Harry & Kath's big adventure: La Colle sur Loup

Here we are in the south of France - Cote d'Azur to be precise, the millionaire's playground. Haven't seen any millionaires yet, only their toys!

La Colle sur Loup is a lovely little village approx 20 km west of Nice with some delightful properties. Of course Harry can often be found looking in the estate agent's window for that dream villa. There are lots of them around, unfortunately they have too many 000s attached to the price. As in all French villages there is a rather good boulangerie / patisserie where we buy our bread and the occasional cakes (they are too hard to resist and very yummy).

Our route to the village takes us past a workshop where 2 sculptors, working in stone, have been working diligently all week on 2 sculptures - amazing to watch and we always get a warm greeting.

Being so close to Nice a visit was inevitable. so inevitable in fact we went twice. With a bus fare of 1 Euro each and buses every 20 minutes it seemed silly not to. On our first visit we went down to the marina to marvel at the boats. All shapes and sizes, some very, very big - some tiny in comparison.

From there we climbed up to the Parc du Chateau, an ascent of 92 metres (by steps) - we could have got the lift but hey where's the fun in that! The Parc has several terraces from where you get a wonderful panaramic view of Nice including the Promenade d'Anglais and the Bay of Angels.

We explored the old town (Vieux Nice) with all it's narrow alleyways and interesting shops. Then stopped for lunch in a little square next to the fountain of Saint Claire and enjoyed traditional French cuisine washed down with a bottle of the local wine.

On our second visit to Nice we ventured along the Promenade d'Anglais and visited the more modern parts of Nice including the fountains and parks.

This carousal, built in 1900, is one of the finest we have ever seen and it was good to see the children enjoying the rides.

Quite near to the camp site is a National Park where we spent an enjoyable afternoon walking through the gorge. There were lots of climbing routes on the rocks with a couple of climbers trying to scramble up a 6c route. I don't suppose our presence helped any, they didn't come off though! There were lots of deep pools in the river to take a dip. All in all it was a very nice area.

On Sunday, in the village of La Colle sur Loup, there was an event showing traditional crafts of a bygone era so, camera in hand, off we went. Everything from lace making, jam making, a blacksmith shoeing a horse, cheeses and smoked meats galore, soaps, cakes - you name it, it was there. Someone had even set up a still and it was bubbling away merrily! A lot of the locals had dressed up for the occasion and there was a great atmosphere. We took lots more photos - here are just a few.