I would walk 500 miles...

I am fully aware that we are a few days behind and I take full responsibility for that, but I figured no one would hold it against me while we are here in the land of beauty. I have rather fallen in love with the French Riviera. Nice has definitely been one of our favorite places and I now quite understand why my best friend loved living here. Unlike Marseille we have always be able to find places to eat that are open in the afternoon and late into the evening and the food has been wonderful.

Tuesday we had decided to head out to Parc Phoenix which promised gardens and Europe’s biggest green house. Our map indicated it was 4km and we decided to walk it stopping at the Musee des beaux-arts on the way on Jen’s recommendation. We found the museum and began our quest to find Jen’s favorite sculpture. She had mentioned it before I left Canada but I never had the chance to get more information on which statue I was looking for; I knew it was a sculpture of a woman but that was all I had to go on. In the first room we entered Lyle spotted a sculpture of a woman beneath a veil, we both felt that this was a good candidate. We continued through the museum enjoying the first floor more than the second but on a whole it was a quaint little museum that was free and didn’t take too much time to see. Upon leaving we still thought that statue was the likely one and upon checking with Jen later we indeed guessed correctly.

Continuing our journey up the Promenade the walk began to feel very long as we could see ourselves approaching the airport. Now up until this point I have been the one most likely to complain about sore feet, knees, hips, ankles etc… this day would prove to be the exact opposite. Lyle was really feeling the wear and tear on his lower body and not happy with what seemed to be the never ending walk. It really did feel like we might never get there. While we were in the airport district we began to see signs for the Parc which encourages us to keep trekking along. We spotted the greenhouse and the parc perimeter and began feeling very hopeful; we continued following the signs and after another 10 minutes or so finally found the entrance.

Birds of Paradise will always remind me of California and some wonderful friends

The parc was quite a bit larger than we had envisioned and we were excited to explore. Lyle and I both love animals but there are certain animals that turn the look on my husband’s face to one akin to a kid in a candy store. We discovered that there were both tortoises and otters… the camera battery was doomed, and I was destined to spend large amounts of time watching Lyle film the animals. I must admit that I do really enjoy watching him get excited over the critters and I giggle a bit at his enthusiasm. The parc had a number of different animals including some evil loose chickens, as an aside did any of you know that chickens can climb trees? I was a bit flabbergasted.

 Giant guinea pigs

 Evil tree climbing roosters

We made our way into the greenhouse which was incredible. It was divided into six separate areas each showcasing a different type of climate, including some animals and there was also an aquarium. My favorite section of the greenhouse was the one dedicated largely to orchids, the number and variety was stunning. I would love to have a greenhouse full of blooming orchids.

 Every greenhouse here has beautiful hibiscus

 Enormous leaves

 Bruce x 2

We wandered the parc until we were exhausted and figured we had seen most of the attractions and then headed out for home. We had decided that we would take the bus back to spare our bodies but we still had to walk to the nearest bus stop. We managed to survive the trip and enjoy the rest of our fairly uneventful day. We found a restaurant called La Lorraine and decided on dinner there since they had a good price on a kilo of mussels and Lyle was itching to try them. The food was really good and the waiter/host was very entertaining. We decided we would eat there again before we left.

Wednesday morning the plan had been to head into Monaco… well we didn’t get up quite early enough so I let Lyle sleep. I had recalled seeing books in the apartment so I dug through and found a murder mystery that looked interesting and began to read… I woke Lyle up about 1 so we could have breakfast and we just hung out reading all day until dinner time! It was fabulous! We ventured out for dinner and tried a new place…. It was a fail in my books. Lyle ordered a half chicken and fries and said it reminded him of what you get at Safeway. I ordered paella and it was ok. After stopping elsewhere for a crepe and waffle for dessert (which were wonderful) we called it a night.

Ok folks, we promise to try and catch up with the blog now that we have internet in our tent!

Love you all,

H&L