Discovering the region...

...And discovering it by all means!

After having been to Saint-Paul de Vence by car with Cécilia, having visited Monaco with my mum and having done scuba diving in the Mediterranean sea, I took advantage of a day organised by the region of Var to discover more!

After a workshop in the congress center of Saint Raphaël and a not that good lunch served in a seminar room of the closeby hotel, we went sailing on a catamaran for about 40 minutes. Just the time to reach Port du Poussaï were the excursions started.

As a start, we decided with Cécilia to be adventurous and we loaded in a buggy trip.

Actually, before seeing the buggy, I thought the vehicle would be similar to the ones I drove back in Dublin on the golf course so I was pretty confident on my capacity to drive it (as, as you can remember, I was a golf buggy driving master!).
But the buggies from Dublin were far different from the ones we were about to drive there. Way more quiet! These ones here were sport buggies! A sort of engine I had never seen before. So I lost a bit of my confidence when I saw it but then, the "teacher" explained the way it was working and I felt completely disarmed: the wheel was hard to manage, there were tiers, a handbrake...

But I still insisted on driving the engine (Cécilia didn't want to drive anyway!)
He distributed a pair of glasses to all of us saying we would need it at some stage because of the dirt on the way (which didn't really make me confident) and he checked we were all well cinched to the buggy's sit (which affraid me a bit more!). And there we were, ready to go!!!

We had to stay in queue but as soon as everyone left, the first problem arrived: the buggy didn't want to start! The motor wasn't turned on! Haha!!

After a couple of minutes and some meters covered, I felt more and more confident and realized I was not that bad in buggy driving.
Despite that, Cécilia got a panik attack on the way up the hill. This was probably due to the fact it was her first adventure experience after the canyoning event so that scared her but she breathed and finally controlled her fear feeling.

Up and down the hill, back to the start point. Great experience and great sensations. For me it was more than anything getting the driving pleasure back and feeling more confident in a car... or some sort of! :)

To calm down the adrenaline and finish the day trip, we ended up on the beach for a petanque game. It was fun and relaxing and nice doing some traditional activity.

I realize that I have never done so many things in my life than since I'm here: scuba diving, going to the Spa, touching an iguana, driving a buggy, etc... My life here is just... INCREDIBLE!!!

Botanic gardens

After a morning feeling blue, Cécilia brought me to Parc Phoenix.

This park is half a botanic garden half a zoo (well there are some animals but not that many). We goofed around there taking pictures of everything that appeared to be nice to us and agreed on coming again well dressed one day for a shooting session. This place offers really nice spots and the light can be awsome at some moments.

In one of the greenhouses, there was an iguana that was quietly waiting on the floor and looking at the visitors. It was not standing in a cage or a closed environment so we could easily go close to it and touch it. And that's what we did!

We approched it, and after the first moves, a bit scared I must say, we started realize our friend was actually really cool (in all senses!). His skin was soft and he wasn't a bit disturbed by our presence and the fact everyone was touching him.

We took plenty of pictures and finaly left him alone... all the more that the parc was about to close!

Here is a little memory of that day:

Italian Fashion

This week-end we decided with Cécilia to go to Italy in an industrial area where shopping is cheaper. From my side I invited Noémie to join and Cécilia decided to bring Christelle with her so on Sunday morning (it was actually midday already when we left), we drove to Serra Valle.

Serra Valle is situated a bit further than Torino. To go there, we took the highway up to Torino and then changed direction toward Serra Valle. The thing is that it normally should take 3h to go there. How come after 4h we were still on the way?? We took the wrong way!!!!

Finaly, at about 4pm we arrived, starving as none of us have had lunch and with the firm intention to find something to buy just to make the trip worth it! We got a piece of pizza and a coke in an italian fast food and started to goof around the branded shops: Versace, Prada, Guess and so on. All there with incredible prices! Well, of course it was way less expensive than the normal price but I still can't understand people who spend 150€ just for a pair of jeans!

We moved from one side of the area to the other taking the little train and enjoying the tour: picture, (wasted) movies, and laughters.

Anyway, I came back as well with a bag: at Pitarello, my beloved Italian shoe shop, I found a pair of boots at 74€, all in black leather. Just beautiful!

And it was already time to go back. This time driving on the coastal highway and in fact, in 3h we were home.

Next shopping adventure in Italy: probably during spring 2009!