Vence 2011 Day 9 - Lunch and a magnificent drive

Today, we're treating our guests to lunch at a spectacular retaurant called le Mas Candille. It's a spectacular five star hotel with a Michelin starred restaurant. I have been liaising with 'Frederique' and have chosen a menu full of things I have never tried before. We head off in the Alvis and the BMW and get there in time to enjoy an amazing view.

It's amazing. Everything tastes absolutely wonderful and everyone is delighted with the location and the place and the food.

After lunch I drive the Alvis back. And that is one of the most awesome drives I have ever had. I set the TomTom for 'most direct route' and we follow some amazing roads twisting and turning through the hills and countryside.

In the passenger seat is Oli, and in the back are Liv and Duncan. On the stereo Ennio Morricone is playing some haunting and atmospheric music and at one point Liv starts singing along with one of the most beautiful tracks.

So there we are. I'm at the wheel of a gorgeous car with great company driving the most beautiful roads, and all this is accompanied by one of the world's greatest atmospheric music composers, and to top it off, a professional opera singer is providing the backing vocals. Life really doesn't get any better.

In the evening, however, it all gets very silly. Peg has thoughtfully brought along her Cranium game and although there is some reticence at first, everyone joins in and it is an absolute hoot. Everyone is laughing more than for quite some time and it's a huge success. One of the mimes is for the movie Dirty Dancing, and since the girls have been talking about lifts like in the film, they get it instantly!

After a couple of games it's time to pack up and look forward to the next day

Vence 2011 Day 8 - Cannes

Tonight we're all going for a night out in Cannes...

The rest of the day is spent by the pool, shopping and all the usual stuff.

The trip to Cannes is lovely. It's a balmy evening and the tunes are excellent, from metal to mathis. On arrival at Cannes at about 10.30, we've agreed to meet at the bar at the Carlton Hotel. The others park in various places - the Alvis is given pride of place right by the front door of the most exclusive hotel in Cannes!

After a couple of drinks, we lose the chaps (who are knackered from a week's international travel) and decide to head home about midnight. Then we head off to Kate's mate's bar on the beach which is nice, but there's a wedding on there with the world's worst DJ. We groan constantly at his ineptness. After another drink there, we lose four more and that just leave Kate, Kelly and me to partay. We head off to the end of season party at the Palais, but the VIP deal there is so weird that we really can't understand it. After faffing about for about 15 minutes we decide that the other club we've heard about is a much better bet, so head off in a taxi to le Baoli

As soon as we get there, it's a whole different story - we're called to the front of the queue and invited straight in. It's lovely inside. There;s an open air area with palm trees all around and a sort of large glass box in the middle with dancing and sofas and stuff. There are sparklers, dry ice and all the most glamorous women in Cannes. Can't really say the same for the blokes, though...

After a great night there, we head back to the Carlton and the Alvis at about 4:15, and get home about half an hour later. An excellent evening all round.

Vence 2011 Day 7 - Arrivals

Everyone who should be here is here (as they say in My Fair Lady)

It's nice to have a full house and the crowd are all good fun.

We'll see what they all get up to tomorrow...

Vence 2011 Day 4 - Monaco

I have stupidly deleted this page. If anyone knows of a way of getting it back I'd be more than grateful...

The gist of it was that we went to Monaco. It was nice. We went in the Alvis and we had cocktails in the Hotel de Paris. Yum.

Vence 2011 Day 6 - Bricolage

...Or DIY as they would say if they didn't already have a great name for it.

The beds by the pool are falling to bits, so we need to repair them. I make a trip out to the 'SuperBricolage' in Cagnes but there's not much appropriate for fixing chairs there. So later on Peggy and I head for Mr Bricolage in Vence and success! We now have masses of inflatables including an executive chair inflatable with cup holder. We also have pool beds that aren't collapsing at random.

Dinner on the barbecue is Dorade Royale - the most I have ever seen fish cost! But it is delicious. However, wave after wave of mosquitoes are driving us indoors.

Vence 2011 Day 5 - Fireworks...

Well, today I'm having my first car-related issue...

The Alvis is leaking oil from the filter. I don't know how serious it is yet. There is a nasty drop of about 4 inches on the drive into the house and I suspect that it has scraped along the bottom of the filter and has either losened it or broken it. I will check it more when the engine is cold. Mind you it's not all bad. If it is a problem, then I can have the car recovered either back to Zurich or back to the UK. Then I don't have to drive it in this heat! I think if I take the Alvis a long way again, I might trailer it.

So what else happened today? Well, we went into Vence for a look around. It's a really pretty town with lots of delightful shops and beautiful old buildings. Sort of St Paul lite, but much more down to earth for all that. The produce shops are amazing and everything looks so delicious. It's a wonder everyone isn't enormous here! I make two purchases - a belt (because my trousers are all too big for me nowadays) and a 'steel' because all the knives in the house are totally blunt. I hate blunt knives - they are just pointless (sic).

After that it's back to the house for lunch and a swim.

Then I realise that I need to go back into town for another belt (the other one was great value) and also some goggles so I can swim faster. The trip to the goggles shop sees me leaving with goggles, yes, but also two pairs of shorts that fit better than ones I have, and a couple of pairs of swimming trunks for the same reason. I like this getting thinner. An excuse to chick out my dated wardrobe is always good.

In the evening we're off to Cannes for the fireworks display. I LOVE fireworks! The Cannes Festival do Pyrotechniques is one of the best in the world and I'm really looking forward to it. And it lives up to my expectations. Spectacular is n expreession tht can be overused. This was spectacular. I now have plans for my own firework display...

The drive back to the house after midnight was great fun in the BMW. Lots of bends and lots of grunt are a fantastic combination when there's no dog in the car to worry about.

Vence 2011 Day 3 - A day to enjoy the house

Today begins with a dogwalk up the hill behind the house. It's a bit steep, but thankfully, as it's pretty early, the full heat of the day is yet to come. There are lots of fabulous properties on the hill, but I think ours has the nicest pool.

After the walk, it's back to the house and without thinking, I set off the burglar alarm. It's a very weird one, as the security service comes on the entryphone and asks for a password (which thankfully we have!). I've never come across one like that before and having a strange man talking to you in your kitchen is both disconcerting and reassuring at the same time.

Today's the day that Peggy arrives. I meet her in town in the Alvis and she follows me home in her rented Twingo. It's so nice to have her here. I've missed her whilst she's been in Dubai. Peggy was staying in our house before she came out, so thankfully she has been able to bring out all sorts of stuff that we had forgotten. My camera amongst them, so I can now take pictures not on the website! We are useless at remembering things to bring on holiday. I think the truth is that I used to be really anal, and plan meticulously with lists for holidays of all colours and sizes. Now I don't really care, so long as I have my computer and appropriate leads...

Anyway,it's a quiet afternoon - everything is shut Mondays, so we're out to a nearby village for supper today. The weather is still holding, and if anything it's even clearer today.

Vence 2011 Day 2 - Recovery Day

After all the effort put in yesterday, today is going to be chilled...

..and hot!

So step one is to head down to the pool. It's huge and warm and lovely - and it has a slide! It's lovely to swim in - even Buchan enjoys fetching balls from it! Tearing me away from it isn't easy, but there's the usual big shop to be done so we head off to the local Leclerc. It's huge and stocked with so much good stuff. I have never seen so much Rosé in my life! Seems a shame not to do a taste test..

Results later.

Meantime we need to schlep three boxes of groceries home. That done, it's back to the pool and time for a swim. Buchan loves swimming, so I trained him to work out how to get in and out of the pool and he's away - sometimes, he just swims for the hell of it.

The rest of the day is organising our guests for when they arrive later on in the week, getting Peggy to bring stuff out that we've forgotten and generally doing very little. Apart of course from more swimming...

Results just in: They're all good...

And the Pastis / Absinthe is lovely and refreshing as well...

Oh, one last thing. There was the most amazing fireworks display last night. It was on the coast which is probably about 6km away and it looked fantastic even at this distance. I was estimating the distance by timing the delay between seeing the show and hearing the appropriate bangs. We're off to see the big display in Cannes on Saturday. So looking forward to it.

Vence 2011 Day 1 - the drive down

You'd think we were moving house. The car is filled to the gunnels ( I like that word) with luggage - including our own sheets and duvet. We're driving down in convoy in the BMW (which is the workhorse carrying all the paraphernalia and the dog) and the Alvis which will be used for South of France cruises! satnav says 7 hours. We'll see...

...OK so 7 hours satnav plus roadworks, plus traffic, plus 30 minute queues at toll booths equals 11 hours driving! I am absolutely cream crackered. I was driving the Alvis, which is lovely at low speeds and/or in cool weather, but at high speeds and in 35 degrees of blazing sun it isn't funny. And it also has an annoying quirk that it blows boiling hot air from the engine straight at the occupants. Plus it blows hot air directly at the driver from the gearstick gaiter. I have been fan baked completely. I am drenched, drained and braindead.

Sign of the day: At the start of tunnels in Italy if they want to warn you of anything at the end (high winds, say) they put a sign at the beginning with an icon of the danger (a wind sock, for example) followed by the words 'A FINE TUNNEL'. This looks much more like a review than a caution.

The house, though is absolutely incredible. and the view is stunning... I'll take a picture when I can work out how my body functions. In the meantime, these are from the house's website: