I've always enjoyed hiking and it's fun to have new places to explore. With all the hills around Nice there are plenty of trails to pick from. John was down with a cold last week, so I did French Class in the mornings and hiking in

As I mentioned before, we purchase a baguette daily from our favorite boulangerie. We go right before lunch so it's fresh for our ham and cheese sandwiches. The same young man helps us everyday and has the specific type of baguette we like in his hand before we

Last weekend we enjoyed hiking along a coastal path from Nice to Villefranche-sur-Mer. It was a beautiful day and the walk was amazing! Villefranche-sur-Mer is such a cute little village. We had a relaxing lunch on a restaurant terrace by the water. The friends we were with are very active

My Friend Lynne asked to hear more about the food. And French Culture is food-centric! Mealtime in France is practically sacred. As I mentioned before, many businesses are closed for a few hours for lunch. Strolling through the streets between noon and three o'clock the restaurant terraces are

I forgot to mention something that surprised us soon after we arrived in Nice; the boom of a cannon! We noticed it happened everyday at noon. I finally looked it up online today. In 1861, an English gentleman, Thomas Coventry, persuaded the city of Nice to fire a cannon from

My friend Darren asked: "What has been the most positive surprise? ... The most negative?" It made me think about all the surprising and interesting things (big & small) so far on this journey... Sunnier weather as well as spending more time outdoors has a good impact on my

I feel a sense of community in the building that we live in and I love it! (There are 18 apartments and American citizens live in 3.) No too long after we moved in we met a younger women (30 something) Emmanuelle on the stairs. She welcomed us to the

When traveling, it's interesting to notice different countries have different ways of doing things. Living someplace gives you an even more in-depth exposure to these differences. In the US, we've relied a lot on Amazon. We like to purchase things locally but many things aren'

I had a head cold yesterday, so just hung out at home. Today I'm ready to go; however, today is Sunday and France is closed! It's closed Sunday and everyday between 12 noon and 2pm. Even Ikea is closed today. Hours do vary from place to

We moved into our new place! Yay! My 2 favorite things: 1. For me, the view is fantastic! I love sitting with my coffee in the morning and seeing the sun come over the mountains. 2. I enjoy living in a building with French charm; high ceilings, French doors, ornate

We had a big day getting our bed delivered and building Ikea furniture. And we really are just tired from the week! Enjoyed relaxing by dropping in to a tiny local brewpub we had seen and having local beer, Niçoise bar food, and live Irish music. Perfect fun evening! The

The day of the 2nd try for our Ikea delivery… The elevator still wasn’t fixed; but it's not as if the boxes for the couch, table, and armoire were going to fit in the tiny elevator anyway. They must have some process for getting them up the

We’ve had a lot of difficulty getting our French phone numbers due to a number of reasons. We took all the paperwork/progress over to the Orange store yesterday. It had them even stumped for a bit! Whenever we need to have a detailed conversation in French, I feel

The last couple days have be a lot! Just now bringing myself to blog about it. Difficulties are part of the journey though, right?!? If we had wanted things laid out neatly before us, we’d have taken a cruise. Saturday it stormed all morning but we finally headed over

We’ve had some fun going out to dinner some evenings.  We even found a brewery we like nearby (because sometimes you need to have a beer even in France).  They had a live Bossa Nova music event the other night which was fun.  This place doesn’t just have

We are in week 2 of our adventure of living in the South of France, the city of Nice!  We’re in an Airbnb and will move into our apartment on the 23rd.  It’s in a 1933 building, has a lot of charm, and a nice view.  It’s