France has some pretty cool stuff!

It's 4:00am, my body thinks it's noon and yes I am still Jet-lagged...  Oh well, I can't sleep anymore so I thought I'd post some of the 400+ pics we took from my girls trip to France.  It was such a blast and I am so appreciative to all the husbands that allowed my sisters, mom and me to go.  We went and visited my sister Tiffany and her family who lives in Southern France (close to Nice and Canne), but we ended up hitting Italy twice, Monoco and Paris as well... so we saw a lot of cool stuff.

The first night we arrived, we were welcomed to this most amazing pizza.  Probably the best I've ever had, and I've eaten a lot of pizza in my day.  My 7 year old niece Jocelyn calls it "big boobie pizza."  Take a wild guess why?

You are not a part of our family unless you like to shop the deals, especially at street Markets.  We drove to San Remo, Italy to do it and had so much fun getting scarves, hats, and other accessories!

More San Remo Shopping at the bakeries on every corner.  Oh my goodness they make some good pastries!  Why aren't the French and Italians fatter?

We went to this charming little medievel town on the top of a mountain called "Eze Village."  It's been converted into a tourist attraction now with shops and eateries, but it was cool to imagine how these people lived hundreds of years ago.

This was a typical residential entrance in Eze Village... Either people 500 years ago were super short, or they liked to duck down a lot.

Another corner shot in Eze Village.

Overlooking the view at Devil's Bridge on the top of Eze Village.

We jumped borders over to Monoco, the 2nd smallest country in the world measuring only 1 square mile.  It is home of the famous Monte Carlo Hotel (photo above) and is the cleanest place I have ever seen!  The streets looked like they had been mopped -- probably were.

This was one of the coolest hike/runs I have ever done.  My sister Lisa and I ran along the 10K trail on Cap d' Antibes.  This was the type of view we got to see along the way.  Breathtaking!

Another shot of the Cap d' Antibes trail.  That's my sister Tiffany in the distance with an orange shirt.  Can you believe she gets to come here for a workout whenever she wants?

Yes, that's Escargot (snails)...  You buy these babies in bulk at the grocery store just like you would produce or frozen vegetables.

French Pastries... Can you see now why my pants were fitting a little snug by the end of the trip?

This was a very cool tour of a perfumery called Fragonard.  We got to see the process of how their perfume is manufactured, packaged and outsourced.  And yes, we did buy some french perfume!  I must ration it though.

I probably looked silly taking a picture at the grocery store... but you have to understand -- you don't see this in the states.  They had 2 full isles of just yogurt!  Another full isle of every kind of cheese you can imagine!

Southern France countryside.  This is on the way to Tiff's house.   Seriously, I can't believe she lives here!

It's very normal for the French to have a cheese platter for dessert after an evening meal.  Tiff had to give us the full experience.   On that platter alone there were cheeses from 4 different kinds of animals (cow, goat, buffalo and sheep).  So fun!

Milan, Italy trip.... This was one of my most favorite days.  We had to drive 4 hours each way to get there, but it was worth it.  We got to see some pretty amazing things there.  I love this candid photo, it captures what a good time we are having.

Yes, that car is what you think it is.  Gotta love Italy!

 

In Milan, we went to the grand Duomo Cathedral.  We climbed the 20 or so flights of stairs to get to the rooftop.  The view was amazing and the architecture was out of this world.  I have to hand it to the Catholics, they sure know how to make your jaw drop with what they can do with Marble!

A front view of the Duomo Cathedral.  The inside was just as majestic.

One of my most favorite and surprisingly emotional things we did in Milan was visit Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" in person.  This priceless piece of artwork has been through so much abuse and critique in the last 500+ years, it's amazing it's in the shape that it's in today.  This photo was taken after the WWII bombings on Milan, Italy... Can you see one of the only walls still standing is that of "The Last Supper"?  It's a miracle they were able to salvage it.  Now it is under meticulate care in a heat censored, humidity, and light controlled environment.  We only got to be in the same room with it for 15 minutes before we had to be escorted out.

I appreciate it so much more now that I understand its history.  It brings goosebumps when I see it now.

We played and spent an afternoon at Castle Beach.  I love this photo.  Everywhere you look you can get postcard quality pictures like this. You don't get to see stuff like this in the states.

We walked along the pier and ended up at the Yacht Club... Yep, people in Southern France have a lot of  money!-- well... some people.

Me and my Mama and niece Jenica at Castle Beach.  We looked for treasures in the rocks for hours.

My 7th grade French teacher would be so proud of me that I visited the Arch Du' Triomph in Paris.  He was always talking about how large it was and how crazy the drivers were on this huge 6 lane busy round-a-bout.  He was right!

Our first night in Paris we visited the most widely visited attraction in the world --The Eiffel Tower.  It was huge! More so than I imagined.  In all the pictures and movies I've seen, I never knew it was so gigantic.  Walking underneath it and all around it was so cool!

The perfect Girls Trip Photo I think.

Look at my photo taking skills.... Not bad!

And we had to stay for the lights.  We also got to ride the elevator to the second floor.  We had tickets to go to the tip top, but it was closed for security purposes... so disappointing, but the view on the second floor was still pretty amazing.

Our second day in Paris it rained all day, but we made the best of it.  Here is the Famous Notre Dame Cathedral.  This was the line to get in, and February is the slowest time for tourists!  Can you imagine what the summer vacation months must look like  -- on a nice day?

This is the entrance to the Louvre Museum.  Words can't even describe how gigantic this museum is.  It could be its own city, no joke!  I think we walked 10 miles that day, and mostly through the Louvre.

The Venus de Milo is probably my most favorite Greek sculpture and I loved that I got to see her in person.  She is extra unique and special because she is one of the only full (mostly intact) pieces remaining after the Romans destroyed the Greek empire 1500+ years ago.  The curvature and symmetry of her was so beautiful!

Ok, here is the Mona Lisa's Paparazzi fan club.  She has her own room practically and it was bursting at the seams with people and cameras everywhere.  This was as close as we could get to see her.  My sister, Tiffany, is in the black hat holding the camera and my mom and other sister, Lisa, are getting their pictures in front by her if you couldn't tell. I chose this picture to post so you could get an idea how crazy it was.... I was proud to be one of Mona Lisa's 7 million visitors this year.