Posts Tagged ‘Travel with G’

Well…we have now been living in Antibes for about 3.5 weeks & things are going well. Katherine and I have switched working roles; she goes into the office every day and I work completely remotely. It’s a nice change…but I must admit I do miss the social interaction of fellow co-workers.

Life in France has been an adjustment…one that we were prepared for and welcomed with open arms. First off, everything in Europe is small. Heck, we bought beer at the local market and even they are small! Seriously…about 2-3 swigs and I’m still trying to figure out where the rest of it went. Maybe Guilliana is secretly guzzling it when I’m not looking! (She’s always liked the brown bottle!) Here…have a look…

So last weekend we decided to explore a little bit of the area we now live in. With G-Monkey in stroller we hit the French streets (or hallways) in search of a park to play at & some sights to see. We went over by the local farmer’s market right by the sea (Marche Provencal). It was a bit windy that day with a cool breeze coming off the Mediterranean Sea but that didn’t stop us. Heck, it never stops G…she’s always ready to play…and play hard she does! About 10 minutes’ walk from our place there is a park right on the beach. What a great hang out for G-Monkey! The park had a slide, puzzle cylinders, chains, steps, and climbing stuff. Perfect…& G LOVES it! I mean…what’s not to love about being a kid and frequenting the park right at the beach? Damn…I would have loved that as a kid! G’s nounou (French nanny) says that she has been a bit of a bully on the playground; grabbing other kids and not letting go. You see, Guilliana loves other little kids! As soon as she sees them, she wants to go over and touch their face and grab their clothes. Nounou told us that G kept doing this to a little boy last week and he was scared of her. Yep…that’s right G, keep scaring the boys…for another 25 years please!

Today the time went ahead an hour. Gee, I haven’t lost an hour of sleep like that in a dozen years! Actually I think I prefer not changing my clock…now that I became used to the non-adjustment while living in Arizona. It was nice. We got Guilliana up and fed…and headed out to locate a fridge for our house. We still have a couple of weeks before our stuff arrives via the shipping company. They tell us it is still on track to arrive on March 31. Then, it takes 4-6 business days to inspect and get through French customs. Sooooo, we are hoping to have it by April 15th especially at the pace some of these French people move! Thus far, to be honest, it kind of feels like we are on vacation since we don’t have ANY of our stuff; well, very few things anyway. I’m looking forward to moving into our new house and getting out of this corporate housing. It’s really not all it’s cracked up to be. Time share is what I would compare it to.

We have a couple necessities but not enough. Heck, we don’t even have an oven! Who the heck can cook without an oven? Well, let’s just say that Katherine and I’s (more Katherine) creative ‘Top Chef’ juices have been flowing. We have come up with a few very tasty dishes that we’d definitely repeat! But…an oven would be NICE to have. Anyways…house in 2 weeks…just 2 more weeks…

We were hoping to explore a small, nearby town called Biot this weekend but Saturday was consumed by a “crazy” trip to the gigantic Carrefour Market, similar to Wal-Mart, including all the chaos! Let me assure you doing this with G was no easy task and for future reference…we WON’T be doing it again. Sunday was a much better day…I didn’t have to deal with congested aisle in a store. We took a short drive up to Villeneuve-Loubet and the fridge we looked at was perfect. It was actually bigger that I was…surprisingly! And for 90€ you certainly can’t beat the price. Now…to rent a truck to pick it up. Did I mention things are small here? I’m honestly not sure how people move stuff. Appliances…you are lucky if they fit into an automobile and certainly not a “full-sized” European fridge! I guess I’m going to learn how this all happens in the next couple weeks. On the way back we decided to stop along the beach and hang out around the water with G-Monkey taking pictures before it started to rain. We got some great shots and G loved it. I bet she can’t wait until summer so she can jump right in the ocean. Boy is she going to get a surprise when she realizes the ocean is salt water!

Enjoy the slideshow. Au revoir, mon ami!

Anyone interested in the full album of pics for these days, follow the pics below.

Views & the Beach Park	Visting the Beach