DAY 12 LONDON

I like London very much. Tho I've visited London before, I think I wouldn't get bored if I go there again and again. I planned to have a city sight-seeing today. I wanted to watch an opera tonight so I went to PiccadillyCircus to buy ticket first. I did want to watch The Phantom of the Opera but I watched it in Hong Kong already so I chose "Les Misérables".

I strolled around on the street and I had no idea where to go yet. I walked to Trafalgar Square and just passed byNational Gallery. I didn't plan to visit there and I had no idea what was there inside but finally I just got in to have a look. Surpringly there were a lot of great collections inside. Many paintings are dated from the mid-13th century to 1900. It was so enjoyable to see those impressive paintings.


I was a bit hungry and I wanted to have a heavy lunch. I just picked a steak house and enjoyed my big lunch. I ordered a steak and red wine. I don't usually drink wine during day time but I'm on vacation!! So I just do whatever I want!! Honestly the steak wasn't very good, this lunch costed me nearly 30pounds!!

Then I shopped around in Oxford Circus, there were a lot of brands and shops!! I didn't buy many things, this time I controlled myself very well :D

The opera started from 7.30pm, I ate something at the coffee shop before it started. I was too full after eating a big lunch so I preferred to have something light for dinner.

I bought a discount ticket, the seat wasn't too bad. It was in the centre of last few rows. But I could still see the stage clearly. The stage effected was great and I liked the songs too.

DAY 11 CAMBRIDGE

It was good to travel on my own coz I could just wake up whenever I want and go anywhere I like. Of coz it could be a bit lonely sometimes coz I didn't have friends to talk to and share with.

I planned to go to Cambridge today. I didn't rush myself, so I woke up at around 8.30am, had a breakfast and then took the bus to Victoria Couch Station. It needs around 2.5 hour to Cambridge bus. I missed a bus when I arrived couch station so I had to wait for an hour for catching up the next bus.

Cambridge is a famous university town and I always want to go there after reading Xu Zhimo's poem. This time I only stayed in London for few days so I could only choose to go to Cambridge or Oxford. Sorry Oxford, I would definately go to visit you next time LOL

I didn't have a street map so I found a way to the tourist information centre and then got a map. Cambridge isn't big so it wasn't difficult to get around.

I didn't really have a plan for what to see but for sure I need to go to see the Cambridge University!! The University of Cambridge has 31 colleges. I didn't go through all the colleges, I think I visited Trinity College and King's College (Can't hardly remember).

You have to pay for the entrance fee for getting in the college, I didn't get in, just took photos and sat outside only.

Surprisingly, I saw more Chinese students in Cambridge than seeing in London!! Are there really so many Chinese students studying in the University of Cambridge? I should have worked harder when I was small!! LOL

I walked along the River Cam, enjoyed the mild sunshine and breeze, it felt so good!! Punting seems fun but I wouldn't do that alone and it seems very tiring!!

What a relaxing day in Cambridge!! I went back to London at around 8pm, had a quick dinner and then went back to the hostel.

DAY 10 NICE / LONDON

I'm going to London today!! Kelly sent me to the airport in the morning and then I have to go on the trip on my own. When I arrived London, it was around 11am.

I booked Palmers Lodge for 3 nights. This hostel locates in Swiss Cottage. I took train from Gatwick airport to Victoria Couch Station and then take the bus to Swiss Cottage. It was easy to find the hostel. The hostel was bigger than I expected and the room was tidy, secure and private. I highly recommend this hostel if anyone looks for a cheap accommodation in London.

When I checked into the hotel, it was nearly 3pm. I knew there were flea markets in the weekend so I took a bus to Camden Town.

Just like in Hong Kong, I like taking bus more than underground coz it is very convenient and there are seats. Also it is a pleasure to sit on the bus and look around the outside view. There were signs on the bus so I knew where I should get off.

The bus drivers were even more friendly than those in Hong Kong. They wore smiles and they were very helpful.

There were a lot of things to see in Camden Town. Many shops and street markets as well. They sold antiques, clothes, shoes, accessories, souvenirs... I bought some accessories for myself.

The Regent's Canal runs through the North of Camden Town. There is Canalboat trip for tourists.

I strolled around until evening and then went back to the hostel. I was pretty tired so I slept at around 11pm.

DAY 9 NICE / ANTIBES

We woke up at around 8am, had breakfast and then we went to Kelly's new host family and dropped down her luggage first. Her host mom was an old friendly woman, she let me get into her flat as well and she tried to talk to me in French. Luckily I could cope it well :D

Then we went to the weekend market. They mainly sold flowers, fruits, antiques, ornaments and dinnerwares.

I didn't buy anything tho I really enjoyed walking around the weekend market. We don't have this kinda market in Hong Kong and even if we had, I wouldn't wake up in the early morning for strolling around there. I can wake up easily when I'm on vacation in other country coz I don't want to waste time on sleeping!! :D

We had a quick lunch coz we had to take the bus to Antibes. We found a shop where a lot of people queuing there and we guessed the food must be good. There was a Asian girl working in the shop and she could speak fluent French. She didn't look like being born in France, I guess she is a exchange student. I really hope one day I can study in France.

The food was a bit salty but overall it was good. I quite liked the sardine fishes. It wasn't like the Portuguese style but it tasted nice.

It took around 45mins from Nice to Antibes by bus and we took a nap on the bus. We got off the bus and walked to the seaside, a very impressive big blue sea was in our eyes!! It felt so relaxing and good to walk along the waterfront promenade.

Comparing with Cannes, Antibes is rather more like a small town and the beaches looked better. Most of the beach area in Cannes are reserved by the hotels so I barely saw the nice view from the beach.

We walked pass a church and they were holding a wedding ceremony. I couldn't see the bride but I saw the bridegroom. He was busy talking and taking photos with the guests. The guests dressed so elegant and it totally doesn't look similar to the Hong Kong style wedding.

I found my dream house in Antibes!! It faces to the Mediterranean Sea and it looks like a little villa. I don't need a big grand house!! All I want is a house next to the sea!!

We went back to Nice in the evening and then we had dinner in a Italian Restaurant. I guess French people usually have late dinner so the restaurant was still not full at 7pm.

In France, the wine was even cheaper than the water so I got used to drink wine during the meaks :D We ordered a Spaghetti with mussels and a pizza. The portion was very big and it was enough for both of us. The spaghetti was soooo delicious!!!

Since it is going to be summer, the sun sets late in Europe. I could still a bit sun at around 8 or 9pm.

We headed back to the hostel at around 9pm and then we met a Malaysia girl on the tram. She heard me and Kelly talking in Cantonese so she asked if we were from Hong Kong. She visited Nice on her own and we asked her to join us for drinks with some new friends at the chapel together.

We drank and talked until 1am, this hostel brought me a lot of good memories tho I have only stayed there for 3 days. It is my last day in France and tomorrow I'm heading to London.

You may not like Nice immediately when you first arrive there but the longer you stay, the more you find this is a very lovely city. I do like Nice a lot and for sure I will go back one day!!

DAY 8 NICE / CANNES

Kate was going back to Strasbourg today so only me and Kelly continued our journey in South of France. We took the tram to downtown and then walked around this city.

It is not difficult to walk around Nice coz you are almost go everywhere by tram. I like to stroll around on the street and take photos. Everyone was so relaxed and walking in slow pace. It rarely happens in Hong Kong.

We visited Musee d'art Moderne and there were a lot of morden art works and paintings. Very interesting and impressive. We spent for nearly 2 hours inside.

Then we took a bus to Cannes, I always wonder how Cannes looks like coz it is well-known for the annual Cannes film festival and I imagined that it was a big city like Paris. But I was wrong!! It was a another nice vacation place with luxurious houses and mansions. Also there were a lot of nice boats too!!

It would be cool to have a boat trip but it still isn't summer yet, they didn't have boat services. They have boat service in summer for travelling around the the Côte d'Azur.

The oysters there were so cheap!! Only 12Euro for one dozen!! The shop assistant opened the osysters for us immediately and they tasted so fresh and delicious!! Incredible!!!

We took the last bus back to Nice and then went back to our hostel for dinner. We ordered some drinks and the chapel and we met many people there. It was a great fun to know some new friends and exchange ideas.

DAY 7 NICE

Our plan has changed a bit so we had to move from Hostel Baccarat to Villa Saint Exupery in the morning. Villa Saint Exupery located on the hill and it was a wonderful villa. They had free shuttle bus services and the staffs were very friendly and nice. I liked the atmosphere there.

We had no idea where to go yet so after checking in, we asked the staffs to recommend us some nice beaches. Surprisingly the staffs could speak fluently English. Later on I found that most of them weren't French, they were from Canada and they worked there as a summer job. I met quite a lot of Canadian in Nice!

A staff recommended us to go to Villefranche Sur Mer, it was only 15-20mins by train so it wasn't far away. There were quite a lot of people on the beach and enjoying sunbath!! We didn't plan to go swimming so we just lied down and relaxed on the beach.

Honestly I didn't quite enjoy the sunbath. I like the beach, the sun and the blue sky but I didn't want to get tanned. It was so hot and I wish I could swim in the sea!!

We stayed in the beach for around an hour (that's really enough for sunbath only) and then headed back to downtown. I understand why Nice is a one of the most popular vacation destination in France coz you will really adore such mild weather and beautiful beaches when you are there.

We bought some take away pizza, snacks and champagne and then went back to our hostel. There was a nice chapel where we could enjoy our dinner and meet people there.

We met a Chinese guy who was studying in Italy and he came to Nice with his mom for vacation. hahaha Kate envied him very much :D

My roommates were from Canada, Australia and States. The one who was next to my bed was super cute!! :D I was pretty lucky LOL Kate and Kelly stayed up late to use laptops but I was so tired and I just slept right away.