A few months ago, I suggested that we go explore a new area without having to take vacation time. Let’s go to Southern France for 2 weeks, take our computers, work during the day, let the kids have beach and pool time, and wander around little beach towns at night. Jay was on board with the idea so I began a hunt for the perfect place.
I found Maison de la Plage 83 – located about an hour north of St Tropez and an hour south of Cannes, on the Mediterranean Sea. The area has many names – Cote D’Azur, French Riviera, Southern France – call it what you want, but it was a little slice of paradise.Because we wanted to bring Kaycee with us, someone had to drive ~11 hours. The car was packed with luggage, monitors, etc, so Lily volunteered to road trip with dad.Ty and I took a direct flight to Nice.That looks a little different than Germany…Nice is nice. It did rain on us a bit, so it could have been nicer, but we were just happy to see the sea.We arrived in the morning and could not check in until after 3:00, so we wandered the streets of old Nice. Why didn’t someone think to carve pants onto that statue?When we got checked in, Ty laid claim to his bedroom. Apparently waking up at 5:00 is not a teenage boy’s favorite thing to do.Jay and Lily arrived and she immediately jumped in the pool. She was pretty much in the pool for 2 weeks straight.French bread, French butter, French jam, and coffee. Ooh la la.One of my favorite things to do was eat on the beach. This post is full of selfies at a table next to the water. I didn’t keep a log of the restaurants- all were great. Food tastes better seaside.On Sunday we drove down to St Tropez. Holy boats Batman. The place oozes wealth.I warned youMost beaches in France are not dog friendly. This little section was OK for dogs. Kaycee loved the sand! He had the zoomies for 5 minutes. :). As a side note, Germany is a much more dog friendly country than France.This was my office view for 2 weeks. It is now my Teams background.
One afternoon Jay and Ty went to Freund while I wrapped up some meetings. Lily and I took an Uber to meet them for dinner. We wandered through a market on our way back to where Jay and Ty parked. As we were nearing the parking spot, Jay started to get nervous. The market was huge. And it was on the street where he had parked.
In a prior post I talked about the importance of taking the time to translate signs. This one would have been a good one to read closely.Well shoot. We arrived at the parking spot to find no car parked there. Thankfully the police were nice and helped us find out where our car was towed to. Waiting impatiently for the lady who didn’t speak English to fill out tons of paper work (on paper, not a computer) so we could get our ride back. 2 hours and 100 EUR later, we will be more careful about where we park in the future.Ty and Lily took a bus to Cannes one day. They got along well (shocking), made us dinner reservations, and relaxed on the beach until Jay and I finished working.The best restaurant of the whole trip. Carlton Cannes Beach Club – part of the Carlton Hotel (looked amazing, BTW). Lily is holding the dog menu….Kaycee was served grilled chicken and rice for dinner. The service, food, drinks, and atmosphere were all 5 stars. and they even let Kaycee watch the sunset on the beach…From the best meal to the worst. I’m pretty sure I got good poisoning at this restaurant. I’m not going to share the name because I’m not 100% sure that is what happened, but….Chillin with my villainsYeah, I didn’t make dinner the next night. Jay and the kids had a delicious dinner without me while my stomach recovered.
Monaco. A little sovereign city-state that is bordered by France on 3 sides and the Mediterranean Sea on the 4th. Luxury. Excess. Filthy rich. The best people watching was outside the Monte Carlo Casino, where the rich and famous go to park their super cars.
and you must be the monopoly guyThe valet parker has a very stressful job.I had Ty with me so I couldn’t go inside the casino, but there she is. The Monte Carlo.
Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur is a little town in the Hautes-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was about 3 hours from our holiday home, so we drove there on Sunday to check out the town where my great grandmother, Rose Faure, lived in as a little girl before immigrating to Wyoming.
Amazing areaThis is the only clue I had to find Nana Rose’s house. About 13 years ago my aunts visited the town and took this picture. Where’s Waldo? Even though it was Sunday and most shops were closed, the Visitor Center was open and the lady spoke English. She did not know exactly where the house was, but had an idea on which area of town it might be in. So off we went.The main street was super cute. Check out the laundry shop.Saint JeanMaybe the house is down this little alley?I found it!!!!! It looks a little different, they added a window in the front, vines have grown, but that’s definitely it. My mom really wanted me to knock on the door but I couldn’t do it. Didn’t want to be a creeper. We found some cemeteries that have a lot of Faure and Pelligrin graves, which are possibly some of my ancestors. This was one of many pictures I took (didn’t want to creep you out with heaps of grave pictures). The cemeteries are different. There is a family plot with one big headstone, then little headstones for each family member. The view from the 3 Crosses was incredible.St Bonnet is just to the right of Ty.Chapel of the Pétètses. Speaking of creepy, have I mentioned how much I don’t like dolls?This wasn’t open, but we had to follow the signs to The Pelligrin Family Farm. Long lost family??I didn’t buy much on this trip, but I did pick up this turquoise turtle shell ring.And I would have bought this – if I cooked – because how often have I ever seen Jeanne on anything?!?!?
I did sneak in one half day of actual vacation. Jay had some important meetings so I took the kids to the beach in the afternoon. We reserved some lounge chairs with umbrellas, floated in the water, snorkeled, got massages on the beach, and ate a yummy lunch.
One last dinner on the beach to wrap up an amazing work-ation.
This might have been one of my most genius ideas. The change of scenery was exactly what I needed. I was incredibly productive with work, super relaxed in the evenings. I loved walking to the beach snack shack to grab lunch, watching the boats float by while I was thinking, letting the kids sleep guilt-free until noon, and spending quality time with them after work. I predict more of this in our future. Au revoir France! Until next time!
JR, Kate, Avery and Milo came to Europe and basically went everywhere. Check out Kate’s Facebook posts to see all about the adventures they had while Jay and I were working. Wah wah. We did get to explore Strasbourg, France with them, and it was beautiful!
Kate and the kids’ first train ride. Jay, JR and Kaycee took the scenic drive.All aboard!!The city is really beautiful Lily worked her AI magic to remove other people from this photo…Look closely. In the middle of the bridge is a guy in red shorts. It was really hot. Lots of people had their feet in the water to cool off. A second after Kate took this picture, the guy jumped. It was a 8/10 backflip. The police arrived so fast. we didn’t stick around to see how much trouble he was in. Crazy kids.Have I mentioned how much I love French food?Oh hey – look at my 12 year old! The ONLY reason I let her get this creepy doll is because it was her birthday. And she’s cute.Jay, JR and I wandered to a cafe for some breakfast. Jay had no idea he ordered cheesecake for breakfast. Best cheesecake he’s ever had.Did you know there are several Notre Dame cathedrals? There is one in Strasbourg. Pro tip. Read the signs. For the love of god, get out google translate and read the signs. Turns out there are TWO lines to get inside the church. One goes into the main hall of the church, which is what most people intend to do. The OTHER line is a paid entry that goes into a winding staircase. That goes up. And up. And up. To the top of the freaking bell tower. We paid money to torture ourselves. Don’t do what we did. Unless you want to die at the top of a Notre Dame (which I almost did). The views were nice but I was dying so I didn’t take any pictures.That brown building behind us is the oldest one in Strasbourg. How old? Built in 1154. Seriously old.On our last morning in Strasbourg, while everyone was getting packed up, Jay and I found a cafe in front of the cathedral for coffee. There were a couple people playing violin, it was a beautiful morning. The church bells rang us a grand farewell.So JR does this thing. Every time he stays with us, he leaves a little treasure hunt. The last time was ketchup packets. This time it was fruit snack wrappers (from his 2 AM jet lag attack). I found one.
Exploring a new city with old friends. So glad they made the trip across the pond!!
The kids survived another year of school.This group of people have been a huge part of our German life. Always a great time when we all get together!Our neighbor, Suresh, had mentioned that he plays the Sitar, an Indian instrument. He and his wife, Anu, invited us over for coffee and a show. I am so glad we were able to get together before they moved back to the USA. Valentino had a birthday party that was pretty amazing. Live music, hors d’oeuvres, too much wine, great friends, and lots of laughter. In our front yard. 🙂
And the next morning we caught a flight to the US for 2 weeks!! We weren’t planning on going but decided that it would be good for us to reconnect with family, friends, and coworkers. We won’t be in Germany forever, and saying goodbye to several of our friends here made me start thinking about what life will be like when we repatriate in December.
This. Brody snuggles. Despite me suggesting to Emily that she wait until we went to Des Moines the next weekend, a quick phone call from Ty in the car on the way home from Chicago had her throwing her kids in the car for 2 nights in Bettendorf. Cousins. There are no better friends in life than cousins.We have lots of extra beds. The Shivers are a snuggly bunch.Baking with Memaw. Lily couldn’t WAIT to bake with Memaw. First request – Navajo tacos. YUMMYThe girls. A whole pile of Lily’s friends came over one night. Lots of squealing and laughter. So fun to catch up with their parents. Got some great tips about school and sports.Sticker shock. I was excited to go to my favorite burrito joint, California Burritos. 1 burrito, a large chips & queso, and an iced tea. THIRTY DOLLARS!?!?!?!? We spent the weekend in Des Moines. Friday night intense UNO Attack game. Brody seemed to always win.Not a good look for me, but be warned that playing Connect 4 with Oakleigh and Piggy is impossible, between Oaks dropping in extra circles and Piggy emptying them all out, I don’t think we got in a single round. 🙂Some of Jess’s friends were having a party and we totally crashed it. Ty got some driving practice in.Jay and I ran out to Sundie & Brad’s to pick up my painting they brought back from Arizona for us. We will always have great memories of the Königstein Hauptstraße.Papa and Jay got my cuckoo clock hung up. The boys went to Iron Tee to hit some golf balls.Aunt Brooke did an amazing job painting faces for the 4th of JulyAnd Shelby knows how to make a parade a lot more fun!
Lacking photo evidence, but here were some more highlights. Car show with Gees and Coens. Patio parties with the Blint girls. Lunches with lots of friends. Reconnecting with coworkers. Dinner with the Bach’s. Car shopping for me. Baseball & softball with Coach Matt. Relaxing at Memaw & Papa’s. Staci & Brian. The biggest brunch. Fireworks and sparklers.
I didn’t take many pictures – I was just living in the moment. And I have been slacking on writing my blogs so I am sure I am forgetting to mention a lot of things. What I can’t forget is the feeling of home. There really is nothing like it.
We landed at 6 AM on Sunday. We got a lucky upgrade! We had just enough time to run home, drop our bags, get changed, and head to Lily’s softball game. She was a trooper!But crashed as soon as we got home.
I didn’t realize how badly I needed that time in the US. I have loved our time in Germany. I could stay longer. But there are so many great things to look forward to back home. This trip reminded me of all of those things.
Shearer Adventure 