Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Thursday 5th of January
09.05 We have woken up after a good night's sleep at Celenya Hôtel (https://hotel-celenya-toulon.com) in Toulon. It will be Sweden against the United States in the bronze match in the Junior World Championships in ice hockey. Canada made it to the final against the Czech Republic. We ourselves are going on to Cannes today.
09.27 Yesterday we had grand plans to have breakfast outdoors on our balcony. Now we don't feel as enthusiastic about that form of breakfast.
10.08 The plans for a balcony breakfast were put on hold. It's not the right temperatures out there for that form of meal. Just like in Spain last year, we had forgot about the fact that it is actually winter. Soon we will leave another nice hotel behind us.
10.45 Did we really do the right thing yesterday by prepaying the baggage fee for the express train we are going to take. Is there any kind of check-in waiting at the train station?
11.35 Another city, another station and again a wait for the necessary track information. What about the luggage? We have not seen any kind of baggage check-in. However, there are staff here from the company Ouigo and help the passengers in various ways. Ouigo is a fast train with extra low prices from the French train company SNCF.
12.03 There seems to be a rail problem somewhere around Cannes. In any case, we passed the control without any problems with the backpacks on our backs. Now we are at the track or is it platform C waiting for our train.
12.17 The train from Ouigo, really nice, rolled in and we hurried to carriage 15. Now we are in the rather nice seats 529 and 530 on the Ouigo train. As I said, Ouigo is a French low-cost service offering of both regular trains and high-speed trains. The literal translation of Ouigo from French to English is "yes go". The name is also a pun on the English "we go.
12.49 Quiet and quick, I don't know how quickly, however, we glide through the Provencal landscape. We pass rural areas and smaller towns. The sun shines from above.
15.57 After making use of the room's excellent coffee equipment, we will now switch indoors to outdoors. Now we are going out of the room to see if we can find our way out of the hotel first. After that, Cannes must be seen before dark.
19.37 It was actually really delicious. I have previously been skeptical of French beer but have changed my mind on this trip. The pizzas were served as a single long pizza with respective toppings on each half of it. On the way home we shopped at Carrefour Market. Now it will be a quiet evening in the room.
Friday 6th of January
Christer outside the station in Toulon.
We are on board the train from Ouigo.
Passengers leave the train in Cannes.
Gare de Cannes.
Boulevard Carnot, Cannes.
We have a really well equipped room.
Rue Félix Faure, Cannes.
Cannes lettering behind Église Notre-Dame d'Espérance.
Le Murs Peints - Cinéma Cannes.
Casino Barriere Le Croisette.
The beach and the sea.
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes and a Christmas tree.
Christer on Le Croisette.
A beautiful sunset in Cannes.
Peter, the Mediterranean and some sand.
La bottega del Caffè will serve tonight's dinner.
The dinner beer.
Christer sits on his side of the pizza.
Monument to the politician and author Lord Brougham who died in Cannes in 1868.
Maybe balcony wine will become a new tradition?
00.11 It was an interesting wine taste, slim body and fullness. It may not be suitable for food, but it is excellent as a balcony wine. Now we are going back into the room heat and prepare for the night's sleep.
08.48 The last long night's sleep on this trip is now complete. Today, the first steps are being taken towards home. First we will go to the last hotel which is near the airport in Nice. 10.02 After a last reasonable breakfast, Christer has checked us in for tomorrow's flight with KLM. We will first fly from Nice to Amsterdam. Then we fly on to the home country. 10.58 We checked out of the hotel and walked to the train station, Gare de Cannes. We arrived at the bus stop and stood in front of bus 200. The doors were closed. For some reason we were not allowed on board. The bus left without us. 11.14 A search on the internet taught us that the bus driver on bus 200 may charge a fee for our luggage. The total price for the long bus journey would then be similar to the train price. Instead, we bought train tickets to Nice Saint-Augustin, a station near the airport and the upcoming hotel. 11.38 So there was a platform and soon another train journey. We are waiting for the train to Italy. However, we´ll get off already at Nice Saint-Augustin. 11.47 There will be a double-decker train today. Now we travel on towards Nice.
Waiting outside Gare de Cannes.
Soon the train will arrive.
Nice Arenas is the name of this newly built area.
A simple coffee break at L'entre 2 Snack.
Hôtel Campanile Nice Aéroport will be the last hotel of this trip.
We are waiting for the train that will take us to Monaco.
11.58 We are now at the station in Antibes. It was here that, just like Sven-Bertil Taube in the film One way to Antibes, we planned to buy a one-way bus ticket. Now it was instead a train and a day without a visit here.
12.31 The train left us at the newly built Saint-Augustin station on the western outskirts of Nice. Now we have to come up with something before we check in. 13.06 We need to get some form of nutrition before we check into the hotel. At the small restaurant L'entre 2 Snack there were all kinds of sandwiches except some with ham. Instead, we each took a giant raspberry cake. Hmm 2 Snack is in French deux snack, dead talk. 13.34 Now we have paid and moved into the last room on this French trip. We are staying again at a hotel in the Campanile chain. This time it is the Hôtel Restaurant Campanile Nice Aéroport. Here, just like in Montpellier, they have drawn money before, claim to have paid back and taken money again. In any case, we received an educational explanation that the routines are like that and that everything will be right eventually. The room number is 434. 14.21 The Italian footballer Gianluca Vialli has died at 58 years young. He was one of a total of ten footballers to have won all three major European club tournaments and the only one in history to win both gold and silver medals in all three cups. In addition, he won bronze in both the European Championships in 1988 and the WC in 1990. We will shortly return to the Saint-Augustin station to continue the day elsewhere. 14.51 We are back at Nice Saint-Augustin. We are ready to connect this trip with one we also did in April 2012. 15.14 We are heading east back to Monaco for a visit of a few hours. On the Easter trip in 2012 we visited both Monaco and Nice before continuing to Corsica by ferry.
The Gare de Monaco Monte-Carlo underground railway station.
The principality police force.
Église de Sainte-Dévote.
A map of the small principality.
Rue Grimaldi, Monaco.
Efficient parking in Monaco.
15.51 It has been a beautiful trip along the steep coast east of Nice. We have passed various small towns along the way. Christer and I are now back at the wonderful and underground Gare de Monaco Monte-Carlo station. Now we just have to find our way out of it. We have disconnected our internet connection as we are now outside the EU and no longer have free surf.
MONACO
16.12 The church Église de Sainte-Dévote was the first thing we saw when we left the station here in Monaco. Now we're going to see more of the world's second smallest country by surface area. With a population of 40,035, Monaco is a prosperous nation and has both the highest life expectancy and the lowest infant mortality rate in the world.
16.25 We have been to the Casino Supermarché supermarket to buy ourselves a snack. We also bought some provisions for the evening and tomorrow morning. 16.55 After shopping at the Casino, we have walked further and are now looking out over the small country. 17.06 We have rested on a bench and consumed our baguettes and drank our juice drinks with a view of the marina. Now we're going to the next stop. I'm afraid that my small backpack is probably making its last trip. The zipper does not hold together as it should and things fall out of it a little from time to time. 17.22 We have taken the last photos and made the last video clip of the trip in a small park area with a fantastic view of the city of Monaco (Monaco-Ville). 17.34 We have found our way to yet another Starbucks Coffee. There are many who got here before us, but I intend to make an attempt to get over my classic double espresso. I am waiting in the queue. Christer is waiting outside. 17.53 I got over what I came here for. Outside of Starbucks, I have enjoyed it and let Christer taste it. After the fourth Starbucks country on the trip, we will now seriously start returning towards Nice again. It was a short visit to Monaco this time. We didn't have time to do much, but it was nice to see the small country again.
Avenue du Port, Monaco.
The marina in Monaco.
Christer visits Monaco for the second time.
A beautiful view of the small country.
Porte Neuve, Monaco.
Peter notes new memories from Monaco.
18.20 We made our way back to Gare de Monaco Monte-Carlo via Entrée piétonne gare ferroviaire Monaco Montecarlo, a long tunnel. Now it is time to say goodbye to Monaco again. There was no overnight sleep here now either. Who knows when and if something like that will happen. It's probably not cheap to spend the night here.
FRANCE
19.10 After an undramatic train journey in the dark, we are now back in our last French home. If all goes well, we'll be on Swedish soil in about a day.
20.28 After drinking some evening coffee in the room, we will now make our way down to the hotel's restaurant. It's pretty much the only restaurant option within reasonable distance here where we stay. 21.32 It was a good but expensive two-course buffet here at Hôtel Campanile. They were better at getting paid than preparing food. Initially, there was a complete lack of pasta to our and an Italian guest´s great frustration. Now we will end the day with an evening beer bought in Monaco. 21.57 Bon nuit, now we're going to sleep for a few hours. There will be a very early wake up before our flight.
Expensive car parked outside the RM Autosport store in Monaco.
Starbucks Coffee at Rue de la Colle.
A shortcut through the mountain to get to the train station in Monaco.
Christer is having dinner at the restaurant in the Hôtel Campanile.
Saturday 7th of January
03.15 So we have another too early morning. It is so early because we want to be in good time for the flight.
03.52 A simple but necessary breakfast is finished here in the room. Now we have to make an attempt to get to terminal 2. Exactly how we will get there remains to be seen. 04.00 When checking out, it turned out that they charged too little in city tax when paying yesterday. A little over a euro was missing. I had some coins in my jacket pocket. The receptionist got to keep the change. He can do something fun with it. 04.12 Now we are at terminal 1 across the road from the hotel. Here we wait for the shuttle bus to terminal 2. We plan to go with the first departure of the day. 04.21 An African couple has tried to speak to us in French. It didn't work very well. In any case, we have tried to tell them that we are waiting for the bus they also want to go with. 04.37 The shuttle bus, 100% electric, is here. Now it's off to terminal 2. Once there, we'll let go and relax. 04.46 It has become time to queue to drop off our luggage. There seems to be a queue for everyone regardless of flight. 05.07 A woman came and picked up all the passengers who were going with Air France or KLM. Now we are in another queue.
Very early morning at Terminal 1, Aéroport Nice Côte d'Azur.
It's nice in Nice.
Early morning passengers wait.
05.41 Everything is now ready to board. The backpacks have had to go on a conveyor belt and we passed the security check without any problems.
05.59 Once again we have now boarded one of KLM's aircraft named Cityhopper. Soon we will take off from Aéroport Nice Côte d'Azur towards the destination Amsterdam Schiphol. 06.52 Today's second breakfast is finished and KLM provided it here on the plane. The flight goes just fine.THE NETHERLANDS
08.16 German is spoken behind me. We are back at Amsterdam Schiphol. We will remain here for around two hours before our journey continues.
08.41 Now we have been gentlemen. An older confused gentleman of Middle Eastern origin showed his boarding pass and wondered where he was going. It said gate B30 on the map and we showed him the way. He was to fly to Kristiansand in Norway. 09.36 While waiting for the flight home, we add some energy to the bodies. There is coffee in the cups at Fair Trade. 10.01 Now it has happened again. We are at yet another gate. In half a day I should be by car on my way home to Bjästa if all goes well. 10.25 It has become time to return to our homeland. Home means a return to snow, ice, cold and work. Some things feel acceptable, others more unpleasant. 11.36 What a journey home it was. KLM gave us sandwiches with eggs, something that neither of us appreciates. The drinks cart passed us by but we still got our drinks in the end. Behind us sits a guy reading out loud in a monotone voice to his girlfriend about childbirth, breastfeeding, nutrition for young children and other things related to this theme. He has been reading for almost an hour. Poor woman. How does she cope?SWEDEN
12.47 Now we have landed at Arlanda Airport and are now in a snow-covered country again. We are currently waiting for the luggage at the luggage belt in Terminal 2. Then we need food in some form.
13.06 No notification of lost luggage must be made. In other words, our bags have returned to their owners. Now we head towards Terminal 5 and Sky City. 13.31 There are some who, just like us, want something to eat. There is little space and few options for a lunch. 13.45 I'm back where I started this journey, O'Leary's. This time Christer is also involved. It will be more expensive than expensive but in any case real food and good seating. 14.18 Now we are at our classic bench here in Sky City. Christer is waiting for news about when his train departs. It is delayed due to some track problem. I don't know anything about my train so far. 14.50 Christer has walked towards the platform down in the underground. Tentatively, the train he is going to take will arrive at 15.15.
Christer is having lunch at O'Leary's in Arlanda.
Peter takes a last espresso before the train journey home begins.
15.04 After a triple espresso at Espresso House, I am now at Sky City's, for me, new waiting area. There is good furniture and good light here. Now I'm going to do some reading.
15.22 Christer's train has appeared and he is now heading north. Soon it will be my turn. 16.45 This is how the journey home begins in earnest. The last train for this time has started. Christer and I have discovered new pearls and experiences. Now everyday life attracts and tempts. No, now I'm not telling the truth, although sometimes you have to go home so you can leave again.
You can see 69 photos from January 5 in this photoalbum.
You can see 68 photos from January 6 in this photoalbum.
You can see 13 photos from January 7 in this photoalbum.