The Way That You Love Me

Looking around here, I think that Paula was full of it, cause the French Riviera is gorgeous.  It is kind of a combination of Positano, San Diego, Kauai, and maybe some Miami though I have never been there so I cant be sure. 

 Cannes at Sunset

The water is perfect blue and very clear and calm.  The region is dripping with wealth, with huge yachts in the harbor (which you too can charter for only 45,000 euro a week), fancy apartments/hotels along the beach and huge villas in the neighboring hills.  In Cannes it felt a little over the top.  Like everyone was trying to hard.  I think it would be absolute madness during the summer, not just during the film festival.  I read that most of the beaches are private, which at first I didn't understand, but when we got there it made more sense.  There is a long promenade along the water however it is higher than beach level.  The majority of the entry points with stairs down to the beach are privately owned so no pay, no beach. Luckily, since its off season, no one cared.

At night, there is a huge carnival mid way set up along the Promenade.  I am not sure if it is just for the holidays or if it is always there.  They had some crazy Fun Houses that Im sure Lilah would have loved to romp in if she could do them alone, but with the big kids running amok it was out of the question. 

To my surprise, Cannes does not seem to be a young persons town.  Most of the people were families with kids or older (50+) people just chillin' out (or trying to reclaim their youth).  Almost no one there between the ages of 20 and 35 as far as I could see.  Playgrounds are quite plentiful in this region, unlike Home Base where they are few and far between. 

Today we went to Monaco and like any country with Royals, the people are pretty obsessed with their doings.  Apparently, Prince Albert II got married earlier this year and there was all this memorabillia for sale.  Monaco actually felt a lot more low key than Cannes but also even wealthier, like the people who live there dont even realize how wealthy they are. 

Wealthy or not, they had an amazing aquarium which Lilah loved.  They had tank after tank of some of the most exotic tropical fish Ive ever seen.  These pics are less exotic but had good displays for babies...

Oddly enough, the aqaurium was also where the wedding dress and grooms uniform were on display as well as bottles of wine from the reception, copies of the invitations etc.

After the aquarium we went to a Christmas market which was quite charming but a little weird because it was all Christmasy in look but along side it were yachts and it was over 60 degrees out. 

Today on our adventure we took the train rather than driving and though it added a couple hours and more than a couple Euro to our expense, it was well worth it because Lilah could romp around during travel time rather than be cooped in her car seat.  It also meant she could see me which meant no separation anxiety and no need for me to get car sick sitting in the back with her.  The people in Monaco really loved Lilah.  Especially the waiter at lunch who fell head over heels for her.  He even brought her some biscuits to munch on.

Tomorrow we head back to home base, but I am hoping to stop at some Turkish Baths on the way.

No car today=no bad song!