Thursday, June 9, 2011

Côte d'Azur

Well rested, though sunburned, Amra and I have just returned from the French Riviera where we stayed five nights with some of our fabulous cousins from Switzerland. This rather short trip to the Côte d'Azur felt like a true vacation. We spent the first day parasailing over the Nice beach, swimming in its clear blue waters, and laying on the rocky beach like seals getting sunburned. The following day we traveled to Cannes for a day trip where, like in Nice, we spent the majority of the day sprawled on the beach burning to crisps. Due to some fierce rain the next morning we took the opportunity to get some serious shopping done in Nice's trendy shops. Shopping with my cousins proved to be very entertaining as they have a great sense of style and an even better sense of humor. Luckily the weather cleared up just in time allowing us to make a brief excursion to Monte-Carlo, Monaco. Never before had we seen more glitz and glamour condensed in rather small area. I felt as if we had stumbled into an entirely separate universe; Monaco felt almost unreal. Our time (and budget) afforded us only a dinner at a rather posh restaurant.
Sadly, our time together came to an end at around six am the following morning when our cousins had to leave for Switzerland. Our party of five now reduced to two, Amra and I spent our last full day in Nice exploring the old town, eating sushi, taking a last dip in the Meditarranean, and treating ourselves to an expensive but delicious sea food dinner. We had a fabulous time at the French Riviera and can't wait to come back-this time with Mom, Dad, and Ena.