More fireworks! (Also: the moon, and the promise of a long-delayed book review)

Yesterday saw another fabulous (and totally unexpected) display of fireworks over the port in Monaco. These fireworks were full of brightly-coloured explosions, and those shimmery golden rain type fireworks, which I adore!

I'm afraid I don't have any photos - not only does my camera not take great firework photos, but it has no battery at the moment. But you can rest assured that they were lovely. I'm glad I live somewhere that has so many random fireworks displays outside my living room window!

Also, the moon. It's been a gorgeous red colour when rising for the last few nights - has it been like that everywhere, or is it something weird about the sea that makes it red? (I'm a big fan - it's stunning, seeing a dark red moon over the sea. Does anyone know anything about moons, and whether this will happen again/for a while?)

And, lastly, I have a huge apology to make. Weeks and weeks ago (months, now, I fear), just before we decided it was time for me to move down here permanently, Chris Alden got in touch with me to ask whether I'd review his book, 101 reasons to live abroad. Of course I said yes (note to any other authors reading this: I love reading, and I love free books, so if you'd like me to review your book, do get in touch!) and then promptly fell off a cliff with insane amounts of day-job work, on top of planning the move down south.

So I've not yet managed to write this review, though I did read the book and enjoyed it - I'm going to re-read it this week/next week, and will review it in proper depth after that. In the meantime, if you'd like to check out Chris' book and let me know what you think in the comments, you can find it on Amazon and you can find Chris' other books here.

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Random fireworks in Monaco - because it's Saturday?

There are lots of things I like about Monaco. One of them is its ability to put on really good firework displays - the one tonight was a little unexpected, but all the better for it!

(If anyone knows what they are actually likely to have been celebrating, do let me know in the comments. I choose to think they are just celebrating Saturday, and this will be a weekly occurrence...)

Some somewhat blurry photos follow - you can just about see the giant ship at the bottom left of the photos, which has been parked there all week, plus a couple of other boats passing, all outlined in lights. All the boats applauded at the end of the fireworks by sounding their horns, which I quite liked in a generally anthropomorphic kind of way.

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Tanks

There were tanks driving up the Promenade des Anglais this morning as we were sitting minding our own business reading the newspaper in the sunshine, with coffee and croissant, as one does.

Anyone have any idea why? They seem to have gathered in Place Massena, with jeeps and Red Cross vans and all sorts, and all covered in American flags.

If no one else can suggest a sensible alternative, I'm going with the little boy who turned round in the tram, his eyes wide, and said "Mummy, are we at war?" The answer is clearly yes, we are at war with 1940s America. Unless today's some anniversary I don't know about, which is entirely possible.

I shall try and get photos for you all on my way back from the library. Assuming the air raids don't start up between now and then, obviously.

We're going to the fireworks tonight - they were postponed from the Fete de l'Assomption on 15 August, because of bad weather and stormy seas. (It was a bit windy, admittedly.)

For those of you wondering, because I certainly was (obviously, I expect you to already know this Fran...) the Fete de l'Assomption apparently celebrates Mary's ascent to Heaven without having to go through that messy dying phase. A gift to her, given the inconvenience of having to bear God's child without really being given any say in the matter. Though I suspect that latter part isn't strictly part of the Catholic teachings on the matter...

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We just saw the most incredible fireworks display - even amongst all the fireworks we've seen while we've been here, this stands out as being incredibly awesome. So good, I didn't want to miss any of it to get my camera, so you'll just have to cope without pictures. Jaw-droppingly fabulous - I dread to think of the money that just went up in smoke. It's good to have rich neighbours. One of the houses up on the hill is clearly celebrating something - something romantic, given the heart-shaped fireworks we had. (Did you know they made heart-shaped fireworks? I didn't. I wonder how they work. Very pretty though!) (Tonight, I have decided to boycott paragraphs. Obviously. Be glad I haven't decided to abandon punctuation entirely, or capital letters, or something.)

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Happy Bastille Day!

It's the 14th July today, so that means it's Bastille Day! Oddly, given the number of years we've lived in France, this is the first time I've ever been here for Bastille Day; it had better live up to expectations!

Last night Villefranche had a parade of lit-up boats who threw flowers at the people waiting in the harbour (night time version of the Combat des Fleurs, if you ask me), followed by fireworks - which were awesome (pics above are from last night) - and dancing in the main square, where all who were taking part looked like they were having fun. I might post more pics later, but they're up on Flickr if you're really interested.

Tonight, Nice has a big firework display, and there's bound to be music and all sorts of things in Place Massena, so I'll see if I can persuade Paul we should go into town. The problem will be getting back, given the appalling standard of night-time public transport round here. We shall see.

(Oh and my jewellery sale is going well - I've sold 10 things since the beginning of the month, which is rather more than normal! Hopefully the rest of the month will be similarly good!)

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Fireworks

Last night, Villefranche held a dinner for its residents, as part of the 150 year celebrations. Unfortunately, we didn't find out about it until last night, so it was too late for us to go. (And I probably wouldn't have been able to eat anything there anyway.) But we did enjoy the fireworks they put on at the end - less so, the music blaring at full volume before and after, but the fireworks were pretty, and right across the water from us.

You get some slightly blurry photographs, while I write about Fete de la Musique, which was last week, and which I don't think I've written about yet. (Sorry, I know you were all hanging on my every word...)

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Carnival!

Last night was the last night of carnival, here in Nice. They continue the charming French tradition of regicide, ending carnival by setting fire to the Carnival King, and then have a massive display of fireworks. Which was stunning.

Photos of the Carnival King and his fiery demise are below - I'm still trying to find a way to get the videos I took of the fireworks off my computer and onto the internet somewhere where I can show them off. They're blurry, some of them, but you can still see the awesomeness! Any ideas, anyone?

Photos, then.

Presumably, the Carnival Queen...

Various photos of the King and his little creepy egg babies:

The Burning of the King:

The fireworks came next, and this is where I would put the videos, for your entertainment and enlightenment. But I can't, since they are apparently too big...

The quiet after the storm - the only time I've ever seen Nice station completely empty...

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Fireworks

Monaco apparently hosts an International Fireworks Championship (learn something new every day) - yesterday was the last entry in the final, and because it was the French entry, it got some press coverage and we discovered it was taking place. It was awesome - must have cost a fortune, half an hour of fireworks set to music, it was just stunning.

I only remembered towards the end that my camera also takes video - the sound quality is rubbish, so if there even is sound, I wouldn't bother trying to listen to it, but hopefully you'll see a tiny part of the spectacle. Next year, if we're still here, I'm going to make sure I go and see all the entries...



Dissertation, well, fail. I got up to 10k on Friday, went to the beach in the evening, didn't feel much like writing when we got back after dinner. Slept all Saturday morning then went to a picnic where much wine was consumed over the course of the rest of the day. Yesterday was a write-off (though the fireworks were very nice...) But, I haven't run out of things to write about, so all is not yet lost! Though time is definitely beginning to run out now... Still, couple of thousand today - if I at least finish Chapter 4 - then unpacking all my stuff tomorrow, then a conclusion on Wednesday; easy!

If anyone feels like proofreading all or part of this, do give me a shout. It's not fascinating, obviously, and I may well run out of time and therefore not be able to send it out for comments, but if you've got spare time this week, let me know...

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