Nice was nice but Cannes was not so nice

Well what an eventful few days it's been. Pete had to go to a sales conference in Cannes for the first 3 days of this week, so we used it as an excuse for a long weekend away... like we ever need an excuse.

Saturday 4.30am:
We got up very early and went to Luton Airport for the flight to Nice. We flew Easyjet as it was dirt cheap (less than £50 return) and arrived in a very warm Nice mid-morning. Using Priority Club points accumulated from our previous jobs, we enjoyed free 2 nights at the Holiday Inn (free upgrade too!). Although tired, we got a bus to Cap Ferrat and walked for a few hours looking at the multi-million Euro homes. We then returned to Nice, looked around the shops and had the odd beer, followed by a fine 3 course meal.

Sunday:
We got the train to Menton and had breakfast sitting in the sunshine, then walked around the town. There was a Triathlon event, so we watched the fit guys in Lycra for a while. After a beer (and Pete had tiramisu), we got the bus to Monaco. There was a major karting competition next to the main harbour - fast or what?! We had a good look around the Principality again and then got the train to Villefranche-sur-Mer which is a beautiful little town just down the coast where we had dinner - including more tiramisu for Pete. That night, I felt a twinge in my back top right teeth and within half an hour, pain had kicked in. I spent most of the night with my head against the marble bathroom wall as it was cool and soothing. I slept for around 3 hours and to my frustration, the various painkillers were not working!

Monday:
The toothache was now a dull pain and we got the train to Cannes. We were staying (courtesy of Pete's employer) at the extremely impressive 5 star Majestic Hotel on La Croisette. Pete was working from lunchtime - ha ha - so I got a train to Grasse, way up in the mountains. I had a good walk around this medieval town and realised the toothache was getting worse and worse. I bought more painkillers, some teething gel and some Ibuprofen gel. None made much difference. The only way to reduce the pain was to hold cold water, or sometimes beer, in my mouth. Had a pizza in the evening between Pete's obligations. I overdosed on painkillers and managed to sleep.

Tuesday:
I was flying at 5.50pm (Pete is coming back 24 hours later), so I had the day free. I'd intended to get a train to Les Arc, but the pain in my mouth was causing me concern now so I walked around Cannes, including up to the castle and the old town. At midday I had to go back to the hotel as the pain was too much. I was unsure whether to see a dentist then and there, but cold water was still keeping the throbbing pain at bay. I decided to fly home and see the dentist next day - the only problem was that I could not take water through customs and couldn't last 30 seconds without it. I was ****ed.

At 3pm, despite having to leave for the airport within the hour, I was sitting on the bathroom floor almost crying, so I called the Concierge and said "find me an English speaking dentist please!". Within 2 minutes, he called and said "come now, I have a map, they are waiting for you". I took my bag and ran to the dentists. 2 injections later, he found that a nerve that was touching a filling - no wonder the painkillers didn't work. The work hurt, but the injections were very welcome. At the end, the dentist shook my hand and said "why do you live in England where it rains so much and people work so hard? The sun will be shining here tomorrow - this is the place to live". He could be right.

I left the dentists 80 Euros poorer and got the bus to the Airport. The traffic was crap! Although I have my ticket, the gate was due to close at 5.20pm. I figured that I might just make it if the bus went to terminal 2 first. At 5.10 we encounter an accident - Police in tight trousers are everywhere, we are going nowhere fast. At 5.25 we get moving and straight to the other terminal!!! I arrive at Terminal 2 at 5.30 and run to departures. Luck was on my side for once today as the gate was right opposite the x-ray machines. I was the last passenger on the flight. STRESS!

Home in England, I manage some food for the first time since Pete stole a brioche for breakfast at the hotel. Slept for 9 hours solid.

All in all, an interesting few days...