and headed for the railway
station. Now here's a tip if you're travelling by SNCF on
a Sunday - ticket offices are closed in smaller stations
so you'll need LOTS of change for the automatic tickets
machines. And they don't take UK credit cards (only Carte
Bleu).
The
train to Menton was late, but we still arrived in time to
go shopping for our picnic lunch. After several days of the
campus supermarket, it was a real treat to see all the fresh
fruit and salad at the covered market (Marché couvert),
and we bought plenty for lunch. If we'd been in the car, we'd
have taken more back to the campsite, but then again if we'd
had a car we'd have been to more markets anyway.....
After
protests about eating 'sand'wiches, we found a spot above
the beach under some dappled shade for our picnic of pizza,
tomatoes, peaches and strawberries. This was a relaxing opportunity
to catch up with each other's lives since we'd last seen each
other, with views of the sea in one direction, and the old
town of Menton ascending to the hills on the other side.
After
lunch we finally headed for the beach, and enjoyed a nice
paddle in the cool sea. Matthew as usual took to it like a
toddler to water which, after all, he is! It's a good sandy
beach at Menton, with a few stones to add a bit of interest
and to stub your toe on from time to time.
And
here we all are, captured together by the good services of
a passing woman who offered to take the group photo as we
were all struggling to get various pictures of various combinations
of groups. Curiously, her picture is better than all the rest
we took! So, in order, here are Catherine, Christopher, Susanne,
Matthew, Bridget, James and Malcolm. The observant will spot
that this is the only photo with Malcolm in it on the whole
France 2002 web site. OK, so Malcolm had the digital camera
most of the time, does it show?
We
headed back from the sea front to the town for a cool drink
at a nearby bar, where we had to say our goodbyes to Susanne
and family, as they were off to a baptism that afternoon.
James and Matthew both had a ride on the fairground roundabout
- James as usual on his favourite animal - the elephant!
After
a long and busy day we had plenty of time for a gentle stoll
back to the railway station, and took the opportunity to
walk through the lovely Jardins Biovés. Menton is
a charming town, and we can see why Susanne and her family
love living there. "Come back soon" they said
when we left them, and we're sure we will before too long.
