| We visited the Riviera for two weeks in late November-early December--not the ideal time of year to visit the land of sunshine and golden glow! Maybe because of this, the area doesn't hold a spot on our list of favorite, must return to places. However, I believe that opinion would not change even if we had been there at a different time of year. While the villages and mountain tops are lovely, enchanting and picture perfect, the coastal areas don't have the ambiance and "touch your heart" quality of the Italy we love so much. We enjoyed days wandering Villefranche, Antibes, Cannes, and other places but once having wandered the alleys and streets, we were ready to move on; whereas, in Italy we are ready to settle in (forever). You may wonder why we would go there when many of the restaurants, shops and museums are closed for the "annual vacation". The answer is that the true purpose of the trip was to visit some of our missionary friends in Nice. Spending time with them was special and gave us what we wanted on this trip. |
| Again our wonderful grandson Casey was with us. If you have not visited the Spain and Italy 2003 sections of our website, you are not familiar with him. He is a charming 5 year old who thinks traveling the world is a normal occupation for a kindergartener. Of course, traveling with a 5 year-old does impact travel style and focus. If you want to learn more about this, check out the Traveling with Children section. |
| Because the nature of this trip was so different from our other trips, these pages are strictly pictures of various villages, alleys, places that we saw--with maybe a few thoughts and observations scattered throughout. Feel free to e-mail with questions or sign the guestbook. I do answer those entries. Enjoy! |
| We lived a week at the wonderful LA BASTIDE AUX OLIVIERS, 1.5 km outside of St. Paul de Vence. We stayed in both the Manon Suite and the Apartment Pauline. This delightful place is high on our list of recommendations. If you are interested, I can send you more photos, including ones of the apartment Pauline. |
| St. Paul de Vence |
| Villages of the Riviera |
