After we got home from Cannes, we all collapsed and took naps. We've been running around non-stop for a few days and so yesterday we stayed in and got some resting and work done.
Nathan finished polishing up his resume and applied for the Pearson Education job, so that added a really official dimension to our plans to move up North.
I attempted to make some comfort food for Nathan in the form of chocolate chip cookies. However, there are not sufficient measuring devices here and so I had to wing a recipe and the measurements. Also, there were no chocolate chips, per se, so I chopped up dark chocolate with orange and white chocolate bars and made two different batches. I also made a mixture of three sugars--white, brown cane and vanilla--and, I must say, the cookies turned out fabulous. They are the perfect mix of crunchy and chewy and they are huge--bakery-sized. They are a little heavy on the butter, but Nathan loved them and we are taking some on our picnic today.
Yes, today we are off to travel 4 hours away to somewhere between Barcelona and Paris. Rather vague, if you ask me, but I've been promised a Roman aqueduct and an amazing modern bridge and I am so, so excited (still) to be in France!
Newlyweds!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Cannes
Today we got our movie star on and went to Cannes. Wow! It is such a beautiful city and beach. So on to the pictures...
We started off today by walking to the bakery to get some croissaints and brioche for breakfast. On our way, we saw these French ducks!
We then toured a perfumary, but I have no pictures of that. We smelled A LOT of perfumes. It was intense, but really, really cool.
When we got to Cannes, Nathan stopped to get some fuel in the form of candy...and as an added bonus, it was a pirate themed candy shop!
Here is the Palais du Festival, or the site of the Annual Film Festival. It was rather deserted today, but all of the restaurants along the beach were gearing up for the coming season. Across the street there was a mile of designer boutiques. Today I visited Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, Longchamp, Christian Lacroix and many others. What fun!
Here are the beach chairs on the Cannes beach empty (for now).
There were a few groups of people playing this game on the beach. It appeared to be badminton with no net played with ping-pong equipment.
Outside the Palais, they have a children's play area. Here I am pretending to be Harry Potter.
And here is Nathan's take on Harry.
This is a panoramic of the beach-front scene in Cannes. Everything on the beach front is designer boutiques or super-fancy hotels.
When taking the picture below, Nathan got splashed by some Mediterranean waves and his feet got soaked. Here is Mohini holding Nathan's wet sock.
And here is the picture that resulted in Nathan walking about barefoot for a while:
So that was Cannes! We'll see what adventures tomorrow holds!
We started off today by walking to the bakery to get some croissaints and brioche for breakfast. On our way, we saw these French ducks!
We then toured a perfumary, but I have no pictures of that. We smelled A LOT of perfumes. It was intense, but really, really cool.When we got to Cannes, Nathan stopped to get some fuel in the form of candy...and as an added bonus, it was a pirate themed candy shop!
Here is the Palais du Festival, or the site of the Annual Film Festival. It was rather deserted today, but all of the restaurants along the beach were gearing up for the coming season. Across the street there was a mile of designer boutiques. Today I visited Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, Longchamp, Christian Lacroix and many others. What fun!
Here are the beach chairs on the Cannes beach empty (for now).
There were a few groups of people playing this game on the beach. It appeared to be badminton with no net played with ping-pong equipment.
Outside the Palais, they have a children's play area. Here I am pretending to be Harry Potter.
And here is Nathan's take on Harry.
This is a panoramic of the beach-front scene in Cannes. Everything on the beach front is designer boutiques or super-fancy hotels.
When taking the picture below, Nathan got splashed by some Mediterranean waves and his feet got soaked. Here is Mohini holding Nathan's wet sock.
And here is the picture that resulted in Nathan walking about barefoot for a while:
So that was Cannes! We'll see what adventures tomorrow holds!
Monday, March 3, 2008
The South of France is Gorges!
Yes, today we ventured around gorge country. The towns we hit were Gordoun and Vence, but we saw many, many villages in between.
So on to the pictures!
This is a sundial in Gourdon. In Gourdon, we bought some delicious lavender mustard and I got some yummy perfume. The mustard is oh-so-delicious!
Gourdon is a tiny, tiny village at the very tip top of a mountain that exists because people go to the top for the 200 degree views. Here is a cute little cat taking a nap amongst some very expensive glass.
We stopped halfway up a gorge for a delicious lunch just like yesterday's--except with lavender mustard. We had an excellent view of this village while we ate.
On the way to Vence, we passed a field of rocks. They weathered there like that and here I am in the middle of the rocks. Underneath the entire field is a series of caves.
All of the rest of the pictures in Vence are of architectural details. Tomorrow we are going to tour a perfumary (Grasse is the world's perfume-making capital) and then hit Cannes to spend some time on the beach!
Oh, and Mohini and I successfully (between the two of us) had an entire conversation with a saleswoman today in French about the price of a pair of shoes. We were quite proud of ourselves.
So on to the pictures!
This is a sundial in Gourdon. In Gourdon, we bought some delicious lavender mustard and I got some yummy perfume. The mustard is oh-so-delicious!
Gourdon is a tiny, tiny village at the very tip top of a mountain that exists because people go to the top for the 200 degree views. Here is a cute little cat taking a nap amongst some very expensive glass.
We stopped halfway up a gorge for a delicious lunch just like yesterday's--except with lavender mustard. We had an excellent view of this village while we ate.
On the way to Vence, we passed a field of rocks. They weathered there like that and here I am in the middle of the rocks. Underneath the entire field is a series of caves.
All of the rest of the pictures in Vence are of architectural details. Tomorrow we are going to tour a perfumary (Grasse is the world's perfume-making capital) and then hit Cannes to spend some time on the beach!Oh, and Mohini and I successfully (between the two of us) had an entire conversation with a saleswoman today in French about the price of a pair of shoes. We were quite proud of ourselves.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Nice and Monaco and Italy...oh my!
I think this picture pretty much clearly sums up the adventures we had today: France (Nice), Monaco (Monte Carlo) and Italy (Vintimiglia). That's right--three countries in one day! Unfortunately, they don't want to stamp your passport here in western Europe. I still have no passport stamp that says France! That is quite upsetting. Anyway...on to our exciting day (oh and we took over 100 pictures today--are you so excited to see slideshows when we come home?)
Here is the view of Nice from the overlook at the top of a mountain. The Mediterranean is gorgeous and the mountains and gorges are great because this is the foothills of the Alps. They are only one hour away! Oh and there were people SWIMMING today. I mean, it was warm, but really, really not that warm yet.
Here I am in a field of yellow flowers. Seriously--doesn't this just scream "I'm in France?"
Here is Nathan walking along the Mediterranean in Nice. The water was really not that cold today (surprisingly).
So eventually we made it to Monaco and this is the backside of the Monte Carlo Casino. We stopped here for a delicious picnic of sandwiches made on baguettes with brie, tomatoes and lettuce. How French! So Monaco is creepy. Sort of like a rich people's Disney World. Everything seems sort of fake. There were boutiques everywhere--Hermes, Gucci, Prada. I felt seriously underdressed. Also, we saw more nice cars than I've ever seen in my life. Ever.
After Monaco we decided to drive to Italy and we ran into a lot of traffic because the village of Menton was having a citrus festival. Festivals abound in France. At festivals you make floats out of whatever it is you are celebrating. So we saw a dragon made of oranges, a pirate ship made of oranges and a storefront made of oranges.
So we finally make it Italy and what do we find but ducks? So here is a Mallard and his Lady Duck for some dear friends of ours getting married soon...
Italian buildings. They look like French buildings, eh? Mostly because the part of France we are in was part of Italy until 1860.
All of the restaurants were closed because we were there during the afternoon "everything is closed" time so we couldn't get pizza, but here I am eating banana gelato! Yum--my absolute favorite!
And here we are trying to find our way back to France from Italy.
Isn't this cave so cool?
Here is the view of Nice from the overlook at the top of a mountain. The Mediterranean is gorgeous and the mountains and gorges are great because this is the foothills of the Alps. They are only one hour away! Oh and there were people SWIMMING today. I mean, it was warm, but really, really not that warm yet.
Here I am in a field of yellow flowers. Seriously--doesn't this just scream "I'm in France?"
Here is Nathan walking along the Mediterranean in Nice. The water was really not that cold today (surprisingly).
So eventually we made it to Monaco and this is the backside of the Monte Carlo Casino. We stopped here for a delicious picnic of sandwiches made on baguettes with brie, tomatoes and lettuce. How French! So Monaco is creepy. Sort of like a rich people's Disney World. Everything seems sort of fake. There were boutiques everywhere--Hermes, Gucci, Prada. I felt seriously underdressed. Also, we saw more nice cars than I've ever seen in my life. Ever.
After Monaco we decided to drive to Italy and we ran into a lot of traffic because the village of Menton was having a citrus festival. Festivals abound in France. At festivals you make floats out of whatever it is you are celebrating. So we saw a dragon made of oranges, a pirate ship made of oranges and a storefront made of oranges.
So we finally make it Italy and what do we find but ducks? So here is a Mallard and his Lady Duck for some dear friends of ours getting married soon...
Italian buildings. They look like French buildings, eh? Mostly because the part of France we are in was part of Italy until 1860.
All of the restaurants were closed because we were there during the afternoon "everything is closed" time so we couldn't get pizza, but here I am eating banana gelato! Yum--my absolute favorite!
And here we are trying to find our way back to France from Italy.
Isn't this cave so cool?
Marseille
Marseille is the second largest city in France, the largest port in Western Europe and the site of some good times yesterday for the Brothers clan.
This is the top of the Major Cathedral in Marseille. It overlooks one side of the port.
Here is the sun setting over the Mediterranean.
This is an awesome picture Nathan took of the Major Cathedral.
And here it is--less distorted.
This is from the harbor looking up to Notre Dame du Garde. Scroll down for more pictures from when we got to the top. See the golden statue in the distance? That is Mary and the statue is huge.
Here is the Abbey of Saint Vincent. We went down into the crypt here and met some French people who were trying to be healed by the relics in the basement. The crypt is an ancient rock quarry from the 200s BC and has been used as graves since before the time of Christ. It was then converted into a Christian cemetery.
Most of the pictures I took are of windows. I'm making a collage when we get back. I cannot stop taking pictures of these French color combinations. It is obvious why Picasso, Renoir, Van Gogh and Matisse came here to paint. The light is amazing and the color combinations are so beautiful and inspiring.
Chateau D'If! If you recall, this is the prison in which the main character was imprisoned in The Count of Monte Cristo. If you haven't read it, it is a great story or if you want a good laugh the modern film version is hilarious (but not intentionally).
We finally made it halfway up the hill to Notre Dame and here's the statue from behind. The interior of this church was maritime-themed because this is the church that overlooks the harbor. The mosaics are memorials to soldiers who died at sea and the church has lots of anchors and model boats suspended from the ceiling.
And here are Nathan and I at the sign leading up to Notre Dame du Garde.
It was super, super windy that day and trying to get out of the city was a trying experience. We went around the same traffic island three times and it was definitely a scene out of National Lampoon's European Vacation.
This is the top of the Major Cathedral in Marseille. It overlooks one side of the port.
Here is the sun setting over the Mediterranean.
This is an awesome picture Nathan took of the Major Cathedral.
And here it is--less distorted.
This is from the harbor looking up to Notre Dame du Garde. Scroll down for more pictures from when we got to the top. See the golden statue in the distance? That is Mary and the statue is huge.
Here is the Abbey of Saint Vincent. We went down into the crypt here and met some French people who were trying to be healed by the relics in the basement. The crypt is an ancient rock quarry from the 200s BC and has been used as graves since before the time of Christ. It was then converted into a Christian cemetery.
Most of the pictures I took are of windows. I'm making a collage when we get back. I cannot stop taking pictures of these French color combinations. It is obvious why Picasso, Renoir, Van Gogh and Matisse came here to paint. The light is amazing and the color combinations are so beautiful and inspiring.
Chateau D'If! If you recall, this is the prison in which the main character was imprisoned in The Count of Monte Cristo. If you haven't read it, it is a great story or if you want a good laugh the modern film version is hilarious (but not intentionally).
We finally made it halfway up the hill to Notre Dame and here's the statue from behind. The interior of this church was maritime-themed because this is the church that overlooks the harbor. The mosaics are memorials to soldiers who died at sea and the church has lots of anchors and model boats suspended from the ceiling.
And here are Nathan and I at the sign leading up to Notre Dame du Garde.
It was super, super windy that day and trying to get out of the city was a trying experience. We went around the same traffic island three times and it was definitely a scene out of National Lampoon's European Vacation.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
France--Day One
Oh booyah. I can't even tell you how much fun we've already had. Seriously--we kept hitting each other and giggling "we're in France!" I may or may not have vibrated a little in the square with excitement.
Regrettably, I left the camera in my bag in the car so there are no pictures from last night (but maybe I can snag some from Gene and Mohini).
Anyway! The evening started with MEXICAN FOOD!!!!!!! Oh my goodness MEXICAN FOOD! The guy who owns the restaurant is originally from Texas so it was oh-so-delicious. Chips, salsa, nachos, cheese enchiladas--we had it all. Delish.
Then because we haven't had to digest anything that dairy and spice-filled for two months, we walked around downtown. So, so beautiful. The settlers of New Orleans did a good job making it look just like Nice.
There is a really fun fountain in the square that Nathan and I had our picture taken in front of and then we rode the ferris wheel! Oh man. It was quite possibly the perfect stereotypical honeymoon in France moment. And for 5 euro we got to go around 6 times. That's sort of a big deal.
We walked down to the Mediterranean. Hoorah! And then we took a beautiful drive back home where Nathan and I got to see our digs.....
OUR BED FOLDS INTO A WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just process that. You know the beds--they flip up into the wall and look like a cabinet. Hoorah! That's what we're sleeping in.
And just to make the night a little more perfect I had a cup of chai. Or rather, a gigantic mug of delicious homemade chai sweetened with honey.
Perfection.
I think today we might get our Count of Monte Cristo on and go to Marseilles. Tomorrow we are going to try and hit the Millax bride (a modern marvel).
So hoorah for France and vacation and homemade food and chai!
Regrettably, I left the camera in my bag in the car so there are no pictures from last night (but maybe I can snag some from Gene and Mohini).
Anyway! The evening started with MEXICAN FOOD!!!!!!! Oh my goodness MEXICAN FOOD! The guy who owns the restaurant is originally from Texas so it was oh-so-delicious. Chips, salsa, nachos, cheese enchiladas--we had it all. Delish.
Then because we haven't had to digest anything that dairy and spice-filled for two months, we walked around downtown. So, so beautiful. The settlers of New Orleans did a good job making it look just like Nice.
There is a really fun fountain in the square that Nathan and I had our picture taken in front of and then we rode the ferris wheel! Oh man. It was quite possibly the perfect stereotypical honeymoon in France moment. And for 5 euro we got to go around 6 times. That's sort of a big deal.
We walked down to the Mediterranean. Hoorah! And then we took a beautiful drive back home where Nathan and I got to see our digs.....
OUR BED FOLDS INTO A WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just process that. You know the beds--they flip up into the wall and look like a cabinet. Hoorah! That's what we're sleeping in.
And just to make the night a little more perfect I had a cup of chai. Or rather, a gigantic mug of delicious homemade chai sweetened with honey.
Perfection.
I think today we might get our Count of Monte Cristo on and go to Marseilles. Tomorrow we are going to try and hit the Millax bride (a modern marvel).
So hoorah for France and vacation and homemade food and chai!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Greece!
So quick update from us courtesy of BabyMac and the free wireless of the Thessaloniki airport.
Yesterday, we caught a bus to "Solon" by a tree. Uh huh...not at a bus stop, but rather, a tree on the side of the road. The bus was 20 minutes late and we freaked out a little thinking that this whole "travel cheap by a tree" thing wasn't going to pan out. However...a bus finally stopped, we got on and for 33 leva each were on our way to Greece.
At the border Nathan and I had to go through two checkpoints (one for Greece and one for the EU). We finally got to Greece around 10:30 pm and got on public transit to get to our hotel. We made a fun new Greek friend who even bought us our tickets!
Our hotel was a block from the beach, but we had no time for fun. We were totally exhausted and, unfortunately, had a terrible night's sleep. Seriously. Hotels are not so swanky here.
So after rising with the sun (I mean, Nathan woke up at 7:30 am--that's bad sleep), we caught a taxi to the airport where I realized we had left BabyMac's charger in the hotel room. So 2 taxi rides later we show up at the airport (again), get our tickets, go through the shortest and fastest security line of my life and have a delicious breakfast of ham and cheese pie (Nathan) and tomato and feta bread roll (me).
And now we're waiting....almost to Rome...almost to Nice!
Can't wait to tell you what happens next!
Yesterday, we caught a bus to "Solon" by a tree. Uh huh...not at a bus stop, but rather, a tree on the side of the road. The bus was 20 minutes late and we freaked out a little thinking that this whole "travel cheap by a tree" thing wasn't going to pan out. However...a bus finally stopped, we got on and for 33 leva each were on our way to Greece.
At the border Nathan and I had to go through two checkpoints (one for Greece and one for the EU). We finally got to Greece around 10:30 pm and got on public transit to get to our hotel. We made a fun new Greek friend who even bought us our tickets!
Our hotel was a block from the beach, but we had no time for fun. We were totally exhausted and, unfortunately, had a terrible night's sleep. Seriously. Hotels are not so swanky here.
So after rising with the sun (I mean, Nathan woke up at 7:30 am--that's bad sleep), we caught a taxi to the airport where I realized we had left BabyMac's charger in the hotel room. So 2 taxi rides later we show up at the airport (again), get our tickets, go through the shortest and fastest security line of my life and have a delicious breakfast of ham and cheese pie (Nathan) and tomato and feta bread roll (me).
And now we're waiting....almost to Rome...almost to Nice!
Can't wait to tell you what happens next!
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