Just one perk of the French school system is that after 7 weeks of hard work, the students get a two week vacation. We took full advantage of this and caught the early bus to Nice the first day of the break. We arrived just before lunch and just in time to hit the markets for pizza and fresh apples.
The Nice market had particularly nice displays. We found two types of persimmon/kaki. One soft and mushy, the other firm and apple like. Yum.
Ice cream (glace, creme de glace, sorbet, gelato, etc) can come in an amazing variety of flavors and while some unfamiliar flavors are really tasty, like lavender, others are just nasty, like tomato basil.
The markets were great, the narrow winding streets fun to navigate and there is a wonderful park overlooking the city, but the number one attraction in Nice...the beach.
When they weren't splashing in the water or building fortress walls, Rivi and Kyri decorated the rocks with marker. The problem of course was that the girls wanted to keep every rock they decorated.
After a few days in Nice, we traveled up the Cote d'Azur to Menton. Menton is special. First of all it is as Italian as it is French - in the architecture, in the food and the language. This is because it borders Italy. Second, it has a very mild climate, which gave us spectacular late-October temperatures.
Third, the gardens are beautiful. They are tropical and full of citrus trees, particularly lemon trees, which Menton is apparently known for, though we didn't know this until we visited.
The girls made bouquets from falling blossoms.
But again, the beach was the hot spot.
And one of the beaches was even sandy!
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