Happier things

Before yesterday went badly awry in the evening, it was an awesome day! My husband has recently learnt to drive, and yesterday was the first time I'd got in the car with him. (He is, as I always knew he would be, an excellent driver!)

We rented an Auto Bleue - one of Nice's electric cars, for hire hourly/daily - and drove around the coast, heading up the mountain behind Villefranche and Eze. You get some amazing views from up there, and I'd recommend making the trip that tiny bit in-land if you're here on holiday - there are buses that do the same route, if you don't have a car or don't fancy driving on French roads!

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Week 4, finally done, and photos

I did my 2nd iteration of Week 4, and tried varying the start point this time, to see if it made it easier. It didn't - the opposite, in fact, since today's timing left me having to run up a steep hill. It nearly killed me... I'm moving on to Week 5 now, I'm bored of Week 4, I've done it twice. I'll come back to it if Week 5 is too hard.

Today, you get photos. I walked the coastal path back between St Jean and Beaulieu (to the supermarket) and had my phone with me. So the pics aren't exactly award-winning, but I like them, so you get to see them too. Aren't I nice?

The last few exist because of the different textures they show, even without a zoom. The ones with yellow flowers are better if you can see them bigger, the contrast between in focus/out of focus is clearer then.

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Week 2, Day 2 - and some good news

Week 2, Day 2 went well - better than Day 1, anyway. The hills have got smaller... I took some photos this morning at the end of my run, so you can see where I end up, in case you're interested. The statues are prettier than the pics show...

Oh, and the good news? Paul and I are now properly and officially engaged! We're going to get married in the autumn, here in France at the mairie; date yet to be fixed...

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End of week 1!

I have done my first week of running; I get to move on to a new podcast on Friday! And I'm still not dead!

Things I have learnt this week, in no particular order:

• It's pretty much 5km between Villefranche and the bus stop at St Jean Cap Ferrat.
  
• There are a *lot* of hills between here and St Jean.
  
• The buses at St Jean don't run very frequently.
  
• It's not summer yet.
  
• A sweater is a good thing, especially if it has pockets.
  
• Porridge is actually surprisingly edible, if you don't look at it.
  
• Running really is faster than walking. Even at the snail's pace that I do it.
  

Speaking of pockets, what do people who Do Running Properly use to put things like keys, ipod, phone, money, bus pass, that sort of thing, in? Because when summer finally does get here, I'm definitely not going to want to be wearing a sweater...

(First person to suggest a bum bag gets shot. This is not the 80s anymore.)

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More photos of sunshine

Today has been beautiful weather - we ate lunch on the beach today and went for a walk to St Jean-Cap Ferrat, and then I was even productive and wrote more of my story sitting in the last of the afternoon sunshine. There were even people swimming - mad people, undoubtedly, but still. And the most adorable pair of little girls, who were playing ukaleles.

Lots of photos below, because I know you all can't possibly be sick of them yet ;-) I decided I couldn't take a photo of the people, but there's several photos of a dog who also decided swimming was a good idea, and some birds who were singing incredibly noisily, and fish. Who were at least quiet, and have an excuse for swimming.

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