Bulls Eye and Medusas

Looking Towards Nice

So I woke up this morning to a bulls eye looking bite on my  jambe gauche, my left leg. I get bites all of the time, but this one was a real Bulls Eye. I put it out of my mind for a few hours and by late afternoon I started getting concerned. After consulting with some people, I was encouraged to get to a doctor, which I did. 

I managed to get in to see the doctor in Antibes. He prescribed penicillin. 23 euro for the doctor visit, 7 euro for the prescription, I don't really know if he was all that up on things, but I just wanted something to prevent Lyme disease....and that's what he gave me.

On the way home, I thought I would take a dive into the sea. It was packed, but I found a parking spot. 

I did notice that people were not in the water. There were a few people standing, looking into the water, pointing. Should I have known, should they have said something? 

I waded in, luckily didn't dive under...it felt so good and then I was stung on the top of the foot by a jelly fish. I have never been stung before but knew right away what it was. 

I got right out and talked to the people standing on the shore. They showed me the jellyfish. They looked like leafs floating in the water. They were not like jellyfish I have seen in California which are really big and clear. These were small and reddish, like the size of a medium size leaf. 

The French couple told me that in French they are called "medusa".  A little boy asked me if it hurt..

ca fait mal? oui!

Pelagia noctiluca

looks like it's very bad in Cannes. Poor  ecnoyeB...

Medusa

Blondie and Brunie

Two sweet puppies. They look a little worse for wear, but they are wet. These 2 have a good life...big yard, a pool, a hot tub, an old man that loves them, each other...and they have me. I buy little rawhide bones and pass them through the fence to them about once a week. Brunie takes the bone and runs...Blondie is more interested in me. She is very sweet. Her eyes are like yellow marbles. 

They are probably about 6 months old. Spring Pups!

Up the Driveway from my house to the left  live...

Brunie and Blondie

So cute!

Blondie

About to speak

These are the looks I get when a certain dog is about to start loudly speaking.

Wraaaaahhhhhhhhhh

As usual, freaked out when not in the wild. 

Swimming Today

I found a great place today to take the dogs. I loaded them in the car and headed up the windy road to Tourettes Sur Loup. The road goes all along the River Loup and is a white knuckle drive. There are pull offs here and there, so today, I found a pull off and we clambered down the mossy slope, down to the river. As usual, The Loup is stunningly beautiful. The water was running very fast due to the big rain on Monday. We walked down aways and found a nice pool to swim in. 

These pics are with my damaged camera as I fear getting the good camera wet.

The water in the river was turquoise. I get in up to my waist or so. 

Kate's ready to get in the water. 

I keep Emile on a long lead, He can swim out far, but I have control of him. 

Kate's a great swimmer.

Swimming Upstream

On the other bank.

Happy Dogs

Want so much to do this...

This Sunday...they are only selling single tickets at this time. I would have to stay overnight in MC. There is a Picasso show I would like to see and I would like to spend some time in MC. Just not sure how I feel about going to a dinner concert on my own.
How fabulous would it be to be in a supper club in Monte Carlo to see the extremely elegant B.F.

Any thoughts...email me!

Sad and Scary

How do you find a bird when it goes missing?

Even though it's interesting, I am still not feeling comfortable about Guignol...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guignol
a distraction to dentistry in the 18th century.
Where Punch and Judy came from.

Today and where I've been.

It is terrifically hot here. Plus, I came down with a flu that sidelined me for awhile. I haven't done much to report on. I did had a lovely day on Saturday with S  and A in Tourette's Sur Loup and environs. It's cooler up in the hills....just a little. I took a few pics and will get them on the blog tomorrow.
Today, I bought an air conditioner off an English website of ex pats in the area. I drove to Villenfranche via the road that cuts through nice and up the Moyen Carniche. The middle road...not by the sea and not by the highway. The views were spectacular. I took a few pics.
The couple lived way atop the cliff in Villenfranche in an apartment building called Le Orangerie. They were an Irish couple with a very noble looking dog named  Sybil . Sybil was some type of aristocratic spaniel that belonged in a Rembrandt painting...she was French. The couple, were very nice, but barely there. They seemed to have very little personality.  They did have all kinds of fancy old school framed photos of their wedding in B&W ....you know, those funny English photos that couples take...kind of traditional I suppose.  They had a fantastic view of the bay and down to VillenFranche. Out on their bare terrace were blooming blue agapanthus against the blue sky. They had made an air conditioned den in the bedroom for Sybil and she hung out there.
I returned home and rushed to see if I could get in the community pool. Sadly , it had closed at 1pm on a Sunday...so it taunted me from behind the gate with its aqua beauty. When I got back to my house I unloaded the big AC. I could hear the people on the other side of the fence swimming in their pool. It's making me crazy. Everywhere is so crowded , people are swimming at night. Even the river is packed. It's very frustrating and is not going to end anytime soon.
For sure, I will not live here next summer.
Kate is freaked out by the AC. How do you tell her that its a good thing and not anything scary.
They escaped tonight and ran down to Madame L's  house. Emile had a grand time and even visited the sweet but protective giant dog Leo, at the dead pool house. There was no trouble , which was nice.

Nice, The Sea , haze and heat. 

Pool Hours / cushy lifeguard job. 

Taunting Pool at 17h on Sunday

HOT and more HOT to come.

note it says " feels like 92"!!!!!!We are hunkered down and searching for an AC and hoping the houses electrical can handle it.

Lavender, rain and Queen Anne's Lace

North of Valensole. Rt 8

Pouring Rain

Visiting Locust

Big grasshopper on the dog's water dish. Sizewise...I would say about 3" long. No kidding.

Post Swim

Beautiful Italian Potato

I can't find the name of these potatoes. They are giant, always dirty and treated as being very special. They have a nutty taste. I make mashed potatoes with them. I have never seen these in the US.

Daddy

 Will you hold my little elephant?