Antibes

Dear Family and Friends,

These past couple of weeks have been very full. When not in school, Nicolas has been going to piano lessons in downtown Manosque and football (soccer) twice a week in Pierrevert. He also spends a lot of time studying math in French. Despite this, he still manages to find quiet moments to read and re-reads his favorite books. Elyse has been attending her violin lessons in Manosque and playing with her friends from America and Korea. Nathaniel has kept busy building lego creations, though not always at the most appropriate times, and drawing pictures of Clones from Star Wars. Julie prepared two presentations in French. The first was a lesson on teaching music that she gave at a meeting of the Nice Stake last Saturday in Toulon. This week, she gave a one-hour discourse to her French class on her home state of Utah. And then there's Joe who just works.



For our family recreation this week, we took a very short trip to the city of Antibes on the Cote D'azur. Although we we're exactly sure what to do or see there, we managed to find a parking lot near the ocean. From there, we located a nice walking path and set out exploring. Kids and parents spent some time investigating the tidepools and unusual rock formations on the shoreline.



Spring arrives a little earlier on the Cote D'azur than in the rest of France. All along the motorway, popcorn was popping everywhere, including the hills around Antibes that were covered in yellow blossoms. Nicolas took advantage of the spring-like weather to kick back and catch a few rays.



Not long after we started our walk, we encountered a gate that signalled the beginning of the Sentier Tirepoil, one of two famous walking trails in Atibes. The trail winds up, down, and along fifty-foot cliffs and eight-foot high rock walls belonging to the many exclusive mansions in the area.



The views of the ocean, the city of Nice on the other side of the bay, and the distant alps were specatular. The famous chanson (song) "La Mer" by Charles Trenet kept coming to mind throughout the trip.



The day was exceptionally good for car watching. In addition to this Lamborgini, we saw 3 Ferraris, a new Rolls Royce, and an Austin Martin. While the girls were not impressed, the boys had a blast discussing which cars were fastest.

Bonne Semain!

Joe, Julie, Nicolas, Elyse, and Nathaniel