Nice 2016 - around town

 Out and about with Rivi

 

Mosaic on the walls of Parc de la Colline du Chateau

Sunset over Nice

Pink Mediterranean 

I walk by these windows about four times a day on my way to and from Rivi's school

Does having your office inside a square head make you well rounded?

or

It's hard to think outside the box.

Out and about with Kyri

We found the bird man. 

We need to contact Mary Poppins to set him up with London's bird lady. 

Italy

Ventimiglia, Italy - September 11

"What? You mean this isn't a portal? What is it then?"

Nice 2016 - Menton

As I've mentioned before, we love Menton.

I really like the signs in the old parts of French cities.

Yay! Water! We love all the water taps throughout France. 

The guardian of Menton

Nice 2016 - Beaulieu-sur-Mer and Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild

Beaulieu-sur-Mer - September 3

The coastal town lives up to it's name. Beau = beautiful, lieu = place. We took the train from Nice to Beaulieu-sur-Mer, then walked along the water's edge, then inland and up a curvy road without sidewalks. 

At the top, we arrived at the Villa et Jardin Ephrussi de Rothschild. The girls stopped to rest before going through the gates.

The villa is enormous. 17 acres in fact and we explored almost all of it.

A detail on the wall in the foyer.

A curved wall with a tapestry worth discussing. 

What do you think is going on in this picture?

The Grand Salon

Looking for details. These girls know how to go through a museum. They have more fun that we do.

So amazing!

The garden is as impressive as the Villa. Beatrice Rothschild designed the garden over 5 years. 

Her inspiration was a cruise ship.

In the exotic garden. 

There was also a Japanese garden, a rose garden, a provencale garden, Spanish garden, and I've probably forgotten at least one. 

Admiring the view. 

From this point, you can see the Mediterranean from three directions.

Nice 2016

Kyri after her first day of school. She came home happy and said it was awesome. 

And of course, we celebrated with Schtroumpf Robert (Robert Smurf) ice cream from our favorite ice cream shop, Gelateria Robert. 

Since Rivi's start date is delayed, she gets a little extra leisure time. 

But she also has homework and has to help me grocery shop and do errands. 

We were out for an after dinner walk and we let the girls wade into the water. 

Kyri lost her balance and fell in fully clothed. 

It put Rivi in stitches. An excellent way to end the day - all of us laughing :-)

Nice 2016 - MAMAC

MAMAC (Musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain

I'm looking at you

"Ew" - Title given by Rivi and Kyri

View of Nice from the roof

If you push the red button, the gears move

Rivi contemplating a piece by Niki de Saint Phalle

Kyri contemplating a piece by Niki de Saint Phalle

Ernest Pignon-Ernest

Stuck in the museum

Nice 2016 - Monaco 2

Monaco is a really great city-state-country

View from the train station 

It's a 15 minute train ride from Nice

The Japanese Garden

One of Monaco's many gardens

Seafront

Monaco Port

Can you spot the guards?

Very long tunnel leading through the mountain directly into the train station