OK... it was a grey & rainy day. But that didn't stop us from doing something. After all, this was Sandy's last day in Nice. So we headed off to St Paul de Vence, a lovely perched city about an hour bus from Nice. We were hoping that the weather would be better in St Paul. When we got off the bus... there was no rain YEAH!!!  :-)  The plan just might work!!!

Of course within 5 minutes (and I'm not kidding) the rain started :-( 

Soooooooooo I got no pictures :-( 

HOWEVER, that didn't stop Susie and Sandy from shopping...  Actually I did buy a bottle of balsamic vinegar WITH a hint of truffle oil... very tasty!!!!

Since I didn't take any pictures, I found this pic from the interwebs... so you can see what the place looks like. 




So after about 2 hours of power shopping (note the rain did not deter the girls from shopping) we took the bus back home. 

Of course when we got home it stopped raining :-) 

Cameras 101

Some of you have asked about about my camera and some advice on what cameras to buy. So here goes:

• FIRSTLY, I'm no expert. My philosophy on photography is "the blind squirrel will eventually find the acorn" :-)  This means I take a  crapload of pictures with the hopes that 1 or 2 are ok.  :-)
• First thing to know it that the sensor (the thingy that captures your pictures) is really important. And when it comes to sensors, size does matter... bigger is better. There are basically 5 different sensor size categories:
• Mobile Phones - the smallest sensors and the poorest quality.
• Point & Shoot Cameras - slightly larger sensors with a little better quality.
• Micro Four-third Cameras - A "Tweener"  between Point & Shoot and APS-C cameras. Quality is closer to APS-C cameras. 
• APS-C Much bigger sensor than Point & Shoot Cameras and way better quality. (This is what I have in my camera.)
• Full Frame - This is the largest sensor size and is the size of a 35mm slide. These cameras are the highest quality and used by the pros. They are also much larger cameras than APS-C cameras (and this also includes the lenses.) 
• Here is chart that shows the different sizes of the sensors listed above:
• 
• The great thing about the Sony APS-C cameras is their size. They really know how to make them small, lightweight camera that is great to travel with. This will give you an idea how small the camera is (note I have the same lenses on my camera as my main lenses)

• Now, if you are thinking about a new camera, the best thing going now is the Sony A6000. As you probably guessed, my camera (the A6300) is the next generation of the A6000. You can buy a Sony A6000 with the standard kit lens on-sale for ~ $500 where the A6300 will cost you ~$1,000. The A6000 is a super camera at a super price. 
• If you want to learn more, here is one of my "go to" sites for reviews:  http://www.dpreview.com/

BONUS PHOTO

Susie trying on one of her purchases... She is very happy :-) 

She told me this is made from cashmere. I also learned that mohair does NOT come from moles :-)



We ended up having dinner at the place downstairs and watched the France vs Albania soccer match. It was fun and we ended up talking with a couple of English blokes. They told us they love the game and they will watch and attend several games while in France... but NONE of them involve England. They said that watching England play makes them toooooo nervous and they just want to relax, drink beer, have fun & watch football  :-) 

A good philosophy??? 

Time for bed... Sandy has to get up early to catch the bus to the airport.

Cheers, 

-jj









This is my Sixth blog in a continuing series of vacation blogs from around the world. Every year Susie (my wife) and I pick a town, rent an apartment for a month (thank-you VRBO.com), no car and live like the natives. We have stayed in Barcelona, Nice, France (twice) and Rome. If you are interested in reading my previous vacation blogs, here are the links: