The boat

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So I was a little nervous about getting the boat from Hull to Zeebrugge because the idea of a 31,598 ton metal mass floating on the North Sea perplexes and also petrifies me. The boat trip was actually pretty cool if not totally dead and both the departure and arrival landscape was totally barren leaving me with the opinion that I never ever want to live anywhere near a port. (Ps, one of the first things I did on board was to locate the life jackets, as you can see I was very happy when I'd found them!!!).

Moving to Brussels

I'd totally settled into the idea that I would be back in the UK for the foreseeable future but things never quite turn out how they expect do they! So tonight I'm moving to Belgium for a bit ... on a boat! Promise myself less 1 photo posts in the future but the last few weeks have been kinda manic. Ohh and I've also got a few more (self indulgent?) articles over on Travelettes. Au revoir or tot ziens for now...

OkAy

A continued Vespa series

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I love love love scooters yet the sensible middle aged woman in my head screams "DEATH TRAP DEATH TRAP YOU'RE RIDING A DEATH TRAP" whenever I seem to have got myself roped onto the back of one (well ... not literally roped, that would be kidnap) anyhow if sed middle aged woman isn't going to met me have one I might as well take photos of them, more specifically their wing mirrors!

Lunch in Avignon dinner in Nimes

A table mes enfants

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Nothing better than catching up over dinner on a Saturday afternoon with the extended yet sometimes slightly disfunctional Aixoise family. Can you pass the water please.

Dead bodies in the Med

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This is the second set of photos from the disposable underwater camera. My mom said that it looks like we took photos of corpses we came across in the sea. We didn't! I get scared when I watch CSI!

Underwater camera experiment

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I've been dying to use an underwater camera for years and I finally got the chance to use a cheap disposable one when I was in Gozo with the family last month. I was so excited about going to pick these photos up from the chemist and I'm really pleased how they came out even if we are decapitated or limbless in a few of the photos; I never thought it would be that hard trying to take photos underwater!!!

French rock

No matter how many times I see it it always makes me smile (yes okay I'm the sort of gal that smiles when she seen an inanimate lump of rock). There is nothing better than a Monday afternoon stroll by Mont Sainte Victoire. I've climbed it, walked round it, slept on top of it, taken hundreds of photos of it and, most importantly, picnicked beside it (here, here, here and here to name but a few), Cezanne you were onto something mate!

La Torse

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I love the graffiti walls in La Torse in Aix. They always seem so vibrant and change on a weekly basis so you never know what amazing piece of art your going to come across on your afternoon stroll.

Return to Aix

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Heading back to Aix en Provence to see my kids, the school and my Frenchies for a big military ceremony. The last time I left this place it was wet and slobbery, I have a feeling the return might be the same.

Washing lines

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So if you hop on a train from Arles 100 days later you'll be in Venice (year these cities are nowhere near each other yet my roll of film seems to imply they are just next door) where you can spy on peoples drying smalls suspended from their balconies. Why does clean washing in Italy seem infinitely more attractive and photogenic than clean washing in England? Hummm ...

Film frenzy

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So I've been on a film roll (roll ... ha ... get it) at the moment but I hate scanning it because the photo seems to loose something ... but whatever I have to fill me days with something. This is Arles! Not that the four photos show much or Arles (which is also one of my favourite cities) but hey, they were at least taken in Arles!

Italian boys

Every time I come across this photo on my hard drive I have a little giggle. Well it's natural that Italian men on speedboats who wear Speedo's make me laugh, especially when the Speedo's are turquoise. Also, you can't see it in the photo but the silver fox on the right was wearing hot pink Speedo's. Venice was boiling, it was sometime back in May or June and it was one of those moments where Carol and I just cried with laughter watching them cruise on by in their little brightly coloured pants with not a single care.

Sand in my shoes

Final few random photos from the holiday. This place is amazingly stuck in the 80's and its brilliant because there is no risk of spending a single penny because there is quite literally nothing to buy. After the boat trip I felt land sick for days, I'm not good with boats and the general idea of a continual rocking motion freaks me out but it makes for mean snorkeling. I also had a disposable underwater camera that we bought specially for the trip and its currently being developped. I've never used one before so I'm so excited to see if it works!