Côte d'Azur for our fifth...

On August 31st, Eric and I celebrated 5 years of marriage and looking back we continue to see how very much we have to be thankful for. That month was full of lots of fun travels and guests coming to visit, so before the craziness got into full swing, we escaped for a long weekend trip to Nice, France sans Brooks to mark our anniversary a few day early. My parents came over to play with the little guy and live the lives of London ex-pat grandparents for a few days. Thank you, Mom and Dad!!


The Blue Coast, as this lovely part of the Mediterranean is called, is known for its crystal blue water and pebble-y beaches. I had NO IDEA. The beach rivals the Caribbean for it's turquoise colored water - it was gorgeous. But it was also a bit painful. The beach is not pebbles, it's actually rocks, and zero sand. On our second day we decided to rent a couple of these beach chairs because after 8 hours laying on the rocks the day before, I thought the squishy cushions on the chaise lounges sounded pretty darn nice. :)


The historic Promenade des Anglais ("Walk of the English") is the main beachfront boardwalk, started in the 1820's during the beginning of the city's hay day. Rich and famous businessmen, artists, and celebrities have flocked to Nice for almost two centuries for its lovely views of the blue water and great weather. The sunsets each night were lovely...


I actually didn't get any shots of some of my favorite moments of the weekend including dinner Saturday night at a yummy Niçoise restaurant - ridiculously tasty and LONG. I love how the French linger over their meal-times. We also spent several evening hours on the balcony of our hotel room, enjoying the summer air and talking about meaningful moments from the last year and what we anticipated for the next year.


That yellow building was our hotel and the huge top corner balcony was ours! :)

While Monaco wasn't our favorite part of the weekend, we spent part of Sunday wandering around this Las Vegas of the Mediterranean and enjoyed seeing where the rich and famous play.


The harbor in Monte Carlo was filled with these ridiculously luxurious yachts,


and the most common car we saw that day on the streets of town was, that's right! A bright red Ferrari. Eric began to speculate that the casinos must own several garages full of them, ready to be loaned out to high-rollers on a winning streak. It got to be sort of blasé after a while, watching them cruise up and down the strip.


The Riviera was a great vacation spot and we savored the leisurely pace - staying up late and sleeping in, getting to linger over a nice dinner out, and lounging at the beach in the sunshine reading books. It was a great mini-retreat and I loved both looking back and looking forward, knowing that five more years will likely bring just as many changes as these first five. I hope we have fifty-five more years together, darlin'! I love you!