Pentecost Monday

A lovely morning here in Nice.
Esteliott was back up to their old tricks.
This next series is called "Fun with Water Bottles". I think only grandmothers and aunts would think this is interesting, so my apologies to the rest of you!


In case those 2 shots didn't satiate you, here's a video.

Back at the ranch, we enjoyed a lovely luncheon put on by my illustrious husband, and Esteliott enjoyed a few toys together....

Fransiska brought dessert - here's a photo of one thing she brought, a "Tropezienne". This is the name for this traditional type of cream-filled brioche cake topped with sugar. What you see is one portion CUT IN HALF. Do you know the way to St. Tropez? (harty har)
I know the way - it's called go straight at cellulite and take a left at cardiac arrest. But who cares? Man are these DEE-LISH.In the afternoon the skies opened up and we had a regular thunderstorm with a big downpour. People caught out on the sidewalks were shrieking and running for cover, which is hilarious to watch from 5 stories up. Legos became the past-time for the afternoon:
Check out this windmill complete with terrace that Thomas built looking at a picture on the side of the bucket of Lego's (faithful readers will remember these are vintage 1987 Legos from the church shop).
He can cook AND build with Legos.

Tomorrow I hold down the fort for the first time on my own. Stay tuned. Today went SO SMOOTHLY with everyone napping and eating and doing everything they should right on target that I'm sure the other shoe will fall tomorrow!

The Aftershock

Here's Léna looking pensive after the departure of TaTa Lisa.

But Estelle had a little visit late this afternoon from her friend Ines....now that all our visitors are gone, time to catch up with some of our friends here!
Thanks to Manou, Papy and Lisa for all their help the past few weeks!
Thankfully tomorrow is Pentecost so Thomas has the day off - one more day of reprieve for me.

Saturday in Nice

It all began with banana-bran muffins, filmed by Lisa, sideways. She forgot my instructions about holding the camera horizontally - but we DID get rid of the clicking at least!


Here's our little Léna who is filling out nicely lately . This onesie is too small now!

Then Estelle, Lisa and I bopped over to Eze, a famous perched medieval village just east of Nice. The sun was lovely, a great breeze blowing - perfect morning to stroll around. Here are a ton of photos:

On the side of the route we drove on. Behind Lisa you see the peninsula of Cap Ferrat, some of the most expensive real estate around.....



Here we are in Eze, looking down.


Chess, anyone?





Shots of the cemetery in Eze...



The bridge to Eze....
Inside the chapel lighting a candle for WHA:










We don't have any photos of Lisa's solo excursion out and about this afternoon when she went into the old town for some last minute souvenir shopping whilst the rest of us napped. Too bad, since she went all over the place!

Dinner tonight was savory crepes made by Thomas, and asparagus....
All good things must come to an end......boo hoo.

Friday Fun

This morning I taught a lesson while Lisa looked after Léna.
Then Lisa and I went to a "new mother" discussion group I was asked to participate in at the local clinic. It was SO BORING. Typical format of the "education" system over here. The agenda was literally to spend 1 hour discussing what to discuss at the NEXT meeting 3 weeks from today. I thought my head would blow off. Needless to say, won't be attending that next session.
When we returned, Léna and I had some gazing time....
Then after naps we all went into the old town for a stroll and some gelatto. Here we are at Place Rosetti in front of the fontaine.

Estelle's chocolat "glace" got the better of her.
Back at the ranch, Lisa and I did some home improvement to help my bedroom door close!
And for dinner, we had gone to one of the fresh pasta shops in the Old Town and picked up 10 dozen sheets of raviolis. That sounds like a ton, but it was just the right amount for the 3 of us and a bit left for Estelle too. This is "Nicois" ravioli, which is meat-filled. We ate it plain with just a bit of butter and fresh grated parmesan that we grated ourselves. Scrumptious!
And fruit salad - yum! Also we had a no-salt baguette. This is a by-product of Lisa being the one who went down to get the baguette - she had an adventure!
Too bad her beautiful blue eyes are closed! Here's TaTa giving Léna her bottled of expressed milk last night while PaPa was at hockey.
And here's a video of a lot of squirming..... should also add that we went to the Pediatrician's yesterday and Léna, who was 1 month by the calendar yesterday (28th) but was 4 weeks and 2 days weighed in at 4k350g. This is an 800+g gain in 3 weeks. Excellent! Specially for a baby who is nursed and not on formula! Wouldn't my Aunt Pearl be proud!