Happy Christmas everybody,

We are in Nice only 48 kilometres from Italy! My bike computer shows 3019 km's so although we may not be in Italy yet, we are proceeding pretty well and seeing lots with the detours we make. I believe we stayed in Toulouse for twelve days! We drank, Océanne's great grandmother came to visit, we ate; we went shopping for tyres, bike odometre batteries, camping mattress's, trousers, warm socks as well as visiting Océanne's great granfather and Dorothée's many cousins and friends. I thank Dorothée's parents very much for welcoming us for such a long and busy time. A lot of time is spent at the table in the Charpentier household and although it is often hard to get anything done before four in the afternoon, we somehow managed to leave Toulouse with everything we needed and had time for many walks in the park. Océanne really appreciated her time with her grand parents on the French side and so did l infact and l know Dorothée certainly did. During this time l somehow lost the keys to the bike locks. This was not a great idea as it meant we coulden't leave as the bikes were locked outside during this time! After searching everywhere including a huge park, l had to rent a grinder to break the locks and then obviously buy new locks. A complete waste of money and time as it was a whole other adventure to find a grinder to rent including rain, using Toulouse's rent a bike system, many miles in the suburbs, the obligatory French shutdown between 12 and 2 and not having a French blank cheque as a guarantee. Pleading, speaking to the manager and the leaving of a British passport finally ended a possible mental breakdown. MEC were also very agreeable during our stay refunding us for the defective matress's. I ordered some high quality thermarest replacements on the internet which never arrived, wrong name on the address label supposedly which then had to be also refunded before we went to buy some in Toulouse! Should have done that the first time probably. This was infact why we stayed in Toulouse 12 days instead of 11.

Leaving Toulouse we followed the Canal du Midi a little, with Dorothée's parents at first, before arriving 80 kilometres later in the dark and on a big steep hill for the climb up to the village of Fanjeaux where an Auntie of Dorothée lives. We left after lunch which was a bit of a mistake but at least we arrived. It was so dark that Dorothée ran into me while l was waiting on a hairpin bend! I think l was in the way. It was a really refreshing experience as she lives without electricity and with an amazing view on the plains below. The Pyrennees can be seen close, big and white from the other side of the village. We continued onto Carcassonne with a strong tailwind after lunch outside with Edith and another of Dorothée's cousins who had a son slightly younger than Océanne which was great for her to run around the garden with. The medieval city of Carcassonne was beautiful in the evening light before we retired to yet another Formule 1 hotel. We managed a record distance of over 91 km's the next day to camp by the Canal du Midi just outside of the village of Portiragnes. It was a favourable wind. Next stop was Sete on the Mediterranean where we stayed with Véronique, a friend of Dorothée with a view over the sea. Thank you Véro. This is where the weather turned nasty. It had been fine up to now, cold but fine and equally bearable. Véronique decided to bike with us the next day as we were only going to Montpellier. It rained a bit and was really cold, the reason being this really strong wind coming from the North. The famous Mistral! We stayed in Montpellier for an extra day with friends of Dorothée's parents, a really beautiful city as l had to search for Océanne's Christmas present as well as sample hot wine in the Christmas market. La Place de la Comédie at night and La Quartier de l'Ancien Courrier are sights that really got me as extremly well preserved and even magnificent.

Next was the crossing of the Camargue, famous for white horses and lots and lots of birds, namely flamingoes as well as the Camargue bull that produces fine beef. The Mistral was blowing very strongly at this point so during one lunch stop we headed into a local restaurant and l had bulls head followed by the local fish and it was all really really good. We carried on, crossing the famous Rhone before it entered the sea and got dumped into the big industrial area of the Port of Marseille. What a difference to the National Park of Camargue just next door. Huge industrial installations and hundreds of trucks on the road but we were still able to ask for water at a kind security post at the entrance of one of these immense plants. It was freezing as well. For the first time Océanne was cold in her trailer with her feet and hands being the problem. We were lucky as while asking for a place to camp on the Port of Marseille's land, we were offered to stay inside one of their buildings with heating which was definetly warmer than the tent and at least Océanne could run around a bit before bed. The fact that it was 11 p.m before she finally settled down is another matter. The night before it had been really cold cooking outside the tent with my hands going numb and during the night it had gone down to about minus 4. We are OK inside the tent but in the morning it's a bit hard to get going! In Marseille we would be again ready to battle the cold as we intended to buy gloves and boots for Océanne to fend off the cold as she doesn't move in the trailer whereas we do obviously. She now duly has winter boots and gloves which make all the difference. Just before Marseille and near the coast the Mistral was really strong and was capable to push the entire weight of me, the bike, all the bagagge and trailer including Océanne off the road and towards a big cliff cut for the road. It only happened once during a massive gust and luckily l only touched the escarpment slowly and didn't damage anything apart from temporarily putting my handlebar out of position. The forces of nature! We spent a couple of days in Marseille with friends of Dorothée as well as doing a bit of sightseeing and also spending a night with another cousin up in the hills where we saw some snow and more children for Océanne to play with. Thank you Isabelle + Francis and Arnaud + Hélène. Toilet training is not proceeding as we would like and very rarely Océanne is frustrated but we can never be sure whether it is because of the trip or not. Probably yes for the toilet training as it is difficult to have a routine but as for sometimes being frustrated, it's most likely just growing up. We hope so in all cases but we are always ready to stop travelling if it is for the benefit of Océanne even though we may not want to.

Apart from Marseille being a huge city where people drive without rules or regulation and where the wind in the winter is so very cold it does have an amazing viewpoint from the church of Notre Dame de la Garde perched on a hill in the middle of the city. We left on the coldest day so far where it didn't get much higher than 3 degress during the day. These were now the shortest days of the year and the sun didn't generate much heat at all. We camped again and this time it went down to about minus 5 and l think that's about the coldest we can handle. The next four days was mainly dominated by heavy rain but warmer temperatures. The advantage of travelling by bike instead of a scooter which most people will know l have done a bit of is that at least by bike you can generate heat so although the weather was pretty terrible we were never really cold with the rain. Océanne was always very dry in her trailer! On a scooter you get wet and then freeze as you just sit there, go quite fast and get cold as the wind and rain get to you. We stayed in another Formule 1 in Toulon because it was really raining hard and then stayed in a hotel in Cavalaire sur Mer because it was even worse the next day. In Toulon we visited a restaurant in the evening and just got soaked walking there. However Océanne got to see Santa Claus for the first time and although she was a bit scared, she did receive a soft panda but woulden't give the big man in a red suit a kiss. Good on her too! We camped the day before we arrived here in Nice as the rain had stopped for a day but then duly started as we got the tent up. Too bad. It didn't stop from start to finish the next day and l got covered by a rogue wave while biking along the coast before Cannes. It was quite impressive the wildness of the scene though.

Here in Nice we have gone completely crazy for Christmas, three nights in a 3 star hotel, a restaurant for Christmas lunch and smoked salmon with the Christmas chocolate log in our room. For us it is certainly sometimes not the hard life. There was the champagne from Dorothée's father as well and my personal visit to an Irish pub yesterday evening for a quick pint. Christmas day brought a big blue sky and at least 15 degrees as we had lunch outside on a terrace of a good brasserie not far from the beach and the pounding waves. It's grey again today and cold so it didn't last long. Came just for Jesus. Next stop Monaco and Italy.

Happy New Year, Rupert.