Monte Carlo day 2

Today was quarter finals day at the Tennis and I was looking forward to see Rafa against Ljubic.We got to the ground early as I wanted to see Rafa on the practice courts.Once again it was a beautiful hot day on the French Riviera, perfect for Tennis.I had never been to the Monte Carlo Country Club before and was taken away by how beautiful it is.You have a great view no matter where you are sat and from some parts of the ground you can see the sea, very beautiful, as a player it must be a joy to play here.

We were kept up to date via text messages from friends as to what court rafa was practising on, we did get caught up in traffic which delayed our arrival but we quickly found where rafa was and joined the many others who were there to see Rafa.

Rafa is ever the perfectionist even on a practice court and it really is great to see him up close practising all those shots he effortlessly does in a game, you forget the many hours work he puts in.I took a couple of pics but was hampered by the stupid netting and a not so good camera :-( in fact as soon as I got home I treated myself to a new camera so hopefully on my next trip I can take better pics.

Once the Practice was over it was a quick look round before we took to our seats, word had got around that Fed had lost the first set and was a break down in the second so we were keen to see him knocked out, yeah I know pretty mean lol.

Pretty soon it was Rafa time and once again he had a pretty straight forward comfortable match winning in straight sets and pretty soon our Tennis for the day was over and Rafa was into the Semi finals tomorrow against Andy Murray.

We had planned to have our tea at a little hillside village in Roquebrune Cap Martin which was only a bus ride away but we hadn't banked upon the buses being so full and they kept whizzing by us, so we did the logical thing and went into our little bar we had started to frequent before and after the matches across the road for much need vino refreshment.

We have made a little friend in this bar, he is so cute and on the first day we walked in there was no one behind the bar but this little dog, at one stage i did wonder if it was the bar maid, but we later found out he sits there every day accepting all the compliments and his picture being took.

Several vinos later we decided it was too late to go to the village so we went to our appartment and time for a quick change as we were visiting a Vegan restraunt in Menton I had been dying to try out, now the idea of being in a restraunt where I could have anything I wanted on the menu seemed to good to be true, will do a separate blog post on this as I don't want to bore the no vegans who may be still here reading this.

Monte Carlo day 1 cont

Catching up again,back to day 1 in Monte Carlo.
After the Tennis I met up with my other half Ste and we set off to see some of the sights in Monte Carlo, on first impressions everything is veryclean and i love the muted colour tones of some of the buildings.

The weather by this time had really brightened up and gone quite warm, so we headed to the Harbour to have a look at the boats, some really beautiful boats were in and if my lottery numbers ever come up mine will be joining them.

After a beautiful walk by the harbour we were in urgent need of vino refreshments so we stopped at a bar which had beautiful views of the sea, we could have sat there all day but we wanted to get to the old part of Monte Carlo.Along the way we stopped for a glimpse of the world famous Monte Carlo Casino no visit is complete without a peek.Outside the casino I snapped a pic of a huge tennis racquet which I loved.

By this time I was flagging so it was a few more pics before we headed back to our appartment, you wouldn't think 10 minutes after we took these pics the heavens opened and we got drenched, but still nothing could spoil our first day in Monte Carlo, not even the rain.

Monte Carlo day 1

First full day here and already plans have changed, we had originally planned a day trip to Cannes as we didn't have Tennis tickets for today but last night I had an unexpected a suprise a friend rung me and told me they had a spare ticket,now had a dilemma I had promised my other half we'd go to Cannes but I also wanted to see Rafa! Luckily my other half knew how much I wanted to go and told me to go for it and he'd meet me after the Tennis hey couldn't believe it an extra Rafa day.

I just have to mention again how beautiful the settings of our appartment are, I love gardens and the Riviera Palace didn't disapoint here are a few pics of the gardens.

My first experience on seeing Rafa on clay didn't disapoint it was everything I imagined and more.The Monte Carlo Country Club is quite a spectacular sight and every bit as beautiful as it always looks on TV.Rafa had a straight win over Richard Gasquet and pretty soon I had to leave my friends and meet up with Ste to get some more sight seeing in.

Monte Carlo

Just lost a really long blog post so here goes again.Finally getting a chance to blog a bit about my recent trip to Monte Carlo.

This trip was originally planned last year but the volcano that erupted put paid to that.At last we were going to see Rafa Nadal play at the Monte Carlo Masters excited just doesn't come into it.




First impressions of Monte Carlo blew me away it is a very impressive coast line I just couldn't wait to start exploring the place, we didn't get into Nice airport until late afternoon so we only passed through Monte Carlo on our way to our apartment in Menton which is a few miles out of MC.




We booked an apartment for five days as I have found now it can be difficult sometimes travelling as a vegan and staying in a hotel which can't be bothered to cater for you, not that I was wanting special treatment but the offer of a non dairy milk would be nice so I could at least have a tea or a coffee but that's difficult for hotels so I find it easier to go in an apartment.Will do a separate blog post about my experiences of a vegan travelling abroad.

First impressions of the appartment was very good set in it's own private gardens everything you could ask for except the free wifi they had advertised! Found this annoying as I had planned to blog daily whilst in Monte Carlo,felt totally lost without Internet access. The view from our appartment wasn't to shabby either.




So basically day one was just arriving dashing to the supermarket to stock up on provisions and wine :-) will tell you all about my first day tomorrow at the Tennis, just need to sort through my holiday pics.

Yes you can grieve for your pet

Those of you who read my previous post know I lost my 16 year old cat last week, this has been a hard week but made harder by insensitive people.I know I'm not the only one who has lost a beloved pet and those of you have know where I'm coming from.

Why do people seem shocked when you grieve for your pet? Did they not live in the same house as you, did you not feed them? Did you not tend to their needs? Did you love them and they in return love you? Well then they are part of your family and you will grieve and hurt.

Grief needs time to accept I have missed my boy Biff so much this week my heart feels like it's breaking.He was always there to greet us when we came home, ok maybe not us but our shopping in search of treats for him lol

I miss his companionship in the evening, when he would always sit with us and watch TV,I miss him taking over the bed at night, I miss him following me around the garden, I miss him full stop.

I get all this I have to work through it, which I will I have done it before and no doubt will have to do it again, but what has hurt me more is insensitive comments from co workers and people I considered friends.

Comments have ranged from "Its only a cat can't you get another?" to "Think of all the money you will save now you have no vet bills" Even my best friend at work hurt me with her comment the day after I had to put Biff to sleep she greeted me at work with "Have you got over things now?" and "Its not as bad to lose a cat as it is to lose a dog,as dogs are companions" dumb comments like that hurt and more so when they come from friends.

It's people I don't know in real life which has been the most supportive,Twitter friends and people in online forums have been wonderful and kind and made me feel better strange really when your real life friends can be insensitive and virtual strangers can be a comfort.

I bought some wildflower seeds and plan to plant a wildflower garden over where we buried Biff.He loved his garden and I find gardening soothing for the soul, I'm hoping this will be therapeutic and a nice memorial to Biff.




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