Provence

Well, here it is...the beautiful Provence! Chase and I absolutely LOVED Provence. I could so easily move there....and probably never come back. I can only imagine what it must be like when it's warm. Just the beautiful, warm sun and the rolling hills and small villages. I loved it. We stayed with Chase's great-aunt and uncle and they were incredibly hospitable. It was so fun to get to know them and they took us to see so many beautiful places.

At the Mediterranean Sea

Having drinks at a sea port

Gotta love the sea

This was just so typically French to me, and I loved it. We were walking around this castle (seen in the background) and the sun was shining, but only in certain spots. These 3 old men were just sunbathing in front of the castle...and I just thought it was so cute.

Old French wall

Old French alley and buildings

There's an artist in this little village that paints the sides of buildings really beautifully. This is a retirement home and he painted all those balconies and shutters and everything. It looked so real, it was amazing!

In front of Christain & Jacqueline's village--Monfort-sur-Argens. It was such a quaint village in the rolling hills, covered in vineyards.

In front of an ancient water fountain, where the villagers used to come to gather water and water their animals. It's pretty old.

A lakeside village--Lac Sainte-Croix

In the background you can see Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, a village tucked up in the mountainside. It was full of windy streets and little shops. We bought a traditional vase there to add to our collection.

Chase and I at the base of--Le Grand Canyon de Verdon--"The Grand Canyon of France"

Chase with Jacqueline and Christian

Cool "houses" built in the cliffside.

An outdoor market where you can buy anything from cheese to fruit to tablecloths to jewelry. I loved it and would LOVE to go shopping there all the time, which is strange because I don't love to shop. But there's just something about buying things fresh and from the source and outside in the sunshine.

I LOVE FRANCE!

Nice & Monaco

As I was creating this post I told Chase, "Nice really was beautiful. I don't think we gave it enough credit." We have said that we liked it, but we weren't blown away by it. I think this is because of a couple reasons:

1-We stayed in a WHORE-IBLE hotel our first night

2-It rained 2 of the 3 days we were there

But it really was a cool city. Very narrow, windy streets and orange rooftops and gorgeous Mediterranean water. We had a good time. We also spent an afternoon in Monaco, which was only about 45 minutes from Nice (pronounced "niece") by bus. It's the most densely populated country in the world and has the highest average salary in the world. Yeah, tons of rich people live there.

That's Monte Carlo in the background...a super ritzy hotel and casino.

The harbor in Monaco at sunset.

Monaco is famous for holding the Grand Prix...Chase wanted to participate

This is the seagull who tried to kill me so he could have my cheese and crackers

The Jacques Cousteau marine museum in Monaco.

The harbor in Monaco

Chase and I were able to find the ward in Nice and we had a great time at church.

The bus to church got us there SUPER early, so we meandered around for a while and ran into these beautiful ruins.

The Matisse Museum, which we didn't go into because it was closed, but I thought it was cool looking.

Chase and I took a long walk along the Mediterranean Sea on one of our sunny days. Along the way we met a bird lady and Chase bonded with her. So sweet.

The beaches didn't have sand, just lots of beautiful, very smooth rocks.

Typical Chase behavior

I think Chase skipped rocks for an hour. We have such simple minds. Hey, at least it was free!

Looking tired at the Mediterranean Sea

A view of Nice from the Castle Hill Cemetary

Love the narrow streets and beautifully colored buildings

We went to an outdoor market where there were a lot of fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses, breads, and flowers. I love France!

The residence of Henri Matisse for 17 years. At the end of the outdoor market.

Again, love the narrow streets....just so typically European!

We'd love to go back to the Mediterranean again, it was absolutely beautiful! Anyone up for a Mediterranean cruise??

Chamonix

I'm warning you...there are a lot of pictures in this post. But it's because we absolutely LOVED Chamonix....it was so beautiful and magical. Even now, as I was uploading photos to this blog, I said to Chase, "Chamonix was so gorgeous" and he agreed. Anyway, here are our adventures of the French Alps.

Us at the Mer de Glace--the glacier that slices through the Alps. It is about 13 miles long and incredible to see. In this picture you can see the gap between the glassy glacier and the snow. Very cool.

Inside the glacier

Up above the glacier

We rode up a gondola to the top of the Alps to experience a wonderful view of Mont Blanc and the other mountain peaks. Here are just a view photos of the incredible vistas. Isn't is beautiful??

Here you can see the glacier from above and snow covered

A snow tunnel

High? Yes, I think so. It was so freakin cold up there. If you took your hands out of your pockets for more than 5 seconds you could immediately feel them freezing and becoming numb.

Chase & Mont Blanc...the highest mountain peak in Europe.

The day Chase went skiing I spent my time walking around the little town and reading...what a glorious day. I sat in the lobby area of our hotel and read and this was the view I had. I actually think I spent just as much time staring at the mountains as I did reading. I don't think life gets much better than that.

The charming town of Chamonix by day

...and by night.

Out in front of our hotel the night we arrived

We loved Chamonix and would love to go back someday!