France, week 2: Antibes and other fun

Well, I am finally posting our pics from our second week in France.  On Sunday, we flew from Paris to Antibes on this horrible airline called EasyJet (avoid them if you are ever in Europe!).  But, we had an awesome place to stay.  We rented a little house with our friends Jon & Julie.  The house had an ocean view and was right in the middle of the town of Antibes.  I thought Antibes was a really cute place, with lots of little shops and restaurants.  Everyday they had a little farmers market, and they also had stores where you could buy homemade pasta and sauces that were sooooo goood!

We also rented a car so that we could travel to other fun sites.  One place we visited was Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, in between Nice and Monaco.  It was a gorgeous mansion built for a Socialite named Beatrice.  It was very gorgeous inside, and we had little radios that would explain things and give us a background story about everything.  It was hard to enjoy it with Jacob though.  We actually tried this little leash that we had.  I always thought these were weird, but I was desperate to keep him close!  He hated it though, and I felt like I was walking a dog, so it didn't last very long.

Kevin had a hard time keeping his eyes open in pictures.

The mansion had a gorgeous garden, and fountains that did a show every 15 minutes.  Jacob loved the turtles in the pond.

Another day we drove to Monaco.  We parked near the Monte Carlo Casino and walked around.  It was super fancy, and there were nice cars everywhere.  But I was surprised to also see a lot of kids.  Lots of people were pushing strollers around.

people were getting their picture taken next to the nice cars

The next day we drove to Italy, because it was so close.  It was interesting to see the signs on the road change from French to Italian.  Luckily we had Jon and Kevin with us.  Jon speaks French, and Kevin speaks Spanish, which most Italians could understand.  So that worked out well for us:)

In Italy, we ate lunch at this quaint little pasta place.  This pasta was absolutely amazing.  I couldn't believe how much better it was than any pasta I have eaten in the US.  Jacob loved it too, and he ate a ton.

I thought the little street the restaurant was on was really cute, so I took some pictures:)

And of course we had to get some Gelato while in Italy.  Also amazing.

Then we drove around and stopped at a beach.  The sand was very rocky (in fact I think it was mostly just rocks) but the water was so clear and pretty.  All the beaches we went to had super clear water and warm temps.  It was really nice.  Jacob was kind of afraid of the ocean, but he would play with toys as long as I was sitting next to him.  He loved all the rocks.

Jacob was ok in the water as long as he was on daddy's shoulders

Before heading back to Antibes, we had to get some pizza in Italy.  And this was amazing too!  I don't know how it was so different, but it was the best pizza I have ever eaten.  I was grateful that Jon and Julie had done a lot of research on fun places to go.  I really hadn't looked up anything before we got here, because I was so consumed with planning for Jacob.  So it was nice that they planned such great stuff!

The next day we headed to another beach near Antibes.  Jacob had a lot of fun here, because Jon and Julie made him a fun little castle with a moat to play in:)

Kevin and Jon were like two little boys, having fun in the water:)

For dinner that night, we got some fresh, homemade pasta from the pasta store.  It was so yummy.

Neither place we stayed at in France had a bath tub, so Jacob took baths in the sink.  I think most places are too small to have a bath tub.  The place we rented was a pretty good size but didn't have a tub either.

On another day, we took a ferry to a little island called lle Sainte Marguerite.  The best part of our visit here was the Nutella filled beignets!  They were so awesome.  And Jon and Kevin loved the water--it was pretty rocky so I couldn't take Jacob very far out into it.    

These were the steps leading to the main street of the town.  Jacob loved going down these.



















































On our last day in France, we decided to spend the whole day in Antibes.  We took Jacob to the park, rode a little tour train (which Jacob fell asleep on), spent time at the beach, ate good food, and walked around the cool shops.

The gelato was shaped like a flower!

Our front door

Our street name.

Looking down the street.  I am so mad at myself for forgetting to take pictures of the inside!

Here is a video of Jacob running and saying some french words:)

We had a great time in France, but I am happy to be back to normal (somewhat).  The flight home was long and pretty hard with Jacob, and I don't really care to fly anytime soon.