Visitors and those of us that live in Paris learn very quickly that August is holiday time. People go away for weeks at a time, most go on holiday for the entire month of August. When we arrived in April we already received questions from people asking where we are going for the month and by April it was already late to book something. Fortunately I did some research and used VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) to book our holiday.

But prior to heading out on holiday for a just a measly week we had a big day to celebrate. August 5th was our little guy, Lance's birthday. I can't believe it but he is 5 already. It was a birthday weekend for Lance and we asked him what he wanted to do. Saturday, August 4th we decided to go over to Jardin des Tuileries to the summer carnival. Lance has been begging to go up in the big ferris wheel and I have to admit I have been really wanted to go myself. Beside Keith and I having a heart attack on the price of the ride it was really cool and the kids had a blast on it. I forgot just how high a ferris wheel brings you up.

We then ventured over to the Paris Plages, which is when the edge of the Seine is turned into a beach for a month. We really just wanted was some ice cream since it was such a hot day and figured that was a great place to get it. It is a great idea bringing a beach into Paris but truthfully it just made me hotter watching the people in the sun when there is no water to jump into. (they do provide water stations, but definitely not the same as an ocean or lake to jump into).

The next day we took Lance to Disney Studios for Lance's actual birthday. It was our first time with the kids and there were some rides there for the kids but we ended up going back to Disneyland since all Lance wanted to do was ride the Buzz Light Year ride. After Disney we came home to a fun filled night of pizza, cupcakes and gifts. Lance really made out this birthday. He was out of his mind with his Ben 10 watch and his Knight shirt (he would wear it everyday if he could). He thought the new bike he got was pretty cool also.

Now it was time to get ready for vacation. The following Saturday we left for a 5 hour train ride to the south of France, known to the french as the Cote D'Azur (you would know as the French Riviera). The train ride is great, you can get up and move around and the 5 hours went really fast. We arrived in Cannes, picked up our rental car and headed to the little town of Theoule Sur Mer, around 8 miles south of Cannes. It was beautiful. We rented a villa in a gated community (apparently built by Pierre Cardin) right on the Meditteranean Sea and woke up to breath taking views everyday. It was great they had two big pools, playgrounds for the kids and rock style beaches. Lance had a blast at the pool, from day one he was jumping off the diving board all by himself, which means Daddy or Mommy didn't have to tread water under the board for him. It is amazing how he has grown and matured in the water. He is swimming all over all by himself. Love it. Now we just have to work on his stroke.

Lance on the diving board....all by himself.

After two days of the sun we decided to take a road trip to Monte Carlo, Monaco, the second smallest country in the world. Do you know the smallest? So we headed out and only an hour later we were in a different amazing country. It was so pretty, so clean and just soooo rich. Where we were staying we have seen some amazing cars but in Monaco a Bentley is almost as common as a Toyota in the US. It is crazy. We walked around, and really enjoyed the marina. I think Keith and I could have stared at the yachts all day and we aren't even boat people. It was a fun day of just hanging out.

Keith's dream garage..a Masarati, a Bentley and a Mercedes.

Look at all these yachts!!  what do these people do? — Look at all these yachts!! what do these people do?

The next few days were filled with more pool time and beach time. The beaches are quite small on the Mediterranean but the water is just so blue.

We the decided to take another day trip to Saint Paul de-Vence. It is a small medieval town within the French Riviera. I fell in love with all the little shops and side streets within the town. There are no cars in the town, you just walk down the alleyways and cobblestones to get where you are going. Everything fascinated me about it. The kids got a kick out of all the different water fountains within the town. What a great place, I am so glad we decided to go.

Fountains of St Paul

Streets of St Paul.....I couldn't get enough

When we got back to Theoule Sur Mer that night we went out to dinner downtown and to our surprise look what was there in harbor..

The USS Whitney was there, for the next three days, to partake in the events honoring the liberation of Southern France by Allied Forced in World War II. It was the 69th anniversary of allied troops landing in Provence during the War. This celebration goes on every year. There were sailors walking around and it was such a nice sight. We said hi to some of the sailors and told them how glad we were to see them and they were equally as glad to talk to someone from the US.

We ate dinner at an italian place facing the harbor and there were so many US flags, you would have thought we were in The States. The night ended perfectly with some beautiful fireworks up and down the coast. It was a beautiful sight.

The rest of the vacation was full of swimming and hanging out. I was able to get some really good runs in, especially since it was all hills. I love hills!! Keith was also able to get a bunch of great open water swim workouts in the Mediterranean. He is my hero!

The week was over and it was time to go back to Paris, which is not a bad place to go back to but it was such a great week and an amazing place that it was still sad to leave.

Below are just a few random pictures from our trip.

Thanks for Reading!!

Life is Good...in Cote D'Azur