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| entry created: Wednesday 13 September 2006, 6:33am (NZ time) | |
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| Location: Nice, France |
| Local time: Tuesday, 8:30pm |
| Music: |
 Well not much has really happened since my last entry. I haven't performed at many venues lately. Perhaps I should get off my ass and promote myself more. I could even try busking again, but it can be hard work and I guess I just haven't managed to build up the motivation lately. I've had more days working on the boats here (and in Cannes and Antibes) which enables me to keep paying the rent and feed myself, but it's not really been enough to allow me to do any real saving.I was supposed to move into a great apartment a few weeks ago, but that fell through at the very last minute unfortunately, so it's back to hostel life for the time-being. Hurrah. Krista arrived three weeks ago from Denmark and registered with the various crew agencies here, to look for work as a stewardess on the megayachts. A few days ago she received an email discussing a third stewardess position, on a 45m megayacht in Dubai, United Arab Emerates, where two of our friends have just flown to start work on the same boat. Our friends have apparently been doing some suggestive, persuasive whispering in the right ears, and after seeing her CV, they offered Krista the job this morning. So she's now awaiting the visa to come through and should be flying to Dubai early next week. She's excited as hell (rightly so) and I'm thrilled for her - this is the whole reason I wanted her to quit her job in Denmark and come to Nice. And also today she was phoned by a crew agency urgently needing a stewardess on a boat near Cannes, because a crew member had died. So tomorrow morning she begins a four-day stewardess job. It's all go for her! Now, if only the money would flow in as easily for me!... As for me, I've been re-assessing some things lately. I don't think I want to get an apartment here any more and stick around for the winter. I'm kind've feeling like I've 'done' Nice now. The music is going slowly (partially my fault for the solo work, but also the 4-piece band I'm in just isn't as focussed and driven as I am and would like them to be) and the boat day work is irregular and not a reliable source of income. I've been considering getting my STCW certification, which would allow me to be employed full-time on the charter megayachts (Krista will be working on a private yacht, so doesn't need this). My cash situation isn't fantastic and this would be a fast way of making some good money. But at €1,200 for the five-day course, I've got to be very sure that this is what I want to do for a while. Perhaps I'll end up going to Dubai soon anyway - maybe I can play music there, find temporary or full-time daywork... who knows. I do miss the food and hospitality of the Middle East. Then there's also the possibility of doing some more travelling (to Italy, Sardinia etc) with my French friend aboard his old restored rescue boat soon... But really, I'm just getting thoroughly sick to death of the never-ending quest for the almighty dollar. I finally managed to get some old photos back off a friend's laptop, so I'll chuck up a selection of them for you now...  The scene outside my old bedroom door while I was living in Villefranche. It was always odd to wake up, open the door, and be immediately confronted with so much flesh!  Looking across at the small, ancient town of Villefranche. It's kind've like St. Tropez only there's less pretentious idiots.  Sunset over the bay, outside my bedroom door in Villefranche.  A couple of old restored traditional French fishing boats.  Looking towards the main beach of Nice.  A typical building facade in the city.  The old port of Nice - the colours and buildings remind me a bit of Nyhavn in Copenhagen.  Monte Carlo, the capital and only city of the The Principality of Monaco. The Monaco GP (Formula 1) was about to begin around the time I took this photo - notice the track-side seating, centre-bottom.  Another view, looking at another of Monte Carlo's ports.  Yep, they even have their own licence plate system...  ...and their own 'changing of the guard', at the Palace atop the hill. These guys appear frosty and professional on the outside, and no doubt bored as hell on the inside!  But whatever, it was yet another photo opportunity for us tourists...  An alley-way in the old city of San Remo, Italy.  A cool old church in the middle of San Remo's old town.  Although I've spent only one short day in Italy, and so can't really say I've actually visited the country, I thought this could portray one possibly typical Italian scene.  One thing I did notice was the hundreds and hundreds of scooters. And man, do these guys drive like maniacs!  I had some time to kill before my train back to Nice, so tried doing some self-portrait one-handers. Never easy, but what the hell.  I recently met up with my French friend in Marseille (which is centred around a 26-century old port and is France's oldest city) and journeyed on his boat with him from there to the island of Porquerolles (my second visit there now) and back to Villefranche. This is Cathédrale de la Major - the "major cathedral of Marseille". |
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