Internet seems to still be at a premium, as we are now a famille of four. The enfants have arrived, Marlisse on Saturday and Joey on Monday. It's great that we are all together, and wish Greg could be with us as well. We are making do in our one bedroom apartment with a peekaboo view of the ocean. Marlisse and I waited for Joey at the Nice airport, drinking wine and presenting the weary traveller with a glass as soon as he entered the arrivals area. We were so busy taking a photo shoot of ourselves drinking wine in a public place, that we almost missed finding Joey, as we were waiting in the wrong area. All turned out fine, though, and we are still all drinking wine.

Putzi and Mike Hicks came from Switzerland to visit, and we had two great nights with them in Nice. Les and I realized how fabulous Nice is at night, with the streets all lit up, and a party atmosphere surrounded us throughout the Centre Ville. It takes younger blokes to force us to stay up past our bedtime of 11 p.m. I just put that in to make us sound good. Let's be honest--we were really going to bed at 10 p.m. Not any longer though. We now eat dinner at 10:30 at night and have embraced the European bad habits. Marlisse and Joey are impressed.

Yesterday, we piled into our Subaru, and headed for the hilltop towns close to Nice. I planned an itinerary that matched a bus trip ad, as the buses seem to know the highlight hilltops. Les navigated through the windy rues, and we had a wonderful 10 hour day. First we went to Grasse, which is famous for its perfumes and flowers. It was a beautiful and pretty city, filled with lovely scents. We started the day with cafe lait and cappucino, and many, many croissants and pains des chocolats later, we walked the streets. Chanel #5 was created in Grasse, as were many other famous perfumeries. We all purchased the beautiful soaps, and  visited the obligatory church, and headed once again for the hills. We ended up in Gourdon, a medieval hilltop town which was beautiful. After walking the steep rues, we found a gorgeous restaurant overlooking the canyons and countryside. We ordered Trout Almondine and Fillet with Mushrooms, and ate an incredible French feast.

Sated and happy, we paid homage to the church (Marlisse and I are down to basically waving and saying "Ah yes...there's the church" and Joey and Les still walk through and look at the paintings) and headed for Tourettes. We were going to stop and pose for a photo shoot, because our family in front of a sign that says Tourettes is just too good to be true. However, we parked and went in and visited the medieval village, and were glad we did. It was the prettiest of all of them. Very little tourism, but just enough to keep the girls happy. Flowers, potted plants, more flowers, windy streets, and an ambience that was warm and welcoming. And yes, there was the church.

We were now getting pretty fatigued, but powered through one more hilltop town, St. Paul De Vence, the most visited village in France. There are only 200 parking spaces here for 10,000 daily visitors, so we thought we would give it the old college effort and then peace out. However, Les, our chauffeur (we still need to purchase him a beret) found one of the 200 spots. It was now 6 p.m., so it was quieter and very pretty with winding streets (what else is new?) filled with art that was gorgeous. Marlisse and I purchased a signed poster from one studio, and the man insisted on showing us all of his work and giving us detailed explanations. Lots and lots of detailed explanations.  We had a quick drink and left St. P without even visiting the church, though I think Joey tried. 

Today is a beach day, though right now the sky is overcast. Joe and Les are packing for Hungary and Marlisse and I are packing for Milan. We are going to lie on the beach today in Villefranche Sur Mer, which is right outside of Nice and very pretty. Joey loves the beach at Nice, and the two boys spent five hours the other day beaching it up. Marlisse and I bought bathing suits at Galleries Lafayette, so we felt we were beaching it up as well.

Au revoir for now, and soon to be Ciao and hmmmm....what is Hungarian for good-bye?

For now, I'll just stick to Au revoir.