D-DAY: Tribulations to Portugal

Finally the day had arrived. I had booked the 6.00 am flight from Marseille to Porto and to manage to be at Marseille airport at 6.00 am I had to take the last train from Nice on the previous day. All went perfectly until approaching Marseille: the train was 20 minutes late!! This means I lost the last shuttle going from the station to the airport! Who knows Marseille train station knows it is not the place where you want to spend the night. It is a very bad place and unfortunately I had no choice but to stay there and wait for the first shuttle of the next day at 4.00 am (and rush to the check-in desk to register!).

The “night” was short and not very comfy, sitting and sleeping in the waiting room, charging my cell that left me down and being stressed of whether or not I would manage to arrive on time at the airport...

Finally, all went well, I caught my shuttle, registered (not without other little problems) and got the flight.

Mum and Greg came to pick me up at the airport and together we went to rent the car.

- So now we’ll go towards North ‘till Viana do Castello

- Nope, now we go to the hotel where I’m gonna have a shower and some minutes sleep.

- You’ll sleep tonight! Now we’re going!

- Mum, you don’t seem to understand that I haven’t slept much last night, that I feel dirty and tired and I don’t feel confident enough to drive right now hours towards North, to spend a whole day visiting with only a few hours bad sleep."

I learned something that day: it’s useless discussing with my mum when she’s discovering a new place! :)

Festival and events

1. The two brothers from Lyon came to visit us in Nice. We headed towards Monaco and got a drink in a fancy place. After having laughed quite a lot at the restaurant, we went to the club Karément. On our way back, we stopped at the beach to enjoy the sunrise.

2. Music festival: I participated to the Colombian show organized by the association that does the salsa courses -> fun!

3. Kid’s back in town! One evening at the pub La Havane with Noémie. The next day at the beach with Cécilia.

4. For my birthday, Cécilia and I went to the restaurant on the beach of the Hotel Beau Rivage. Mum was around for a few days because of a famtrip so we spent the evening together in Cannes attending the opening of the “Electronical beaches”. Slept at the Matinez. Next evening, mum was busy with work so I went with Cécilia, Tatiana and Francis at the Fashion Photo Festival in Cannes. Next days, I went to the market with Noémie and out for a lunch on the beach with Alexandrina, my neighbour.

5. Invited by the big hotel chain Accor, the office (meaning Cécilia, as always, Francis, Luz and me) were invited to the famous Festival “Les Nuits du Sud” in Vence. After a buffet dinner reserved for the guests and presents everywhere on the table (keyrings, hats, T-shirts, bottles of wine…) we left to the festival were Kassav’ was expected. Cool evening and there again, lots of luck to get free entrances and attend such big event

6. Jazz Festival in Juan-Les-Pins: Invited by a hotel in Juan-Les-Pins, we got free entrances to attend the Jazz Festival. This is as well one of the most famous events on the Riviera during summer time. The bands were excellent and Cécilia and I really enjoyed listening to some different music (I actually love Jazz music!!). After that we left for a drink at the Pam Pam club where there are traditional Brazilian musicians and dancers. While waiting in front of the pub as is was packed, we noticed we were not on the queue. Who cares! If we can go in faster…! :P And that’s what happened! The bouncer asked how many we were and 2 seemed to be the perfect number. We entered the pub and got a great table right next to the stage. I was filming with my camera when I saw the dancer ask Cécilia to join him on the stage. Cécilia went and SHE did the show!! All’s on record on my camera!

What a terrific evening!

7. 80 years old and lots of resources! Cécilia invited me to the Domaine Saint Andréol to celebrate her grand mother’s birthday with all her family. The location was fantastic, the food awesome and the afternoon just as great. The sun was shining and we could enjoy the swimming pool of the hotel. In a few words, it was an absolutely fantastic day.

8. Club “La Siesta” with Alexandrina and Cécilia

Today my manager came to Cécilia and me and said that she was invited to the TV Festival in Monaco and she wasn’t feeling like going. So she gave us her tickets adding that before the beginning of the show she was invited for a drink at the Meridien Beach Plaza, one of the most beautiful 4*hotels in Monaco and that we could go at her place. I looked at Cécilia and together we agreed that this was just awesome and we would spend one more unbelievable evening.

Straight after work, we both rushed home to get prepared. We had decided during the day what we would wear for the event and it didn’t take us long to get ready.

Cécilia came to pick me up and we drove towards Monaco to attend this special occasion.

When we arrived in Monaco, and introduce ourselves at the desk of the hotel, it was already late and the festival had already started since a while. We therefore agreed to go see it first and then to come back to have our free drink (how could we miss that?!).

The ceremony was presented by Tonya Kitzinger, the famous actress of the serie Sous le Soleil and Bernard Montiel, a TV animator. It was kind of impressive being there, among all those very well-dressed people and attending such event. Cécilia and I really felt like we were privileged (and we were indeed!!) and we decided to take the most of it, even though we could be ridiculous

at stages. We obviously took pictures: pics of the stage, of the magnificent theatre, of the people attending… We even were lucky cause we found two seats at the 5^th or 6^th raw and therefore could see perfectly the show.

Among the famous people there was Bruno Salomone, a French humorist and actor and Isabelle Adjani.

The show ended and we walked towards the hotel to get that drink. We sat at the terrace and thought of what was happening: we were in Monaco, at the terrace of a wonderful hotel near the beach, listening to the waves, all dressed up, we just attended a very select show and walked among famous people. We are 24! Who else can say he did such things at our age? I guess that’s the time we realized we were really privileged, not only to be there but to work for a company, and more than anything for a manager, who gives us such occasions.

Driving lessons...

Just back from the wedding in Paris, I had some plans.

Preparing our next trip to Portugal, we (meaning mum and I) faced some problems: as she wasn't feeling enough in shape to drive, my mother decided I'd be the driver for the week we'd plan to spend around Nothern Portugal. What mum had evidently forgotten is that I haven't been driving since I got my licence, i.e. 2006!!!!!!

Therefore I to ok some big decision: I rented a car for 3 days and asked Noémie to be my personnal coach.

On the day I came back from Paris, I've been working all day and the same evening I had to exercise myself again with this Citroen C3 we had rented.
Noémie drove us outside town and when there were less cars, she gave me the wheel.

I was so tensed, so afraid I'd commit some stupid move or any accident...
But after a couple of minutes things happened to be not that bad after all. Reactions were coming back little by little though I was still very clenched.

The first evening ended well and I was pretty proud of myself and way more confident to see I was still able to drive and I hadn't forgotten that much of all my driving lessons.

Second and third evening (I was driving exclusively after work) went way better (more or less). I wasn't tensed anymore and I gained fluency and confidence. Cécilia joined us in our little escapade the last day.

After those 3 days I felt I was more able to drive on my own, though I had some apprehension.
On the other hand I was so excited about our trip and I couldn't wait to be there.
Portugal here I come!!

Wedding time

Up to Paris again to ensure a special role: witness at Anne-Marie's wedding.
I have waited for this moment since quite a while and was very excited.

When the day arrived, I went there enough in advance to help Anne-Marie getting ready. She wore a beautiful white dress and had been maked up by her aunt. A couple of pictures already as I really wanted to have some special pix of this priviledged moment with her.

When everybody was there, we all left together for the city hall. There again some pictures and then time to stand in from of the mayor.
No one was sitting. All guests were in front of us, taking pictures of Anne-Marie, David and their two witnesses.

When the time came, the mayor asked us to sign the record. Two signatures that would mark thi special day forever. I felt so much pressure that I ruined the second signature!!! But anyway, what matters is to be there right?

We left the room and took hundreds of pictures outside the city hall. Our newly wife and husband were just perfect: all smily on every pic. They really seemed to be happy :)

From there it was time to go and celebrate. So in their appartment we cut the wedding cake and I had the chance to discover wedding traditions from Anne-Marie's family.
Awesome time together and loads of food! I ate sooooo much!! Anne-Marie and David had warned me: "don't ate too much we still have the retaurant later on". Damn! I had completely forgotten about it. So I stopped eating looking forward to the restaurant.

Arrived there, we had a lovely dinner. At the time of the wedding cake (yes, a second one!!) I stood and raised my glass of champagne. It was my turn to talk and make all my wishes to the new couple. I had done my best to personnalise my speech as much as possible and, to me, the internet field was what linked our two newly weds best. I spoke, my hands were shaking and my voice wasn't very assured but still, by seeing them smile at some funny sentences, I felt I had done the right thing and I was glad I had followed my intuition.

The dinner ended and I felt sick of having eaten so much! Anne-Marie and David told me that for the religious wedding that was planned for the 1st August it would be worse and that I'd better get used to big quantities.

All summed up, I had a great day and I was proud to be the witness of such a lovely and adorable couple.
Anne-Marie, David, even thought this was not the most important part of your commitment together, I wish you all the best in your marital life and sincerily hope you'll spend the rest of your life in the same joy as this special day.

Family gettogether

Mum and Greg came over for a week and we enjoyed some more time together. Program was: Villa Kerylos, Villa Rothschild, Saint Tropez, MMV Resort and Cannes festival. All was perfect!

Villa Kerylos: I-LOVED-IT! If that place was on sale, I would be the first buyer! The audioguide gave us all information regarding the place and the house was lovely, decorated with taste and in the perfect Greek tradition.

Villa Rothschild: I didn't like the house that much. Too heavy for me. But the gardens are a marvel. Different styles, music, all sorts of plants... and my special flower: the Rothschild rose, big, colourful and smelly. A real beauty!

Saint Tropez: This was a very nice day. We took the boat from Saint Raphaël and as soon as we saw the bell tower, we started singing the opening music of the serie "Sous le Soleil". We enjoyed the market and rested on a little beach. We had transparent water, lots of sun, sailboats and mountains on our sight... Chillaxing! ;)

MMV Resort: This was kind of special. My mum managed to get a free appartment in the resort and I travelled all the way from Nice to Mandelieu to enjoy it with her and my brother. The resort is lovely and it was nice staying there and enjoying the sun a bit. Next day was spent at Cannes movie festival. Just the time to take a couple of pictures and back home again.

Fairytale in South of France

Kid, a good friend of mine, had decided to take me on a special week-end. He took advantage of the bank holiday of 8th May to take me away from Nice and make me visit the surroundings.

After a night spent in the Suite of the Westminster hotel in Nice and a lovely breakfast, we left with our private driver-guide towards Aix-en-Provence. There we had a private half day visit. Aix-en-Provence is a very nice little city full of cafés to stop and enjoy the nice weather.
We visited as well Paul Cézanne's studio and learned quite a lot of things.
Back to the city center, we had lunch in a lovely restaurant and headed toward a "ranch" close to Les Baux de Provence, which is known for being a very nice location.

In that ranch, Kid had organised a 2h horse ride. It'd been ages I haven't rode a horse and just seeing them and getting close to them I felt like a child in Disneyland! I love horse riding and that was just a magnificent gift!
So there I was, wearing my jeans and helmet, riding a white and brown horse named ... (Gosh! I can't remember it's name!). After a lovely ride we all had a chat and a drink in the ranch.

Time was flying but sparkling eyes remained when I saw the hotel in which we were about to stay. Kid had booked the best room of the hotel: a white-and-red suite in which only the kitchen was missing for me to buy it straight away! Space, peacefull atmosphere, luxurious bathroom... a white-and-red bunch of flowers and an iPod Touch.... uff! That was just too much!

We were too tired to go out having dinner so we decided to skip it... though we were pretty hungry. That evening each one chose a couch and we stayed there discussing. It was lovely...

Next morning, after a great breakfast on the terrasse of the hotel with local products, we had a taxi waiting for us that drove us to Arles train station. With a first class ride and in no time, we arrived in Nice and just had the time to rush home leave our stuff before going to the airport. There Kid had his last booking made. No, not his flight back but a 20 minutes helicopter ride.

When he first told me that, I thought he was out of his mind, maybe jocking. But he really did it!
We jumped in and soon the helicopter flew. A bit shaked at the very beginning and then up in the sky. We flew all above Villefranche, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat then Eze and Monaco. The Côte d'Azur is such a beauty!
We continued our ride until Cap Martin and came back from there on the inside seeing the mountains and the small villages. It seemed it was just a second but the number of memories I have from that ride shows me I enjoyed every minute.

We spend the evening in a lovely restaurant down town and Cécilia joined us for desert.
We ended up on Paloma beach in St Jean-Cap-Ferrat taking pictures and having big laughs.

Thinking back at it, this seems to have been some kind of fairytale. I did nothing, was brought to do things I have wanted since ages and was just asked to enjoy, which I obviously did!

Thanks Kid for bringing me over that marvellous ride. It was amazing and fun.
I wish we could do it again someday soon.