Baguettes

One thing that really catches the eye in France, is the immense amount of baguettes people carry around in the streets. I really wanted to take pictures of people doing so, but I chickened out. So instead, I put together some borrowed images from Google to give you an idea of this very true stereotype:

Visits and decisions

We welcomed another wonderful visitor in Roquebrune last week: my mom. She came to visit us prior to a trip to Helsinki. Apparently she bragged to her friends about soaking up some southern french sun before heading off to the freezing temperatures of Finland, but unfortunately she spoke too soon. The weather made a drastic change for the worse, and she arrived to cold clouds and rain (and a tiny bit of snow). It was a great visit, nonetheless. My mom definitely took it upon herself to spoil us as much as possible. We even spent two nights in Nice, where we were thrilled to have a sauna and a bathtub in the hotel (since we're still lacking hot water in our apartment in Roquebrune).

A delicious warm meal in Menton

Fromage blanc with black currants. So good.

Trapped under some luggage on our way to Nice.

At least she got a little bit of sunshine :-)

I'm pretty sure all we did in Nice was eat amazing food and drink amazing wine.

Foie gras.

I finally got some Moules-frites, a regional specialty. 

The market, of course.

Shenanigans

Magali and I finally checked out the famous Friday market in Ventimiglia, Italy last week. The short train ride was gorgeous; the view of the Mediterranean sea really never gets old. The market was fantastic, though the city itself didn't look like much. The indoor market held all of the produce, meats, cheeses, seafood, and plants (typical market stuff) and vendors sold all sorts of things like clothing, shoes, kitchenware, toys, etc. in the outdoor area which took up most of the seaside promenade.

We didn't take many pictures, but here's the view from the market.

Yum!

Our market finds

More photos from around our town:

On our morning cape walk

 

My gallery!

Mexican food and job searches

During our weekend trip to Nice, we spotted a Mexican restaurant not too far away from the hostel. So, when the Mexican food craving came (and it always does when away from Arizona), Magali and I decided to make an afternoon trip back to Nice for a little shopping and dinner/margaritas. Enjoy what you have in Arizona, guys, because Mexican food just ain't the same here. It's also very expensive (e.g. 12 euros for a guacamole appetizer!).

These were the "nachos", but they were more like tostadas with french cheese

The quesadilla was good, but the random french cheese in place of a typical jack or cheddar made it taste very different

They got the margaritas right, though!

This is Denis, a friend of a friend of the Robert family who lives in Nice. He printed off a bunch of copies of our resumes and gave us job search advice (very kind).  In this picture, Magali and Denis are arguing about the gender of the English word "interview" (used often here, but with a French accent, of course). In case you were wondering,  it's feminine: "une interview".

Travels to Nice

The fantastic part about living in the French Riviera is the proximity to other great cities. Magali and I recently met up with my friend Katrina for a lovely weekend in Nice. Nice is only a 30 minute train ride away from Roquebrune, but poor Katrina had to travel about six hours (taking a bus, a train, a shuttle, and another train) to get to us from the small town of Bourg-St-Andeol. I'm glad she did it, though!


We stayed at the Meyerbeer Beach hostel (http://www.hotel-meyerbeer-beach-nice.cote.azur.fr/), which I would definitely recommend to any youngsters or budget travelers going to Nice. We were a block away from the sea, a ten minute walk from Vieux (old) Nice (by many shops, restaurants, and bars), and about a 10-15 minute walk from the main train station. Everyone that worked at the hostel spoke French, English, and Italian pretty much fluently, and some even spoke Spanish on top of it. Geez.

The big naked dudes light up and change colors at night. 

For our first night out in Nice, the friendly receptionist at the hostel told us to go to a place called Wayne's Pub in Vieux Nice. Seemed easy enough, but the place was crazy packed with a line out the door by the time we got there around midnight. They must really love their pubs in Nice!

Monaco: Ritzier than Scottsdale

This week, we made the long train journey all the way to Monaco. All ten minutes of it.

Now, Monaco is an interesting place. It's not quite France and it's not quite its own country. The principality houses the richest of the rich, but there's no income tax. The people that work there can't even afford to live there. It feels like an entirely different planet that exists exclusively for billionaires (and maybe the occasional  millionaires). I don't think I've seen so many Ferraris and $1M yachts in my life! I didn't get any fancy car pictures, but some yachts do appear later...

Me, taking a picture of Magali taking a picture of me. What else do you do with only two people??

We may have popped into Mango for a bit on the way : ) 

Most of Monaco looks like this, except for Monte Carlo which is newer (but just as ostentatious). 

On our way up to see where the Prince of Monaco dwells...

A lovely garden on the way to the cathedral

Yachts! We looked for George Clooney, but we didn't see him. Zut! Maybe next time.

Magali enjoyed a glass of wine while I enjoyed my first beer of the entire trip!

And we definitely saw this photograph (framed) of the Prince of Monaco and his wife everywhere! Like the Brits, they must love their royals.