It just didnt dawn on me that I would see sunflowers in bloom, let alone be surrounded by them! i took about 200 sunflower pictures and 200 more of me with the sunflowers, none of which came out right. So i ended up cutting myself out of the one with me and the ground and pasted it into the sunflower one! You never would have even known if i hadnt told you.
As I was traveling through France I noticed how normal everything seemed to be. There were lots of families withthe car packed to the roof with”stuff” heading to the beach or the mountains for the weekend and normal people shopping for groceries and driving normal cars. We think of traveling abroad with such aww and excitement and then we go there and people are living their lives exactly how we live our lives here. It is such a wonderful revelation and brings the exotic that much closer to home!
Well then i went to San Tropez…the other aha! button went off, you know the one that goes Ohhhh, this is what they mean when they say ” they have money”. LORDY! Now i had visions of myself in the French Riviera. I envisioned white cotton girly skirts, cafes and large sunglasses. I could see myself pretending to be one of the local crowd, fresh from my yacht. I think when i started to snap photos in the parking lot and didnt close my jaw for the next 3 days, it was a dead bang give away that i was one of those ”others”. You know, the normal people i mentioned above.
I think the most difficult question asked for many was Should we take the yaught or the rolls down to Monaco tomorrow? And the appropriate answer was of course, Lets take the Helicoptor, weekend traffic will be a bear and i will never get this parking spot again.
The weather was perfect, the town was charming and I think there was really was money growing on the trees here but no one could tell me in English where those were exactly. After we left, we headed east along the coastline. The roads really are as windy as you imagine and the villas and private beach oasis are as surreal. We were driving way too fast to take any good pictures but at one point i took a couple of videos…turn off the sound, it is just loud and not very french sounding. i loved driving along the coast. I wish i could have ridden it on a bicycle to really feel it, but i would have also felt a car smack me off a cliff i am sure. Grace Kelly didnt die for nothing on those roads.
We went through several great towns, stopped and had lunch along the beach and drove through Cannes. It is way bigger then i imagined and i completely disagree with Rick Steves, I would like to do a lot more then eat an ice cream cone there. It was a beautiful town.
We stayed in the of Antibes. When you learn about all of the incredible writers and artists who lived here it is not hard to imagine why. I could have stayed and painted too!
This was the bay below our hotel in Antibes. We were on the Cap and removed from the bustle of the inner-city. I felt like i was back home on the Puget Sound…ok except for the color and temperature of the water and the 16th century villas perched above me on the cliffs, and the palm trees…maybe it was just the smell of the sea.
The following day, we ventured around a bit and walked along the sea wall in Antibes. It was gorgeous!
the town in the far distance is Nice
crazy kids!
I even found Victor Hugo’s head
We also drove up into the hills behind the coast and visited Foundation Marguarite et Aime Maeght. It was a converted home in St Paul that contained an enormous private collection of modern art pieces. There were beautiful Miro sculptures and my favorite, Chagall. I love Chagall and this just rocked my world. Wonder if it is for sale….hmm i need to marry wealthy
The food in this part of the country didnt really do anything for me. Apparently the seafood in the Mediterranean has been almost wiped out and now seafood is collected via farming or from the Atlantic Ocean. So i am not even sure how fresh it was. Case in Point, Tom got a pretty nasty bout of food poisoning (we think from some seafood) and instead of going out to eat an excessively overpriced and overrated meal, we stayed in so Peggy could keep an eye on her poor hubby. Thus, my last meal in France consisted of a cup of plain yogurt, half a powerbar, a cold bottle of water and a warm bottle of Muscato. I pouted for a few minutes about that and then i thought, good lord what a fabulous image. I had certainly gotten my fill of delectable over the past few days and i wasn’t suffering any and i should have been thanking my lucky stars i didnt eat the seafood! We will just call it hte kickstart to my post france diet.
Bon Appetite!
