st tropez weekend

some pics on the road back home and of cassis.

st tropez

in a moment of spontaneous living a friend and i got in the car early saturday morning and hit the stretch of road to st tropez for some fun in the sun. a weekend with the rich and famous. in general st tropez is not liked by many for its superficiality. but we discovered the smaller inner beauty of this famous village in the cote d'azur. we chilled around the village. had lunch staring at the walkers by and enjoying the fresh sunny spring weather. we booked into a fabulous hotel and hung around the pool side most of the afternoon. sipping mojitos and enjoying the hospitality of the friendly people. soaking up the atmosphere and loving every moment we hit the beaches. quiet this time of the year we made mental notes for our next return visit. where to go and what to avoid. a perfect weekend of relaxation with not a lot of fly-by-nights cramping our style. we rounded off a perfect day with dinner out. in a small side street in the rural part of the village we found a bistro to feed our needs. we loathed there for the rest of the night absorbing the tranquility of our new found habitat. fun in the sun indeed. sunday morning we took the scenic route back home. stopping in every small village and finally ending up in cassis for lunch. simply exquisite. another weekend of dream living. yet again.

last pocket with sunshine

i dont want to say to much apart from....fun in the sun. as the dream keeps expanding.

another pocket with more sunshine

if you frequent this blog you know that there is not often pics in colour. but sometimes we have to make the exception. thats the fun of being unpredictable and spontaneous i guess.

a pocket full of sunshine

1-private beach

2-scenery close to grasse

3-scenery close to grasse

4-the mansion

5-the mansion from a distance

cote d'azur weekend

we decided to make a long weekend of our trip down the coast seeing that was so much to see and do. destination....cote d’azur. south of france. the other south. not my side anyways. but the side of the rich and famous. cannes. nice. st tropez. antibes. i am talking exclusive beaches. private yacht clubs. celebrities. sunsets and champagne. the good life. lu’s parents live just outside a beautiful village called chateauneuf. it is close to grasse and cannes. on the one side is the foothills of the alps and on the sea/beachfront of cannes is a stones throw away. so you can see snow and sea at the same time. marvellous. the plan for the weekend was... there is no plan. it worked out perfectly. we did what we wanted when we wanted and how we wanted. do to some unforeseen weather conditions some of the ideas had to be postponed till the next visit. but that is no serious problem. we did some coastal drives. exquisite. we dined at some fancy restaurants. we drank some bubbly and pastis. soaking up the sun on a terrace in st tropez. watching the pretentious and plastics walking past. quite a sight for sore eyes and not my cup of tea. the area is over populated and exaggerated. but our little big hide out in the foothills of chateauneuf was the perfect solution. her parents are the most pleasant people you will meet in the south of france with a sense of humour unlike any other frenchman i have encountered. i really enjoyed their hospitality and openness. for myself. i lost my heart on this place. france. it frees my mind. it opens my soul. it makes me aim higher. it makes me set greater goals. it forces me to dream new dreams. i have realised that the world is a small place and at the same time it is massive. how can one see all these things in one lifetime. perhaps a story for another day. but you cant. make a peace with it and focus your dreams one that which matters most.

people come and go

people come and people go. one of lifes tough lessons to learn. but the faster you learn it the less troubles and hurt you will experience in life. i have a friend that once said you should never get to attached to something so that you can not walk away from it when the time comes. well. i dont know if i fully agree with that. but there is a matter of truth in the matter. i have realised again today that in life we share too much of ourselves with people that dont have the common decency to be thankful. people that take us for granted. people that just simply dont understand. they dont understand what it involves and these people will go through life living as parasites. feeding off other people. waiting for the next one. hard words. perhaps yes. but it freaks me out that some people can be so blind. so coming back to the walking away situation. it is a hard stand to take. because if you really believe all of that you will never experience the fulfillment of a friendship or relationship. i guess i just have to choose more careful in the future. because at the end of the day. people will let you down. people will break your trust. they will hurt you. but dont stop. move on. they dont deserve you....

...live as if there is no tomorrow.

dance as if no one is watching.

sing as if no one is listening.

love as if you have never been hurt before.

tasting in bordeaux

joe and nuno and i set off to bordeaux late friday afternoon to go and take part in a tasting in bordeaux. it is according to the organisers the biggest internatonal tasting in france. 36 countries. close to 6000 wines. estimated value of the wines 300 million euros. about 5% of the total global wine market. not bad i thought. it was a grand experience once again and the value of the learning experience i will probably only see later in my life. but to be honest i was a bit disappointed with the whole ordeal. perhaps it is me that had a wrong mindset. and i am terrible in handling disappointment. dont have a clue how to deal with it. so because the competition did not meet up with my preconcieved ideas it was a tough saturday morning. i struggled to express myself in french which was added petrol on the fire. at least i got to taste in my favourite category namely champagnes. and we stayed with a friend in one of the most prestigious chateaus in bordeaux. he is doing an internship there and we stayed there. not bad once again. people will start to think that i am ungrateful. perhaps i am. perhaps i am blinded somedays by my own ambitions. that can happen. perhaps i am just honest about waht i axpect from life...but none-the-less. bordeaux will always be bordeaux and i love the stupid place. even though i stands for a lot of things i dont agree with. there is just something mysterious i find there that stimulates a wondering in me that will always draw me back. it is this mystery that makes life worth living. every aspect of life carries a mystery in some way and i intend to seek them out.

the band's last performance

it was the band's last performane. with the little g.g. on lead vocals and chef on the guitar plus backing vocals. the show must go on.......

maria's fare well

saying goobye to the little greek goddess...maria.

life in picture

i am currently on a journey. a journey of many things. physically. seeing many places. meeting a lot of new faces. but also personally. rediscovering what you are all about. what makes you wake up in the morning. what makes you run at the day. what makes you live like there is no tomorrow. and then making it happen instead of waiting for it to happen.

some of my favourite pics. perhaps a good summary of what i am all about...and those that know me will understand.

1-the bass guitarist

2-sunglasses. always

3-inner child

4-super contentment

5-bubbly bubbly and then some more.....bubbly

it is there

it is there. that is to say if you are living. for some it is a living reality. for others just a forgotten memory of what could have been. i have been think about this for a long time. why is it that we have this thing inside that just wants to play. i am not complaining. i love my inner child side of life. but some people can not seem to handle theirs. a real pity. then the inner child grows up and looses its sense of adventure. i would hate to see that happen to me. so i was planning my summer around the mediterranean for the upcoming summer when all these thoughts just kept on running through my mind. and i remembered that i read a book some years ago. the book was a good read. perhaps commercial. but with some truths never the less. it all linked up with some things that i have been experiencing on my travels. some people say it is a free spirit. perhaps. i like to think that too sometimes. meaning it in a good way though. free to experience. free to receive. free to give. not judgemental. not offensive. but with arms wide open. it is crazy but i have this urge to never stop playing life. perhaps because i am super fortunate. perhaps because i refuse to be negative. perhaps because i love being positive. an optimist. a dreamer. inner child. wild at heart. wanderlust. call it what you want. i just can not help it.