Holiday time once again, it's a good job they were all booked and paid for before Mum chucked her job in.
Something a bit different this time, Bournemouth Airport which was a new one for us.
Yeah, there were some year 4's we knew having breakfast in the airport.
Fortunatley they were on a different flight to us though.
We were heading for Toulon, on the Cote D'Azur and we were flying on this rather splendid purple plane:
Note the lack of jet engines!
Yeah, propellers. We were pretty interested in them and as the plane only had two seats on each side of the aisle, getting a window seat was easy. We watched them start up and quickly become a blur.
It was only a two hour flight, so barely even time to make a small dent in the Ipad charge.
As we started our descent to land, the sea looked beautifully inviting, I really liked the look of France.
If we thought Bournemouth airport was small, Toulon was even smaller. Apart from a sprinkling of posh looking private jets ours was the only plane there.
And with only one baggage carousel we soon had our things and made our way to the car hire depot. We'd booked a DS3, but I don't think we've ever got the actual make and model we'd asked for before.
I really wanted the DS3, Mum and I think they are pretty cool. This time though, we got exactly what we booked, I was well pleased:
And once Dad managed to get all our stuff in the boot okay, so was he.
We hit the road and made our way an hour or so up the toll road (8 euros) to our campsite, just outside of a town called Frejus.
We stumbled accross the place, despite it not quite being where Dad had been lead to believe that it was.
We got checked in and best of all it was only about 3pm.
So with the sun out and the pool open what else was there to do but get stuck in!
The pool was really cool, even if you did have to wear proper swimming trunks and not board shorts. The slides were epic and even faster in our enforced attire.
Yeah, the pool was indeed brilliant.
Then it was a bit of an explore to see what else was on offer.
The park was rather excellent too.
Especially the un-policed bouncy castle!
We paid a visit to the on site shop to buy an arm load of pizza's for supper, so a pretty good end to the day.
Made even better when we found out that these bad boys were doing laps of the site to give you a lift from to wherever you wanted to go on site:
Monday
Mum's eagle eyes had seen that there was horse riding on site in the morning.
So we decided to forego breakfast and delay our supermarket trip until after we'd had a ride.
I was well up for it:
But I was a little uneasy with the very hilly nature of the route.
I loved it of course, the hills made it even better:
Once we'd finished we headed to the massive Carrefour hypermarket just down the road.
It was indeed, huge.
We tried to get it done and out of the way as quickly as possible, of course we paid due care and attention when selecting our ice cream, crisps and biscuits.
Once we were back and had finished our lunch we got ready to go to the pool again.
Getting a ride on the very back seats of the golf buggy, the back seats were the best as they faced backwards!
I was a little disappointed that there weren't many English kids to befriend, it was very much French and German.
We chilled out for a bit colouring in one of those felt pictures, one of kittens for me.
And some Dalmations for me, which Ned chose, thanks Ned!
We went to Frejus Marina for tea, Dad had found a restaurant on Trip Advisor that he wanted to try.
Sadly, it was shut on Mondays. We ended up in McDonalds instead, so that was a bit of a comedown for him but a right result for us.
We went back and watched what was to become our new favourite programme 24 Hours in the Past on the Ipad.
They sent some celebrities back in time to live and work as Victorians. It looked a very grim time to live to us.
We rounded the day off playing the Donkey card game (dad lost) and a game of sevens (Dad won).
Tuesday
We had a bit of a lay in.
When we did surface it looked a little bit gloomy, so we decided to take a drive to the Gorge Du Verdon, apparently Europe's answer to the grand canyon.
It was a very twisty turny drive up to the lake and I felt sufficiently sick to get a seat up front, relegating Mum to the back.
It was worth it though, the place was pretty stunning:
The sun shone and the water was an amazing shade of blue.
We found a nice spot by the shore and devoured our picnic in the sunshine.
We made a visit to some really rather clever eco toilets which proved to be quite intriguing.
Before we kitted up and hired ourselves a pedalo to venture into the canyon itself:
It was lovely sitting on the front, dangling our feet in the water.
I was desperate for a swim, but mum and dad managed to convince me stay dry a bit longer as we had a two hour trip:
The gorge itself was pretty amazing, with soaring rock formations, trees clinging to the sheer sides and waterfalls:
It started off sunny:
But as we rounded a corner towards the end of the permitted range for hire craft it took a decidedly gloomy turn and even started to rain a bit.
We made a u-turn around the bouy markers and hit the pedals hard to outrun the rain.
With Dad and Ned pedalling hard we managed that pretty easily and even blew away an electric motor boat and left them bobbing in our wake.
When we got nearer to the lake the lure of the water got too strong and I had to have a plunge. But for some reason I was pretty unsure of it all now. Dad did his best by getting in and trying to coax me in.
But we left him behind and pedalled the boat back to shore without him, leaving him to swim for it:
We did look out for him really:
Followed by a little spot of drawing.
Then we went down to the sports courts afterwards and had a game of basketball, Dad thought he was a right pro because he could slam dunk the ball until Mum pointed out that the basket was a lot lower than on the telly.
We moved onto volleyball, and in between the seemingly endless mis-hits and bungled efforts there were very occasional flashes of near competence.
It was a right laugh either way.
We had a barbecue for tea and enjoyed some tunes from the really rather decent Ipod dock in the caravan.
Before winding down proceedings with another episode of 24 Hours in the Past.
One of our favourite pastimes on these holidays is lizard spotting.
We were spoiled for choice on this one, they were quite brazen, sunning themselves on our deck.
Who could blame them, the view was lovely:
We did some work on my lines for the end of year play, how cultured we must have appeared, rehearsing Shakespeare on the deck.
We took another trip out, along the coast road to Agay Plage.
It's not like home, you can park, for free, right on the road next to the beach.
So we did.
Snorkelling, a picnic (including a packet of vile peanut flavour crisps, purchased in error) and a game of ball with Dad on the scorching sand, which was so hot under foot we had to scrape the top layer of sand off. That was great until you dropped the ball and had to leave the relative safety of your cooler spot to retrieve the ball.
It wasn't much safer for Dad out at sea playing ball with me, I wellied the ball at him when he wasn't looking and it hit him like a bullet, right in the chest. It hit with such force the noise raised concerned looks from everyone on the beach:
We carried on, along the coast road eastwards, the scenery was lovely and the sea looked so lovely.
We stopped at a lay by to get out and have a look round, it turned out to be an old military lookout point from the second world war:
It was a good explore:
An assumption seemingly confirmed when further up the road, when we had pulled off to turn around we witnessed a bloke park up his moped and head off into the undergrowth witha purposeful look about him.
We were in hysterics, speculaing about his intentions.
Once again we were back in time for an afternoon swim:
We rode the slides over and over and over and over again....
There was a kids disco on in the evening but depsite repeated prompts that we ought to get our stuff together and go we slugged about so long that we only made it for the last ten minutes. Which was rather unfortunate as they seemed to have decided to finish it ten minutes early. I wasn't happy at all, but had no one to blame but myself.
We kicked the day off with a bit of cooked breakfast, that I devoured with gusto.
And then the big one for me, a day trip to Monaco. As soon as we arrived we saw two McLaren P1's roaring up the road.
We drove there and found a relly cool underground multi storey to park in.
The first two floors had residents cars parked in them which included a Ferrari F40 and an F50. Neither of which looked like they'd been out for a while either.
We stumbled upon the Royal Palace just as a crowd seemed to be gathering. Dad reckoned that he had read somewhere that the changing of the gaurd was scheduled for 11:55, about ten minutes time.
So we took ringside seats and waited while the square slowly filled right up.
A chime on the the clock set things off and then a marching band fired up:
Their uniforms were very, very white!
It was actually pretty cool.
We carried on in the direction of the aquarium and enjoyed the back streets, finding a lovely shady bench under a tree for lunch.
The bench seemed to be sprung somehow though and it was very wobbly, like having your picnic on a small boat in a rough sea!
Proper funny it was.
We found the aquarium in a lovely grand old building and headed in:
The first tank looked epic from the uper level.
And it looked even better from down the stairs, it was massive and full of sharks and even a super cool looking turtle:
I liked the kissy fish:
And the glow in the dark jellyfish were mesmerising:
Along with the highest concentration of crowd pleasing Nemo fish we had ever seen:
There were so many fish to see, I loved it.
There was a surprise at the end as well, a shallow tank with sharks in it that you could stroke:
Well, you could if they dedcided to come close enough anyway.
And you had to be paying attention as they seemd to notice if you were looking away and made sure they came right to the surface for a swift flick of the tail to send a large splash out of the tank and over anyone stood in the vicinity.
As part of the deal for the aquarium tickets, we also had a ticket for the open top sightseeing bus.
We had to go the first stop or two inside downstairs, but we soon made it up on to the top deck before we hit the good bit of the route, the Grand Prix track famous bits, the starting grid, the first corner and up the (very steep) hill, the tunnel, the Lowes hairpin. It was like being in a computer game, albeit at a much reduced bus driving speed. As the race was only the previous weekend most of the grandstands still hadn't been taken down and the painted kerbs and armco was all still clearlyu visible.
We got off at the Casino Square and took a pitstop in the park for a drink and some skittles:
I was quite taken with the place and got busy with the camera:
Then it was on to the Casino itself, to see what was parked outside:
It wasn't bad, there were Rolls Royce's, Bentley's, Maserati's, a Tesla, a load of Porsche's and a Ferrari:
But I don't think it was quite as good as Rodeo Drive last year. Although I did have a lot of respect for whoever had parked their prestigious Kia alongside as well:
I got into it too and captured this lovely shot:
The jewellery shops in the square had some seriously shiny things in the window, none of which had any price tags on them.....
We got back on the bus and waited for a bit:
Which was a result as two Ferarri 459's took off from a side street together looking like they were going for a lap of track and then a Lambo (with english plates) passed by:
So that was a few more to tick off my list.
We completed the rest of our circuit and ended up back at the palace, the views out over the marina were cool, there were some seriously big boats down there:
But the defences left a lot be desired, I don't reckon these canon balls would be much use:
We were even allowed a euro for the telescope, which is unheard of:
We took a short while to evaluate the tut on offer in the way of souvenirs.
And both went for some rather tasteful keyrings.
We made our way back to the car park and did a little window shopping on the way:
Even the door handles are cool in Monaco:
We got back to a square near where we'd started and Mum happened to spot a Spar shop, always an eye for value we picked up a four pack of Oreo ice creams and a drink each for under 10 euro's.
And even better, the Spar had it's own tables outside so we sat there watching the world go by.
We saw plenty more fast cars go by (including a Porsche 918 spyder) and watched a rather energetic football match between a load of local kids take place.
But the best thing, in all of Monaco was what must have been the cutest dog I have ever seen. The shape and colouring of a husky, but in tiny, miniature form. I could have melted with the cuteness on the spot. I simply had to go and give him a stroke. So, in a move that was quite bold for me I walked up and asked the young girl who was with him if I could give him some fuss. She said yes, my day was made!
We finally tracked down the car park, there were concerns about just how much it might cost us when we put the ticket in the machine. I think there was widespread relief when it was only 15 euros.
We were back on the road, our little DS3 amongst the fancy cars of Monte Carlo.
We were next to a Lamborghine Reventon at the first toll booth on the motorway. It looked amazing and sounded epic as it blasted away from the barrier once it had risen up (although it looked low enough to go straight underneath anyway). We saw it again at the next toll booth, stricken at the barrier, both doors up in the air, both passengers stood around looking a bit sheepish and one of the toll operatives wandering about lookng a bit lost.
Maybe they didn't have enough money for the toll?
Our little diesel roared away, leaving them in a cloud of our dust!
Sadly we were too late back for the swimming pool, Dad blamed the keyring shopping of course.
So we settled for another episode of 24 hours in the past.
And then bed.
Friday
Another lovely lay in.
With a bit of a snuggle up too:
Some quality time with the Ipad:
And a leisurley breakfast on the deck:
The sun was out, it was hot already and there didn't seem to be many people about, only one sensible thing to do....get down the pool:
Plenty of sunbeds on offer too:
Except the hire shops were all shut.
Scratch that then.
We had a walk instead.
Paddling in the warm waters of the med.
From the end of the harbour wall we could see a big wheel round in the next bay, St Raphael.
With that in mind and the prospect of going for a swim we went back to the car and took a drive further round the coast.
The big wheel looked epic, we couldn't wait to get on, especially when we realised the pods themselves would spin round like on the tea cups:
Even Dad loved it.....ha ha:
Next to it was another one of those double decker merry-go-rounds. So thats two we've seen in the last couple of months.
Taking the spinning teacup ride theme and running with it, we both opted for the tea cup rather than the horses or the vehicles on offer:
Ned got it going at an amazing speed and then regretted it as he felt sick pretty much instantly. I didn't and did nothing to try and slow it down:
We staggered off and hit the beach:
It was lovely, after i'd done some swimwear modelling Dad and I did a spot of snorkelling:
We stayed for ages, just chilling out and enjoying the sunshine.
We went back to the camsite, had something to eat and then went to the Wii just Dance evening that was on.
At least we got there on time and didn't miss it!
It was great fun and we got stuck in:
After that hot work what we really needed was an ice cream. So it was back down to the marina in Frejus to visit one of the ice cream parlours we'd spotted:
There were over 40 flavours to choose from....quite a task for someone as indecisive as myself.
Saturday
We went into Frejus town itself in the morning.
We'd seen an old Roman Amphitheatre on our drives through and thought we'd check it out.
It was a bit rubbish really, but then we had already been to the Collosseum I suppose.
This one had been repaired in a modern way and still hosts events though so that was pretty cool.
We carried on into town, it was market day and there were loads of cool things to look at:
There were some cool old narrow streets:
Postcard style window boxes:
And then this small square with brightly painted bollards all around it:
We loved it and took thousands and thousands of pictures of them all which we'll spare you of here.
We headed back and stayed at the pool until closing time, well it was our last day and we had to make the most of it didn't we?
I also finally got the hang of the twist slide, so made the most of my new found speed.
We got friendly with a couple of German lads and raced them up and down the slides.
It was really funny, we ended up waiting for him to come down the slide so we could race him back up the steps with our new found German friends. We were all way faster than him and got to the top first.
But while we were lining up to go down the slide he just ran under our legs and got straight to the front.
It was quality entertainment.
Once the pool closed it was back to the caravan for our one last episode of 24 hours in the past.
Accompanied by a delicious banquet of all the food we had left (pizza, potato smiley faces, hot dogs and salad, so pretty good really).
But there was no pudding left!!!
Sacre Bleu!
So it was a quick mercy dash down to Carrefour for an ice cream and some baugettes for tomorrows picnic.
Sunday
So sadly it was time to go home.
We had to clear up and pack up.
Well, Mum and Dad did, we just hung about really, until we got sent down the park to get out of the way.
Result.
We drove back to the airport in good time and when we dropped the car off there was another one, exactly the same in the next parking space.
Like it's very own twin!
We left the beautiful, blazing warmth of the French sunshine and came back down thorugh the clouds to be greeted by a grey, soggy and windy Bournemouth. It looked grim. I seriously questionned Dad as to the possibility of us just going straight back to France.
But it wasn't really viable apparently so we made our way home.
We watched the final of Ninja Warrior UK.
Bit disappointing, no one completed the course.
And then had to get on with the homework we didn't want to do before holiday.....
Monday
Back to school then, panicking that I hadn't worked on my script for the play enough.
I was all hyped up on pre birthday excitement.
We had our last Quad Kids trainign seesion after school, the weather was horrible but I gave it my all and massivley improved my PB on the middle distance run. I hope it's enough to get me into the team thats announced tomorrow.
I got an early birthday present when Andy came round to take Mum to the quiz, it was epic, thanks Andy!
