Grateful for...

The south of France.

Although I could stay in Paris forever, it's always nice to spend the last week of the trip in the south. It's a nice change of pace and I love that we get to go to so many places. We stay in Antibes and do afternoon/evening trips to Cannes, Monaco, Nice and Juan-les-Pins. It's pretty amazing.

I'm also grateful for my colleagues on the trip! A few hours after talking with another teacher on the trip (who became a good friend) after a difficult day, I came out of my hotel room to find these waiting for me. She knew I was a sucker for fresh flowers. I may have cried a little.


I got to know the wonderful woman who cleaned my room during the three weeks in Paris, so I left them for her with a card when we left for the south. You know, passing the joy along.

While we're on the subject, here are some photos from the flower market in Nice. I could have stayed there all day.



On the excursion to Grasse to do a tour of Fragonard (the first perfumery), we stopped in a little village called St-Paul-de-Vence. That's where I snapped this photo. People actually live here. Crazy. It's hard to tell but there's a beautiful view through that crack between the two buildings.


This last photo I took in Eze, a village we stopped in on the way to Monaco. I am absolutely in love with this sign. In English, it says "If you take my parking spot, take my handicap". Amen.


I probably should have taken many more photos during the last week, but because they were all places I had been several times before, I wasn't as trigger happy as I normally am. Either way, it was a wonderful month but I'm glad to be home!