Nice is very nice!

I would assume that most of my audience is more educated about the history, geography, governmental structure, etc. of France than I was. However, since most if not all of that group is American, that assumption may not be entirely correct so I will try to fill in some somewhat interesting information about the country - and more specifically the region - that we visited. I'm going largely by memory from what our Tour Guide, Morgan, explained to us (also from Wikipedia to fill in some gaps).

France has a  population of about 67 million, putting it at about #20 in the world. The "Hexagon" ("mainland" France's approximate geometric shape) is subdivided into 27 regions, one of which is called PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur). This region holds 6 "departments", which may be considered analogous to US states, although they are generally much smaller and more uniform in area (there are 101 of them). The department that we visited is called Alpes-Maritimes; it is in the extreme southeast corner of the country, bordered to the south by the Mediterranean sea and to the east by Italy. The more famous cities in the region include Cannes (where the film festival is held), Nice (one of France's largest cities by population), and Monte Carlo (which is really a "borough" of the city-state of Monaco and "completely" independent of France).

This area is called the French Riviera, and is also known as the Côte d'Azur (blue coast), an appropriate name as the water takes on several incredible shades of blue. In my opinion, the best vantage point to enjoy these colors is from the mountains that quickly rise from the waters, reaching upwards of 500 meters (1,700 ft) within a short distance. The combination/ contrast of the mountains rising out of the sea makes for striking photos - and we took a lot of them. Nice - and the surrounding countryside - must be one of the most beautiful places in the world; it is certainly the most beautiful that I have seen. I was reminded of the California coast - San Francisco and Los Angeles - but the water sets it apart. The pictures should tell the rest of the story. (More family-oriented stuff in the next entry - I thought the area itself deserved one on its own).

Nice

The Promenade des Anglais - the road that runs along the coastline - as seen from the Tour Bellanda (an observation tower midway up the climb to the Chateau). 

The Nice lighthouse (from the Chateau) 

Lucy in the Miroir d'eau - part of a brand-new park along the northern edge of the Vieille Ville.

Sunset in the same park.

Le Chateau du Nice

We noticed a waterfall in the distance (dead-center of the photo) while walking through Vieille Ville. It turned out to be part of a park that was created at the site of an ancient castle, high above the Promenade des Anglais.

The mountain top where Le Chateau du Nice stood. The Promenade des Anglais sits on the other side.
This shot was taken from Fort Montalban. 

Climbing up the stairs from the Promenade des Anglais to the Tour Bellanda was the first part of the ascent. (Alternatively... there is an elevator, but where's the fun in that?)

This appears to have been a restored section of the grounds surrounding the castle and cathedral. 

An active archaeological site - I can't recall now if this was part of the castle or the cathedral.

I took a couple of pictures from behind the trees - I had no idea that the mountain below me was largely gone!

I finally found the waterfall - very cool but obviously not part of the original castle! 

Cap Ferrat

Cap Ferrat is situated in between Monaco and Nice. This picture was taken from the west at an observation point on the Boulevard de la Corne d'Or.

Another view with the cape in the center and the mountains in the background.

French law allows for anyone to be able to walk along the country's coastline, and the government apparently spent some funds on a fantastic walking path around the cape.
This was taken from the Grande Corniche (aka the Avenue des Diables Bleus for all the UK fans reading this), near Èze, from a much higher point than the previous one.

Near the entrance to the walking path, on the east side just south of the land that juts out. 

This is typical of the view looking away from the sea: Steep climbs, walls and fences with strong gates, topped by massive houses. It seemed that each house had its own private set of steps down to the walkway - most of which appeared to have been unused for years. Several also had lifts on tracks or suspended wires. 

There were also multiple sets of steps that led from the path down to the sea - some to areas that looked to have been carved out of the rock to create what may have been pools or "boat garages." The waves hit some of these areas pretty hard, so I don't think they would have been good spots for either use given the sharp rocks! 

The lighthouse was not accessible, but was picturesque.

This was by no means the safest family walk that we have taken, nor was this particular location the hairiest one on the path. A large portion of the walk had nothing to the left to prevent a slip from resulting in a 50- to 100-foot fall onto jagged rock.  

Eze

The history of the city of Èze begins well before Christ - by 2000 years! Seen here from the Grande Corniche, Èze is very difficult to access. This feature made it a perfect location for a castle.  

Eze from a different vantage point on the Moyenne Corniche

 

Hard to say what is more impressive - the ruins/ location (remember that all of these materials had to be carried up here hundreds of years ago) or the view in every direction. 

The area below the fortress was converted into a cactus garden in 1949. It contains an incredible variety.

As well as some cool art- 

This rose by any other name is actually a South American cactus. Never mind the thorns!

Notre Dame de l’Assomption, built in 1764.

Arènes de Cimiez & Musée et Site Archéologiques de Nice-Cimiez

These are the ruins of a Roman arena dating to the 2nd century. It held about 5,000 people.

Much of the ruins are still standing and appear to be stable (enough so that you can climb all over it).

These ruins - the Thermes Romains de Cimiez - are part of the adjacent Musée et Site Archéologiques de Nice-Cimiez.
They are not accessible for climbing.

Another view of the Thermes Romains de Cimiez

Fort Montalban 

I saw this fort in the distance from Nice and was compelled to investigate. Turns out it is - like many of the other ancient structures we found - relatively accessible. Although the gate was locked, you could climb around as much as you wanted and peek in the (barred) windows! This might have been my favorite thing on the trip-

The platform that serves as a "porch" functions like a drawbridge.
The beam above can be raised, sliding into the recessed area in the stone above. As the beam goes up, it pulls the platform up, closing it against the primary door and helping to keep everyone out!

A view into what I think is a jail cell. The dark spots on the walls look like shackles.

The view from the front porch - hard to beat!
Note the olive trees in the background - they grow everywhere - like cedars in Kentucky!

The view from here was as good as the one from Eze! 

Le Trophee D'Auguste

I saw this obviously-Roman ruin standing high above the trees while biking through the area and went to check it out.
Unfortunately, I was met with some very-stereotypically-French problems while trying to get close... I was unable to walk my bike in, the park was getting ready to close for lunch ("in 15 minutes"), and they suggested that I come back after lunch. Since I didn't feel like sitting around for 90 minutes for them to eat, I rode around to try to get a better look from the street.

At least I got some information about it!

And ultimately a decent view from the parking lot!

Monaco

The palace

And the casino. Not much else in this borough except for an incredibly nice cathedral and 6- and 7-figure cars.
Monaco and Cap Ferrat are the #1 & #2 most expensive places to live in the world. Two separate people quoted real-estate in Monaco at €15,000 per square meter. That's equivalent to $1,900 per square foot. But there are no income taxes, so that's a bargain, right?

Summer is behind us

It has been a very busy several weeks since my last entry (excluding Daisy's adventure). We have settled into a pretty good routine, we now know where to go to get what we need (for the most part), and have only today collected the Highfields from Schiphol for a nice long stay!

I want to first take the opportunity to throw a shout out to all of the stay-at-home parents. This is NOT an easy job if you want to do it right. I can't imagine having to do this while holding down a full-time (paying) job! Thank you Mom!!!!

Now onto the good stuff!

Lilli got into the swing of things with the school's U12 football (soccer) team. While her team didn't get to play any away games (and thus travel across the country or even into a different one) she was able to log a lot of playing time at home against the international schools from Antwerp and Luxembourg. She generally plays back on defense, but in a rare position change to forward she nearly scored twice against the Antwerp squad (one called off for offsides). Her season ended today with their final practice session.

Just before her European debut!

Post-game pre-dinner shot

Lucy celebrated her ninth birthday a couple of weeks ago! One advantage of living overseas is that gifts come in over time, which seems to extend the birthday into a "birthday season." I believe that her favorite was from auntie Hilary - a microscope along with some very cool slides to examine. She (and Eliza - often to Lucy's frustration) have spent quite some time investigating grass, hair, and butterfly wings (among other things) under the lens.

Boom! NOT Eliza's first photobomb... You may have to zoom in to see Lucy's classic expression!

Lucy had some friends from school over for a birthday party. They had a wonderful time (I adore these girls - couldn't have been more pleasant)! 

We dropped the 4 of them off at the bowling alley in Amstelveen the next morning for another birthday party for a girl that was born on the same day as Lucy! Eliza was so impressed with the place that we had to go back last weekend while Lilli was at her school dance...

Lucy is also playing field hockey and taking her first gymnastics class after school. Hockey is the #2 team sport in the Netherlands (after football), and all of the girls will have the opportunity to learn under some outstanding coaches.

Eliza had some big events during the last week or two as well - she learned to really bike on her own and she learned to read! The reading light seemed to come on for her - she is starting to recognize some "sight words" and others she is able to sound out very well. She is very excited to read better and better as she sees how much her sisters enjoy it!

Reading bed is a very Lewis trait. 

It is a long ride home from school - Eliza was reading her classmates' journal entries from their adventures with Gus.

Cycling was a big deal as well. Unfortunately, for all that we have done while here in town she has been "stuck" in the trailer (she really doesn't mind being pulled around like a princess). But we took her bike to Amsterdam Bos a couple of weeks ago and she was able to ride on her own pretty much at will within about 10 minutes. Fantastic work! I took some video, and as might be expected things didn't work out exactly as I'd hoped... But she jumped right back on and did not let the crash stop her progress - I was very proud!

Eliza also recently started a ballet class near school. It is in a somewhat different venue that I have experienced previously - seems to be more of a dance club - but I like the teacher!

I may have mentioned it before, but Eliza's has made a new best friend here in town. Completely on their own, these two found each other during their class - recognizing their kindred spirits. Finding this particular new friend is interesting because 1) she just happens to have moved here from Louisville, 2) her mother was introduced to Holli before we moved by her former preschool teacher (who is Lilli's best friend's grandmother), and 3) her parents are best friends with some of my family friends from Mt. Washington - who I ran into at the Douglass Loop Farmer's Market prior to us moving and suggested we connect. Fantastic coincidence! These two are truly two peas in a pod!

That parent-favorite kindergarten tradition of bringing a stuffed animal home and writing a "unique and interesting" journal entry about the adventure is apparently not unique to the US: it lives in Amsterdam as well. Eliza's visitor was named Gus (the monkey). We did not have a great deal of time for adventure during Gus's first visit as we had soccer practice and went out to dinner, but we did manage to get Gus some quality time with Daisy, who really enjoyed his visit!

We were able to get out and see some things a few times. My vote for the coolest was the Lego exhibit at the Expo Center. LOTS of cool "sculptures"- too many to show all of them. They are all made of more-or-less standard Lego pieces (the ones that I grew up with - not the ones in all of the expensive and less-imagination-required playsets). Here are my favorites:

I put this at the top despite it being the last exhibit (on the way out the door). This is Eliza's standard "expressionless" expression, generally reserved for pictures when we are hoping that she will smile.

The first section of exhibits consisted of recreations of famous paintings and drawings. You'll likely recognize the two I've selected.

I've intentionally shown this as a small image so that you get an idea of how it looks from far away since up close it is more "pixelated". You should be able to enlarge it by clicking on it... I believe that the artist's intention was to recreate these in near life-size, and given that the smallest "standard" Lego piece is about 1/4" square, this is pretty much unavoidable. But standing 20 to 30 feet away, it was remarkable.

This one I've shown larger so that you can get an idea for the depth that the artist added by layering the Legos. It was more pronounced in some of the other works, but this one (Stormy Night by Van Gogh - who was an Amsterdam native although this painting was done in an asylum in France just after he removed his ear) is one of my favorite paintings.

One of three iconic "reproductions" of 60's/ 70's era folk legends in the exhibit.
All done with only 4 or 5 colors and all in a single layer.

The three-dimensional stuff was in a different league. The artist basically had two "genres" for this - reproductions of famous sculptures and original pieces inspired by his life experiences. I liked the two below because the first represented quite a structural engineering challenge (he did use super-glue and wires for the T-Rex, but still - it was awesome!) and the second was iconic Dutch.

This was right up Lucy's alley!

A second family outing started out as a trip to pick apples from a farm up north. Despite our best efforts, we came up empty finding the local "Huber's". However, we did come upon an amazing outdoor museum called Zuiderzee in the coastal city of Enkhuizen. The "museum" is actually a recreation of a village of small houses that represents the way people lived in the area 100 to 150 years ago. We got there too near closing time to get to see much of it, but we're hoping to go back over the next couple of weeks with the Highfields.

Not sure we will ever get a natural picture of her.

One reason that we got to the museum so late in the day is that we spent some time at this playground just outside of the museum entrance (before we knew there even was a museum there!).
I love how big and un-nannied the Dutch playgrounds are (due in large part to the Dutch legal system limiting liability)! This one would let you swing as fast as you could from a rope - you just have to get everyone going!

Yet another outing involved a family bike ride through VondelPark one afternoon. There have been precious few bike outings with all of us, but we do enjoy them tremendously! Looking forward to Eliza pulling her own weight during the next one!!!

Heading to the park - Lucy rides and walks at her own pace.

In Vondelpark. Can't ever seem to get everyone into the same frame (Lilli is in front of me).

A couple of new dishes that we tried:

From Yahoo! Food, broccoli grilled cheese (fantastic!!)

Holli made this one but I can't find the link - I think it was from the New York Times. Very tasty!

Some random pictures that I liked:

Birthday ice cream.

Someone please help me with this one.

Lucy listening to audiobooks with her new Beats from Clayton while working on some decorations.

I forget what they were working on here, but it wasn't a movie or a video game and they were all interested and getting along - one of those rare, wonderful moments!

I don't recall documenting the fact that I spent over 50 consecutive days after arriving here without seeing a single UK logo. Easily the longest (and most pleasant) such streak in my life. Incidentally this streak was broken by Eliza's best friend's brother, who wore some UK garb to school early in the year and may have caused me to introduce myself to his mother).
I noticed and had to photograph the above book cover in the school library, very prominently displayed.
Not one but two U of L Cards on display (plus Gorgei, who is behind the book to the right).
The great part is that a few days later, Lucy checked the book out and proudly brought it home to show me (she was not with me and little E when I discovered it). The year of the Cards will be fondly remembered for at least another generation!

Continuing the U of L theme, Eliza and watched the first half of the Clemson game this weekend. She almost made it to halftime before crashing. Lasted much longer than Daisy (in the background)

A quick Daisy update:

Really feeling the methadone at this point I suspect.
This was about 2 hours after the fall and an hour after receiving her pain killer. 

This one is 36 hours later.
Enjoying the view and the fresh air, but not quite ready to get close to the open window.

Some "Dutch culture"

The "Can't Live Without" bike accessory: the wine bottle holder.

Bike parking. It's an issue here. These racks are ingenious though!

I really don't think a caption is necessary for this one. Picture says it all.
By the way, a white circle trimmed in red is the Dutch version of "Prohibited" or "Not Allowed"

This is another part of Amsterdam canal district living.
At least once every week or two, we are faced with something like this during the first 3 minutes of our commute to school.
In this case it is a vacuum truck cleaning out - something - from the local Burgermeester.
All of the streets are one-way and too narrow to go around a parked vehicle, so you sit and wait. Most times it's a delivery truck or a work crew unloading materials at a job site, but regardless of what's going on, we're stuck for a little while. 

This post's entry for "best boat" - the one that sank.
You can just see the front tip sticking up...
Had a little bit of guilty pleasure watching the Waternet crew trying to find it and haul it up!

The Highfields are going Dutch! More to come next time...

Walda's first photo-op with Westerkerk in the background

And one with Holli!

These were some happy girls!

The Mr. Mom perspective:

It has taken some time, but I am getting more used to not working (I still don't like it and would much rather have a job!). I spend about 2 hours per day in the car going to and from school, plus another 90 minutes on average sitting at school while the girls are doing their extracurricular activities. By the time that we get back home, the evenings are very similar to what we did back in the States (when I met Leah after work) - homework, dinner, showers, etc.

I have been biking quite a bit during the days, logging over 500 miles since the start of school. Most of them have been road rides - often to the beach, sometimes through the countryside, sometimes around the city. I was able to find one mountain bike trail in Schoorl, which is about 50 minutes away by car, so I've only been 3 times. It is rated the #1 MTB trail in the Netherlands, and is comparable to Cherokee/ Seneca park in both distance and climbs, but does not have the technical difficulty. Unless you count riding in sand... Which can be very difficult if it has not rained recently! Not the kind of technical difficulty that I enjoy - give me rocks and roots any day! 

In an attempt to broaden my employment opportunities I've spent some time during the days learning some new programming skills. I've made it through JavaScript (on Khan Academy) as a first baby step. I'm hoping to get into some more useful languages over the next several months, and to develop some rudimentary iPhone apps to get my feet wet.

I finally finished Anna Karenina last week - took quite a bit longer than I'd anticipated (I think I started it on the trip over here). That's likely because I was simultaneously reading a few other books and watching some TV shows to break up the monotony. It was quite a book, and I think that Tolstoy had a gift for putting things and thoughts into words that I have not seen elsewhere.

The other books are all Dutch-related ("The UnDutchables", "Stuff Dutch People Like", and "In The City of Bikes"). The last one is the only one that reads like a "normal" book and also the only other one that I've finished so far. It is a fantastic and thorough history of the effect that bicycles have had on the city and inhabitants of Amsterdam.

On the TV front I've made it through the final season of True Blood (kind of glad that's over - it turned into a train wreck after the first couple of seasons), the first two seasons of The Killing (two seasons may be enough for me), and the first season and a half of Mad Men (very much enjoying it so far). I've also gotten current on Boardwalk Empire, Under the Dome, and Homeland. Looking forward to the new seasons of Justified, The Americans, and of course Game of Thrones (and still looking for the next book in that series!)

One final note: Sorry if it seems a little strange that I'm not using names of non-family members. It seems strange to me not to do so, and the words seem to not flow as nicely, but I haven't asked permission to use the pictures I've taken and I don't want to expose anyone to undue "presence" on the Interwebz...