Delayed Honeymoon: The final day...

Saturday was sadly, the last day of our wonderful 10 day honeymoon.  Yopie and Timmie had big plans for us, the beach and dinner with friends (Ken & Monique!).

The beach was beautiful.. and hot.. and topless. 

Don't worry, the only topless photos I'll show you are of the men :)

Bas, Kevin, and Timmie had a great time playing catch in the water, while the girls mostly floated. 

I read almost an entire book that day on the beach.  And also got sufficiently toasted by the sun.  We all laid under umbrellas, on beach chairs and enjoyed the relaxing day! We took a break at lunch for food & rose (because why not drink 2 bottles of wine at lunch, split between 4 people, on a Saturday). Right, that's the way the dutchies did things, and we were more than happy to join right in!

A slightly cramped ride back to La Salamadra, and there was time for a little relaxing before dinner.  Ken and Monique brought beautiful tomatoes, and I could have eaten just those for dinner - although the rest of the meal was wonderful as well!

One last, or 10 last rounds of Shithead (the European version of the card game Bullshit) with Emma and Bas, and Kevin and I headed to bed.   I was so sad to think that we would be leaving at 5am the next morning, to plane hop our way home. 

Timmie was amazing, and took us to the airport in the morning - about a 45 minute drive.  A bit longer line than we'd anticipated at the airport in Nice, but we made it on our plane in plenty of time! Nice to Frankfurt, a change of planes, and my husband got us in biggggg trouble.  Well, mostly some moody TSA agents gave him hell for stepping over the line rather than going around.  While the line had zero people in it. Right. Frankfurt to Philly was a long flight, and I got teased relentlessly for reading a book and watching 2 (or 3?) movies.  Home safely in Philadelphia, my wonderful inlaws picked us up, and brought us home. 

Home. such a wonderful vacation...... now back to the real world.

Delayed Honeymoon: Mougins - Heaven on Earth

*Warning, photo heavy post*

Our train got into Cannes on Wednesday night, and Timmie and Emma picked us up.  Well, they came to get us, and mostly make fun of the amount of luggage that we packed for our 10 day trip.  It was like they expected us to only bring on carryon sized bag or something?!?! Whatever, it fit in their van, and that was all that mattered at the time! We headed back to La Salamandra - "the compound" - where the ever wonderful Yopie had made dinner! Yay food! We're so easy to please sometimes.

Then it was off to take photos of the house, the pool, everything - this was a once in a lifetime kind of vacation!

Front of the House

Well, why not play ping pong in the driveway?

back of the house, looking up from the pool



Pool, heaven, yes please!

Thursday we woke up late - and found freshly baked bread! With Nutella! Laying around the pool for the day was relaxing, refreshing, and wonderful! Later that night we headed into Cannes for the Thursday night fireworks.  The fireworks are a regular occurance in Cannes throughout the summer and are sponsored by different firework manufacturers, and the viewers get to vote for their favorite.  We hung out for about an hour before we figured out that the fireworks had been postponed to Friday.  So... back to the house, and some rose!

Friday morning our wonderful hosts drove us to the train station, where Kevin and I hopped on the train to take a ride into Monte Carlo! Yes, home of the Grand Prix! Supposedly it "never rains in Monaco" but you'd better believe it rained on Friday, July 30th damnit. And we're so cool, we bought an umbrella. A freaking $50 umbrella. But, we stayed dry and were able to stalk cars - because wasn't that half the point?!

Beautiful cars around every corner..

So many of them around the circle that is in front of the casino.  I can't imagine how much Valet Parking must cost, I was scared justreading the dress code!

We grabbed a map - because that race course is complicated - and got walking! Yep, we walked about 2 miles of curbing and roads, and only got lost a few times.  There was lots of hanging out on the red and white curbing - how often do you get to do this in a lifetime!!

And do you recognize this turn?

The Prince of Monaco also has a car museum in the city, and we spent a few hours there looking at everything from stage coaches to Ferraris!

And one more for Christopher -

Oh right, except the day wasn't over yet! Remember those fireworks we were supposed to see on Thursday, yes they got rescheduled for Friday! Back on the train to Cannes, to meet with the Dutchies.  We found a seat on the wall, and did quite a bit of people watching before the fireworks started!

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Okay, time for bed.  We were exhausted, and I needed to download some photos.  Because I did the unthinkable, and filled the entire memory card!

Delayed Honeymoon: Goodbye Paris (for now)

Wednesday morning we had a few last stops to make before we hopped on the train again to head South.

First stop - well, actually 3 train stops later - we were at Pixi & Cie! This is the store that made our cake topper.  *Which, my wonderful bridesmaids so wonderfully tracked down and purchased for me* It was a gorgeous store, although a bit expensive.  Kevin & I did manage to find two gorgeous pieces that we could both afford and wanted to bring home with us - one of the Eiffel Tower and one of Maillot Jaune! Both were intended to take places of honor on our Christmas Tree, along with the wedding ornament. 

A quick lunch - Kevin's was filled with chocolate -

and then back to John & Stacy's apartment one last time.  We said goodbye to their wonderful dog Lola (who loved Kevin & he loved her back). 

A quick walk to the wrong train station and we were on our way to Cannes.  Yes, that's right - I said the wrong train station.  See, when we came into Paris, we came into Paris Norde.  So, since I had purchased our tickets to and from the same place, I assumed.... Well, safe to say I assumed incorrectly, because we got to Paris Norde, and there was no 3:40 train to Cannes.  A panic-filled 5 minute train ride, and we found our way to the correct train station - Gare de Lyon.  I completely felt like an idiot, and probably apologized to Kevin 500 times, but he swore it was okay. Oh well, considering how much planning I put into the trip, I suppose I was guaranteed to screw it up somewhere.

Time to relax, in our first class seats, and enjoy the view.
(Don't go thinking we're all high rollers because we were traveling first class - it's nothing like flying first class, more like it was just an easy way to have internet)

Delayed Honeymoon: Tuesday at the Tower

To wake-up on a Tuesday morning, hop on the Metro, and take a quick ride to Versailles.  Wait, is this my life?  I must have pinched myself a dozen times - on the train ride, on the "walk" from the metro, in line for tickets, and walking through the gates.  *Note - I say "walk" because this was a sheer en masse avalanche of people from the train to the line.  I was a little nervous, so we made a side trip to Starbucks and let the crazy people go ahead*



These are the gates to Versailles (and the wonderful cobblestones)

The tour inside the mansion was gorgeous.  It's almost all self-guided, with signage, and is more along the lines of a museum than a tour.  The small details like the window latches below are standard throughout the home, and the small touches like these were all stunning.  Almost the entire first floor has floor to ceiling windows, that open onto the wrap-around style porch/patio.  Nevermind, just look at the beautiful picture.

 Next - out to the gardens! I think Kevin is meant to be a Florida boy, because the most exciting moment of the morning may have been his discovery of the palm tree below! So, a little creative camera placement and a self timer -

The flowers were of all varieties, colors, shapes, sizes.  In addition to the beautiful flowers were the varied size and location of the flower beds! On all sides of the walkways, around fountains, just stunning. 

Oh, and we had a little fun too!

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Next, on to the highlight of Tuesday.  Yes, there was a highlight - even after Versailles! Can you guess where the photo below was taken? For those of you who have been here, can you tell me what the photo is of?

The Trocadero



Kevin & I - on the second level of the Eiffel Tower (with the track behind us)

I tried to find the photo of the track itself, it's around here on my hard drive somewhere - I'd love to go back and run a lap on the track.  Can you imagine, running on a track, looking up at the Eiffel Tower?  Some track team gets to do that every.single.day. Wow.  

The requisite photo in front of the Eiffel Tower - thank you stranger, I'll treasure this photo forever

 I likely made my husband crazy, and knew I was pushing my luck! So, one last photo from beneath the Eiffel Tower, before we walked to the Trocadero.  Just after dark, the twinkle lights came on.  And the non-emotional girl that I am, got teary.  It was a magical moment, sitting just yards from the Eiffel Tower, in the dark, watching it light up, with my wonderful husband.

<3 I Love My Life





Delayed Honeymoon: Monday in Paris

Everyone told me before our trip that I was over thinking some things, and trying to fit too much into 4 days.  Well, I probably did try to cram too much into our short time there, but we had a fantastic time at each and every stop!

We left the Louvre and made the lengthy trek down the Champs to the Arc, which is at the farrrrrr end.  But first, a photo opportunity or two, because how many times are you really in Paris!

Kevin & I at the Louvre - you enter through the pyramid behind us!

There is a photo like this on dozens of family vacations, and my wedding.  There had to be one in France as well! It's the gymnast in me.

So, nothing better than spending a Monday afternoon at the Arc de Triomphe! This was one attraction we had not pre-purchased tickets for, so a short wait in line, under the street was necessary - I should mention, I had a hard time with the concept of the tunnel being under the street, but I guess it's the only way better than having thousands of tourists run across 8 lanes of traffic!

We had already seen the Arc at night, it was amazing to see

it during the day!! Up the 284, very tight, spiral steps - to the top! You can see in all directions, and it was a beautiful, if windy, day. 

 Oh, and I also found the house for when we retire in Paris. ha, like we could ever afford to even dream of living there! Anyway - check out this rooftop garden:

Then we each took the requisite photo of each other, and met some nice guys from NY and DC, who took a photo of us together! Thank goodness for friendly people, and obvious hats!

 

Kevo & The Eiffel Tower - on top of the Arc!

Kevin and I, good to know those rails were keeping us contained with all the wind!

Back to the always wonderful home of John & Stacy for a home cooked meal, relaxing night after a busy busy day.  We have quite a train ride and busy day planned in the gardens at Versailles for Tuesday!