A Bit of a Change of Scenery

And now for something completely different… on Thursday (Jun 22) we flew to France. From Bangkok to Abu Dhabi (45 degrees Celsius on the tarmac (112 F) made Bangkok seem temperate), to Paris and thence to Nice.

We were headed to Emilie’s sister’s wedding at the Mazzacurati family house in Rouret, a small village near Grasse, near Cannes, in Provence.


We visited the village of Valbonne on a market day…


And had lunch in the square…


Perhaps too big a lunch…

(Emilie's brother, Julien)

(Her father, Richard)

We visited the medieval hill town of Grasse, famous for its perfumeries…


Wandered the narrow lanes…


And had pastis (a.k.a. Pernod, the fennel-flavored South-of-France long-evening drink) in the square…


And finally, we also visited Cannes, glamorous playground of movie stars and really big yachts. Here’s Emilie and her cousin Iris on the waterfront…


We were really only there to hop on a ferry to take us to the smaller of the two small islands (Ile Saint Honorat) right off the shore. There we could enjoy the clear blue waters, abundant sun, and fragrant breezes with a little less of the crowd.
And although a few boats do come out there…


We had a lovely afternoon tasting the pleasures of the Cote D'Azure

(In the background is the old tower of the monastery to which the island belongs)