Flying visit to the Med.

Day trip to Menton: Cocteau Museum by Steve Fagg

Back to work today having just got home yesterday from a week-long visit to Nice. No time to re-adjust, just "bang!" straight back in harness. We try to get to Nice each year to see Lisa's Uncle who lives on the Port. As usual, we flew out by EasyJet from Stansted and stayed at the "guests" apartment of Lisa's Uncles on Boulevard de Cessole. Each day we took the bus down to the centre of town to do our usual routine of shopping in the old town, walking on the promenade and visiting Lisa's Uncle for lunch. I didn't keep a detailed journal this time but the one I posted after the first of our two trips in 2004 gives a flavour of how we spend our time.

I also didn't take a whole lot of photos this time but, again, there are plenty online from 2004. The one day I did use my camera was on a day trip by bus from Nice to Menton, close to the Italian border. The highlight of our quick visit there was the museum of works by Jean Cocteau housed in a 17th century fort on the sea-front where Cocteau at one time worked. Wonderfully arranged and packed full of typically strong paintings, drawings, ceramics and more it's a concentrated feast of fascinating work. Lisa was more active with her camera, as can be seen here and here.

We normally expect to see plenty of the sun when we visit Nice, even in March (a time of year when we've often visited). This year we hardly saw the sun at all and, though it was certainly warmer than the UK, the cloudy skies did not give us the contrast with home we normally enjoy. That didn't undermine our pleasure in making the visit: we feel very at home in the city and are always assured of the good company of Lisa's Uncle. We'll be back!