France

A couple weeks ago, our friends Cole & Raymond came over to visit us in London. While they were over here, we all 4 went to France! It was such an adventure, and we were so thankful to have T and Carlton to keep Wiley!

We flew into Marseille (don't hang out there.), then drove (thanks, R!) to Nice. It is a quick drive (2 hours, I think) by American standards (long by English standards). Nice was pretty good. Of course we were in the high season, so there were tons of people, not to mention some seriously hot weather that we were not ready for coming from cool London. We stayed at Hotel Grimaldi which I thought was sweet and charming. While we were in Nice, about to go into a restaurant a couple started talking to us about Wake Forest. We had no idea how she knew we went to Wake, but she seemed nice, but perhaps clairvoyant. They were transplanted Southerners living somewhere up north with 2 kids in college at UGA and maybe Ole Miss. We finally figured out that Wil was wearing a WFU t-shirt, thus giving us away. As we said goodbye, and they headed back towards the cruise ship, the wife added "Good Bye Y'all! Hey! We need to figure that out in French!" Good fun. The market in Nice was amazing for the senses, particularly the spices.

We took a train to Monte Carlo for an afternoon and had dinner there. Very glitzy. The boys enjoyed the casino, and we enjoyed exploring it, and of course having a snack of olives and nuts with our wine and Orangina.

Can you find our little James Bonds in the picture below?

Next, we drove to Cannes, stopping in Antibes along the way. Antibes was really nice, an old city with an old wall around it. We had a picnic lunch there, sweated some more, walked to see huge yachts, sweated and bee-lined it for the car with a/c. Cannes was a sparkly place whether they were cubic zirconias or the real thing. Our hotel was interesting, and I won't recommend it, but it was ok for us. In Cannes, though, I think of our relaxing day on the beach (culture shock) and 2 of the best meals ever. One particular restaurant, La Brouette de Grand Mere, was really quite a hole in the wall. We sat outside with all locals in a random small piazza-type space. There was no menu, our waitress was the menu (that is what she told us), and they immediately brought out pate (everyone else said it was great!) with bread. When we asked for a translation of an entree (only one waiter seemed to speak a tiny bit of English), he said "Uh you know, jaiofjdi (word in French). Uh, you know, Bambi." Ah, yes, deer meat. We know Bambi. The other restaurant was Odine's, and it was right on the beach. Fresh seafood, delicious risotto covered in truffles. Happiness. I suppose I must add something about the beaches. Let's just say we saw the poster grandma for a dermatologist's worst nightmare and saw a lot of her. Those French!

Overall, it was such a fun trip. I redeemed myself on my French (the French down there were much nicer than the Parisians). We had the best Croque Monsieur our last day in Cannes. And bopping to the towns on the coast was definitely the way to go. 2 full days in Nice would have been too much, and having 2 days (one beach day) in Cannes was plenty as well. I hope to see more of France--off the beaten path next time--soon!

Au Revoir France!