Nice...encore

{View from atop of the Park du Chateau}

     You can't help but love Nice. I laugh now when I think about the first time we visited (4 or 5 years ago) and it was raining. We didn't want to get wet so we only did a drive-by and quickly concluded, we didn't really like it. (Because we all know, you can totally get the feel of a city in a car. On a rainy day. After a long drive. With 3 people in the car. And 2 dogs.) At the time, I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. It seemed blah. Maybe it was the rain streaked windows but I asked myself, where was this Nice everyone was talking about? This vibrant place with energy, history and oodles of character? Well the second time we went, I found all that and more. It clicked. I got what everyone was talking about and each time I return, I find Nice has a little something for everyone, the beach, great food, lively ambiance, history and beautiful architecture (or what I now refer to as 'eye-candy'.) So when we have visitors and they ask what there is to do and see in Nice, I find it is almost better to remain vague about it, to let it speak for itself because if there is one thing I have learned in the last 4 or 5 years, Nice never disappoints.

{Nice's sherbet colored buildings}

{Hanging laundry never looked so chic}

{Flavored sugars that I regret not buying}

    While exploring the Parc du Chateau which overlooks the city, we stumbled upon a beautiful cemetery called the Cimetiere du Chateau with the most ornate tombs and headstones. We spent a peaceful 30 minutes admiring the detail and the beauty and even spotted some recognizable names such as Alfred Van Cleef (the jeweler) and Emil Jellinik, who named a a certain car after his daughter, Mercedes. See that is the thing about Nice, just when you think you have seen it all, you realize you've only just scratched the surface.

We're back

   

     Yes folks, we are back. After an all too long break from blogging, I feel like it may be time to start back up again. My absence was not for a lack of action in our life, just a lack of interest in documenting it, or more probable, a lack of time to organize my thoughts. So with out further ado, here is my brain dump. After my last post here where I talked about Shaun getting the go-ahead to start practicing after his Achilles tear, a lot happened. He practiced, he played in the play-offs, he got a big head, his team won the championship, we celebrated, we went back to the U.S. for an all too short 8 weeks, we visited family, then we flew back here to Antibes and found ourselves back in the routine as if none of that ever happened. A few days ago while at the beach drinking some rose (yes our life is sometimes really rough), Shaun and I talked about how all the above seems like a blur to us. Maybe it was the short summer or maybe it was the fact that when we walked balk into our apartment for the first time, it felt like we had only been away for a long weekend. Time had stood still, our cupboards were full, our clothes still hung, all the usual suspects were still at the beach and the local boulanger greeted me with the same half-smile she did 2 months ago. (A full smile is tough to get from her but since she did say it was nice to see me since it had been a while, I will take that as an equivalent to a full smile and maybe even a hug in her book.) It is amazing to me how after being away for a few months, one can snap right back into the swings of things so easily and organically. So since pictures are worth a thousand words, I will let them detail our last few months and let's hope that getting back into 'blogging' will be as as easy and organic as it was for us to settle back into French life.

{Semi-finals against Pau, photo cred Romain Robini}

{Shaun and his 'big head' I was talking about}

{This didn't end well...notice the proximity I am to these two donkeys}

{Doing the obligatory 'medal bite' while Jaws the mascot seemed to be attempting to do his own 'bite' on Shaun}

{The pay-off after 10 months of hard work}

{The French National Team christening the new gym}

{Sunset in Juan les Pins}

{Some rose and the beach}

{One of the not so great perks of living in such a popular tourist destination, the crowds}