Nice!

Ok, I admit my previous post was kind of lame, a bunch of nature scenes shot from the car... it's one of those things where I guess you just had to be there.  But hopefully these pictures will make up for it... shots of the girls in southern France.  

Like I said before, this was our "babymoon" since we won't be traveling much this summer as we anticipate the arrival of our little Klaus.  Just kidding, his name isn't going to be Klaus, but when ever I try to discuss names with Ben that's the only idea he throws out.  He mentioned it to our German OB and even he winced at the idea.  (No offense to all the Klauses out there.)  

Anyway, where was I?

I'm quite partial to France since I learned the language and fell in love with the country and the people as a missionary over 10 years ago. (Yikes!  I can't believe it's been that long!)  But I've never been to the South.  So this trip has definitely been on my bucket list.

And just a reminder, pictures have a way of making an experience appear flawless, as they say "picture perfect."  

But, it wasn't a perfect vacation.  It rained three of the seven days we were there... one day it didn't even let up. Our apartment in Old Town was right next door to a discotheque AND was on the sixth floor with NO elevators.  And there was some crazy obnoxious bell ringing going on at 7 a.m. every morning.  We contended with the traffic and narrow streets and steep parking fees that are all a part of the European experience.  The girls were a pain in the neck more than once.  I waddled at a slow pregnant pace where ever we went. What should have been an 8 hour drive turned into a 12 hour drive because C had numerous "false alarms" and because we couldn't find a dang gas station open on Sunday that took our credit card.  Stuff like that.  Pictures don't capture that.  They only capture what seem to be idealistic perfect moments. But, I guess that's what's so great about pictures, they seal the sweet memories and make you forget the bad ones.  

Arriving in Old Town.  You can't tell we're tourists can you?

The view from our apartment in Old Town

Eating yummy Italian food in Old Town.  Doesn't Em look like a hip traveler?

 

               Playing hopscotch                                                            The essence of cool

The beach in Nice... First time I've seen the Mediterranean Sea.  Can you find me?  It's like searching for Waldo.

Nice nestled against the foothills of the Alps.  The jagged terrain juxtaposed with the calm turquoise sea was amazing. 

The port at nearby Cap Ferrat.

Hiking around the peninsula at Cap Ferrat.  It's a very exclusive residential area.  The likes of Elton John and Mick Jagger have mansions here.  

We drove along the "moyenne corniche"  a scenic road that winds along the French coast and has been filmed in many movies.  Grace Kelly was filmed in a movie along this road, (I think it was Hitchcock's M for Murder, I'll have to check it out to see) and ironically Kelly, who later became the princess of nearby Monaco, was killed on this very same road in a car accident.

One day we drove inland to the Grand Gorges du Verdon, France's version of the Grand Canyon.  It took us a lot longer than we thought to get there, but it was BEAUTIFUL.  

The highest bridge in all of Europe.  Ok, so you can't tell how high it really is, you'll just have to take my word for it. 

Love this pic

A couple nice days at the beach.  Em was enthusiastic

Ben showing Em how to skip rocks

 

More shots of Nice... I loved the French architecture with the vibrant Mediterranean colors.  Lots of yellows and greens and terracota.  I want to decorate my house some day like this.  

                 

The girls goofing around... We broke out C's new 3T shorts that day and she couldn't keep them up.  Look carefully at the right photo

We paid many a visit to this yummy Italian ice cream joint

We enjoyed a bonafide French breakfast one morning.  There's nothing like a pain au chocolat... for the taste buds and for the thighs.  

And stop the presses!!  C is actually eating something besides crackers.  She even appears to be enjoying it!

The princesses "swimming pool" ....the girls made good use of the bidé. 

A day in Monaco.  I loved this place.  It was so clean and beautiful.  By far the cleanest place I've been  in Europe.  

And the most expensive place in Europe.  This bad boy was 5 Euros!!!

They were getting ready for the Grand Prix in just a couple weeks. 

You can see part of the race track and bleachers down below.  We kept wishing we would have timed our visit to coincide with the race.  That would have been cool to watch!

We felt like we were in a James Bond movie the whole time.  Em's really into the jumping for pictures  

    

In front of the Palace of Monaco

And the famous Monte Carlo Casino.  We saw lots of Rolls Royces.  And like I said, we were embarrassingly underdressed. 

And this is what we did on our rainy day... stayed in and ate like true Frenchies.

We loved our time up at Eze-le-village, so much so that we went twice... and went a little hog-wild at the perfume factory there.  I'll be smelling good for awhile now.

And the highlight for the girls, truly, was the Carousel.  That's all they wanted to do the whole trip was find a Carousel.  And we finally did.  The one in Nice was broken down so we had to go to another town to find one.  Yes, they were that bent on going on one. 

So sad to say "au revoir" to France.  Hoping it won't be long before we're back.