Carnival

Even though Lent has begun, Carnival continues here in Nice.
Sunday afternoon we ventured into the fray, though we did wait until we knew the mob scenes would have dispersed.
With the new tram lines that opened about a year and a half ago, the Carnival and all its parade routes are all along the beachfront and central park, as opposed to up the main axe of the city as it had been for decades.
I kind of liked it better when it was going thru the streets and not along the water.
At any rate, first item of business was a ride on the merry-go-round.

A little video to put you in the mood:


Every year the Carnival has a theme. This year's theme is "Roi des Mascarades", or King of the Mascarades. This involves about 20 enormous floats, including the King and Queen floats.
Various artists, designers, cartoonists and sculptors are solicited from various countries to think up the various floats. This year's floats' ideas come from Italians, English, Americans, Indians, and of course the majority are French.
This one, not a great shot, is by a French artist and is supposed to be a machine or robot that chooses masks.
The float below is from an American press cartoonist named Chad Crowe. It is supposed to be a giant masked Pulcinella, carrying tragedy and comedy masks in his hands.
This next one with several "Russian dolls" is by a French designer and is called "Russian masquerade", saying "who is really governing Russia, Medvedev or Poutine?
I just liked this guys with birds on the backs and blades on their feet. So Bread and Puppet. I got wistful.

Below is a bad shot from behind of an Indian designed float, "Many Faces" where the slogan was "a many-faced suitor has no face of his own".

There was a float by a French painter called "Nice and its monuments" but all it turned out to be was these enormous representations of the "head" that is over the big library near our neighborhood - which you see below:
Another French float by a graphic illustrator - this one entitled "The Enigma of the Iron Mask", representing the muskeeteers and the Man in the Iron Mask.
This one is from France too. Nothing too significant about it.
This next one was called "Masked Justice" and it said it was "Tornado, Zoro's horse".

And here is one of the stars of the show, the King float: He is coming out of a box and has all the masks he has worn over the years.... there is like a whole thing going on underneath. It was REALLY big, don't know if you can get the sense from the photos....


The back of the King:
I just liked these tired troopers. You can see that the "stands" for the people who pay for a seat were all empty at this point.
This next float was far away but you can see the mess on the street. It was representing Carnival's theoretical return to the Old Town of Nice. This doesn't mean much to anybody outside of the city!

This one, poorly photographed in the sole contribution from the Italian press cartoonist, and is the Devil, masked - is he an angel or really a devil? It represents eternal deception.
This one below is also from the American: it's called "The Credit King" - the note said "a masquerade of excessive richness pulled by poor men whose feet are chained to credit cards"
Here's England's contribution: a tatooed man on a harley. No one knows what it means.
Another French float: a "masked boat"
You can see Estelle was pretty interested in this huge things. Look at the blue of the sea behind them.


This float was called "Freedom thru drunkenness, in moderation of course!" the subtitle was "Bubbles lead to drunkenness, drunkenness to freedom". uh, whatever.

Very poor photo below but it was called "The Chameleons' Masked Ball"
And here is the Queen of the Carnival - a truly impressive float - so BIG!

And look at what was going on under her skirts - all these people!

A great float!
And finally, a few videos:
One, a band playing in a gazebo. Whilst there we ran into an acquaintance named Gersende whose little girl Jade was born 6 days before Estelle. They enjoyed dancing together.

That's Entertainment!

Always something funny to do.
Tea with Mr. Potato Head and some Playmobile buddies, using a miniature tea set brought back from Japan by our musician-friend neighbors...

Last Sunday when our friend Naad and her daughter Mai came over, things got awfully quiet in Estelle's room where the girls were amusing themselves. With baby powder, we discovered shortly thereafter.
Re-discovering puzzles in the bottom of the toybox:
Playdough also became a priority again recently.
This past week our nanny Cathy was on vacation. So on Tuesday morning we took advantage of a chance to hang out at the library with Ines.
Speaking of Ines, Thursday was her 3rd bday and it was celebrated yest afternoon. Look at that yummy cake her mom made. She had also made a delicious, moist cake called a "yogurt cake" that is pretty standard here in France. It was sooooooooo good, I had 2 pieces. So did Thomas!

Note the fervor in Estelle's face as she sings her heart out:
Estelle, Inés, Clara and Mahé.
I think you can all figure out just who in this household dressed my daughter to go to an all-girl birthday party wearing jeans, a t-shirt and striped sneakers. "Mark my words", I said with a stern voice after a curt discussion before leaving the house to go, "all the other kids will be in a skirt and tights". With the arrival of each new girl bedecked in little girl finery (there were 2 more not pictured) my betrothed and I exchanged knowing looks across the room. "I get it, I get it" was his comment later on.
Here's a video to show yet another chorus of Frenchie happy birthday....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a short look at all of Estelle's Valentines goodies.....
She is very loved, near and far!

The Pool

On Saturday mornings we often take Estelle to the pool in the Old Town. It is a special session with the freshly infused heated water, just for babies then toddlers and children up to 3 or 4. This is the same pool where I attend Pregnancy Swim classes with a midwife. Today was a special pool day because it was our last time there with our friends who are moving to Norway - Helene, Jocelyn and their son Mael. Helene and I are both expecting again and due at the same time. Here are a few shots: Thomas is the one on the far left. Mael and Estelle are on the yellow mat, with his parents behind.

Estelle gets ready for the slide:



Last night, getting ready to watch Yogi Bear.
Arts and Crafts moment with a Xmas gift from Estelle's godfather Francois.

Stayed tuned for more weekend events.....

Esteliott in Monaco's Aquarium

This isn't just any aquarium. This is Prince Albert's Institut Oceanographique. Perched on a cliff, hanging out over the Mediterranean, just across from the Cathedral where Princess Grace was married, and where she is now buried with Prince Ranier, it is an impressive site.
Unlike last Sunday, today was not a day to be at the beach. So off we went to the netherworld in Monaco with Eliott and his parents.


This is a great place for kids on a cold and grey day. They spent the first few minutes trying to catch the fish through the glass.



Check out those sharks up high and down low

Scary big turtle. My brother Wes made me watch some scary movie once with a giant sea turtle wearing a pearl necklace or some such nonsense and some girl that rides away on it. Now I am terrified of sea turtles. Thanks Wes.
Here's Estelliot looking at stuff that none of us know the name of.
Again, there's some scary stuff in there....
Here are some giant eels, which could not possibly be uglier.
"The Fish I Caught was THIS big!"

Taking a break on a bench
This cylinder of some kind of school of fish was fascinating.

And here's a few photos from last wkend after the beach: Ines came over for a playdate called "Roll the plastic egg across the table"
Thursday was strike day. The whole country went on yet ANOTHER strike. This meant no trains, buses, all the schools closed, the daycares, blah blah blah. Thursday happens to be the day I teach at the university and I have the car. Thomas usually takes the bus to work. Needles s to say there was no bus. He stayed home in the morning whilst I had the car to teach (with 4 students in attendance since the rest of them couldn't get to school since there was no public transportation) and then I came home at lunch and he went to work.
In the meantime, Estelle enjoyed his company (municipal day care was closed - she spent part of her afternoon with Ines and her mom while I had to teach). What a day Thursday was!
Enjoying new blocks from Manou and Papy.
Yesterday we had a "chandeleur" (Crepe Day - or Candlemas). Thomas made about 2 dozen crepes and we had Celine & Jerome and their son Thomas over to join us. I forgot to take pictures cause I was too busy eating crepes - as was Estelle - who I did take one of, full of Nutella.

Good Day Sunshine

When my dad finished his pancakes, he would use the side of the tines of his fork to scrape all the excess syrup on his plate to the edges and then he scooped it up, not being a wasteful man, son of the Depression that he was. Here's Estelle being a chip off the old block, trying to get every last drop of her cousin's syrup out of the pitcher. She had already licked her plate.Here's a photo for my friend Peter Huffy H. Dude, CHECK IT OUT. I know you know where this is - bas corniche, after Mont Boron. These boys were MOVE-ING - this is where they turned onto Cap Ferrat. SO jealous. And might I add there were many many troops out in force in various groups, spokes whirring, so glorious was the weather. A blur of color.
We headed to historic and pittoresque Eze Bord sur Mer for some beach time only to find the waves on this "unprotected" beach somewhat unruly and no real place to play. Behind Thomas is Cap D'Ail (the Garlic Cape - that one's for you, Mom) which is just before Monaco.
So we decided to head back to Villefranche where we knew things were more manageable.
When we arrived, here was our first sight:
okay that's not one of us but I was jealous of him so took his photo.....
It all started innocently enough. A bucket and a few toys. Estelle wanted to take off her shoes.
Then we rolled up our jeans and dabbled in the lapping surf.
The next thing you know, my family is half naked on January 25th.

Here's my new favorite person on the French Riviera: Paul Mistral ("like the wind", he said)This character, of Italian origins, was a chatty Cathy and was as friendly as could be. He and his wife were having a little picnic and insisted on us trying some of everything they had to eat. Meanwhile, he came up to my belly button. Which p.s. is sticking out now and it didn't use to. Incidentally I think he was wearing heels. But they had some amazing bread which Estelle sunk her teeth into as if she hadn't just gorged on pancakes 2 hours prior, and some kind of wacky Italian quichey-type thing with squash and rice. Whoah baby. Paul is my new best beach friend. He even had paper towels to give to Estelle (mother, you would have approved). Estelle and I walked up and down the beach whilst Thomas had some kind of crazy European discussion with this guy covering a wide range of topics. And the best part is that everyone who passed by called out to him "Hey, Paul!". We were next to royalty. Albeit it be pygmie-style.

And here's a video of the beach. With narration, of course.