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Last night when I went to bed at about half 2 I left my finished book on a random cabinet in a random corridor for someone else to enjoy, I like doing that. At half 9 this morning it had already gone and in it’s place was Ender’s Shadow. I almost felt obliged to read it but it looks very long and these fantasy/sci-fi novels always have loads of sequels/prequels so I put it back in the end. Is that bad book karma?

I got my ticket for Zaragoza okay, €65 though, ouch. I ordered it in French and confirmed what time it left and got in at and if it was direct. But it’s never like in the text books, she was rattling on about all sorts and I wasn’t getting it all so I had to ask her if she spoke English as I didn’t fancy missing crucial information just to improve my French. Anyway, I have to check-in at least half an hour before it departs, which is crucial information as I often board seconds before they depart.

She said I can leave my bag there for the day which is handy as it will save me €4 and mean I can get the bus to Monaco, which at 40 minutes takes twice the time as the train but is more scenic and another €4 cheaper for the round trip. I need to make sure I’m back by 16:00 to pick it up though.

Crikey, there is some money knocking about here. I’ve been walking up and down the marina trying to figure out which boat I’m going to get when I get home. This was my number one choice but due to space considerations on the Stretford passage of the Bridgewater canal I’ve opted for this instead.

For lunch I ate at a place called Le Botticelli. €9.50 for moules marinières avec frites, not bad at all considering where I was. It does however mean a baguette for tea.

If I’d have had more time I’d have got the boat over from Monte Carlo to Monaco Ville to have a good look round but as it was I only had a bit under 2 hours, which was enough to at least get a feel for the place.

I was a little bit worried when getting back from Monaco as the bus stop that I thought was on the correct road didn’t have my bus number (100) listed and the station name didn’t appear on the Nice to Monaco bus leaflet I had either. There wasn’t any margin for error or else I would likely find my bag impounded for the night and me up little brown river.

I was quited pleased that I managed to ask the driver of a different bus “Excusez-moi, le linge cent pour Nice, c’est arret ici?”. I’m sure there’s plenty of errors in there but it was good enough to get the info I needed which is the important thing, 2 minutes later and I was on the bus.

My long haul bus journey preparation hasn’t gone very well. I’m dying for a waz as the bus station toilets are out of order and my supplies are not what I’d hoped for. I’d planned on getting a ‘4 cheese’ baguette that I saw last night but I couldn’t find the place again and didn’t really have time to. Then it was too late to find anything else so all I have is a large bottle of water, which I can’t really drink because as I just stated, I’m dying for a waz. Also, because of yesterday’s dog dung incident, I’ve no pen to mark out stuff I want to see in Spain in my rough guide.

It’s going to be a long 18 hours, I hope the first stop is soon and is at a well stocked outpost.

One thing I meant to say is that I was probably a bit harsh on Nice yesterday, after going through different parts on the bus today and then rushing around looking for grub at a different time of day, it actually looks fairly interesting. The Côte d’Azur will make a good scooter trip at some point in the future.

Phew, pee had.

Phew, food had. Well, a bag of crisps anyway.

We just passed through Marseille, it looks a pretty lively city. Am I right in thinking it’s where ‘The French Connection II’ was set? One Google search later and it seems I am.

Later, we also stopped at Barcelona. It seems daft going through a city like that and not staying for a night or 2, but I’m short of time now and I’ve been twice before anyway. It’s always a cheap flight away in the future though.

On the bus I listened to the Super Furry Animal’s latest 2 albums via Spotify. Now I’m very reluctant to critisice this band as I love their entire back catalogue (well maybe not ‘Guerilla’), they’ve been putting out great stuff for years. But these latest 2 (2007’s ‘Hey Venus!’ and this year’s ‘Dark Days/Light Years’), while still full of ideas as ever, they just don’t have the tunes for me. A shame. This is only IMHO mind, the reviews in the media have been good for both. I’ll still be very interested in what comes next, I can’t write a band as inventive as that off.

Right I’m finally in Zaragoza. It was a pretty horrible journey really as it was such a busy route the bus was forever stopping and the lights coming on, also all the seats were taken so it was very cramped. 9 hours in and my back knew about it, it was a very sore and uncomfortable 2nd half of the ride. That’s the last monster leg of the journey I have to do now though I think, it should be relatively straight-forward from here on in (hopefully!).

I’ll have a quick look at the train and bus tickets while I’m in the depot and then it’s off to the hostel to collapse.