France. The romantic. The trend setting. The People. The Food.
The unbelievable city of Paris was our first stop, getting a first hand taste of the famed gypsies i'd heard countless stories about.
If any of you have seen the movie 'Taken', where the young girls get approached by a smoking hot Parisian male who offers to share his taxi. That Happened To Us! Of coarse we prommptly did the "no speak French, no speak French" and briskly rolled ourselves away from that situation :) If you've ever had the pleasure of taking a train to Paris Gare Du Nord, you'll know that it doesnt give you the best impression of Paris. However, what was to come was exactly what I wished for...
One highlight from Paris was seeing Queen Latifah strolling down the luxury shopping street, with who I assume was her assistant. What I noticed first is that she waddles, and it wasnt until she walked past did we realize that it was indeed THE Queen Latifah! crazy.
After Paris we headed down to Chateau Chambord, with its amazing spiral staircases.
And then the festive Carcossonne, where just right across the road was a music festival featuring big artist like Moby, Jack Johnson, Vanilla Ice. Ha..did you get my joke!? :) hilarious.
Upward and onward. Definitely one my favorite places of my trip was Nice. Beautiful beaches. Beautiful food and flower markets. Rich, glamorous people with rich, exuberant cars. Nice/Monte Carlo is definitely a place I would recommend for anyone travelling down to the south. First night saw us seeing the beautiful glowing statues, and street performers., and row of restaurants, with such good selection it was hard to pick just one.
Day 2 saw us walking about to the lookout, which overlooked Nice and the beautiful harbor of Monaco. I can honestly say in all my travels I have never seen such a beautiful sight as all the super yachts parked in a open harbour on a clear blue sea. Magical! The afternoon offered a great chance to taste French fine dining, on a travelers budget of coarse :) However, the real luxery was spending the night in the Monte Carlo Casino. Pathetically though, I spent only 1 chip, worth the same amount my lunch cost:) However, being able to be surrounded by Ferrari's and Bugatti's and Maserati's was an unforgettable experience; something little ol' New Zealand doesn't usually offer up:)
Overall, France was unforgettable, and these photos are just a handful of the hundreds I managed to squeeze on my memory card. Next up, the smallest country in the world Andorra, and then the magnificent Barcelona
Au Revoir!