It's Carnaval Time Again.....

Yes, it's that time of the year again.  All of Nice is in costume, the kids are off school, and the parades are in full force.

There are the flower parades: Bataille de Fleurs, and the float parades: The Corso Parade.  We went to the Naval Flower Battle in Villfranche, a parade held on the sea using traditional Mediteranean pointus boats decorated with fresh flowers, then the Corso Parade in Nice.  The Floats in the Corso parade are so massive and whimsical and the atmosphere is so full of fun and life.  This year the theme was "King of Sports", a nod to the 2012 London Olympics and paying tribute to all the competitions of the coming year.  I have a video to edit, but until then here is a photo tour...

The Combat Naval Fleuri...

Lovely little Villefranche sur Mer.

The little boats decorated and getting ready to show off. 

A quick folklore themed street parade...

With parades here it's so intimate that the audience is almost part of the parade.  The kids  can get in there and interact with the parade.  No big ropes and police to push us back here in France.

And they're off....

The boats throw flowers to the audience.

Next...the Corso Parade in Nice... (click link to see a little video or more about the parades)

In costume and ready for fun...

Confetti throwing and silly string spraying is part of the fun.

Our little fairy. 

That was fun!

A Taste of Home

Hi everyone....I'm finally getting a chance, thanks to the neighbor girls for kid-sitting the peanuts, to do a post or two that have been waiting fairly patiently.  Pics are now downloaded from my phone and camera so here we go....

In January J was supposed to make a trip to the US to do an audio book in the studio.  At the last minute it was put on hold and since the hotel was non-refundable T and I jumped on the plane and spent a cold week in NYC.  It ended up snowing there while we were flying so we landed in a white wonderland that lasted a couple days.  Long enough for T to enjoy it and short enough for me to enjoy it. :)

The trip was a very good break from France and a good chance for T to see some friends he asks about ALL the time, get in a good snowball fight, and make a snowman (albeit a rather small one), and for me to do some comfort Target shopping, catch up with some of my favorite NJ/NYC girls, and get my Starbucks fix. :)

I used just my cell phone for all the pics.  Here's what we did.....

This was on the way to Target.  On the way back from the store we saw people pass it and smile,
not knowing T had made it.

A little exercise at the Children's Museum of Manhattan.

Had our favorite hotel brunch at the Hyatt in Jersey City with it's awesome view of Manhattan.
A bit of a cloudy day. 

Rebuilding the skyline around the World Trade Center area.

Met my friend at this super cute (French) coffee spot, La Maison du Macaron.  Yummy macaroons!!

A pizza party for T and his friends from our old apartment building and his school.

The Portside Three Musketeers.

Got my NYC diner fix at Johnny Rockets.  The staff does a little dance for you when the tune is right.

An American meal...burger (turkey for me) with cheese, tomato, bacon, ketchup, mayo, some cheese fries and a strawberry and banana shake. YUMMMMMMMM.  The one thing you CANNOT get here in France!  No one makes turkey burgers or a meal this good and greasy!

Our one beautiful sunny day.  Good time to play in the sun and have a little siesta.

I really stocked up at Target!  I was a little nervous about going through customs. :)

Only in Europe, this is in the Frankfurt airport, a smoking box!

The tickets were super cheap so maybe this will be our yearly mom and son voyage.  At any rate, it was a great trip even with the crummy weather!

Lions and Tigers and.....

Wow, has it really been a whole month since I've told you what's happening in sunny Nice??  Time sure flies.  Sorry friends and family, I will get back on track.  There are lots of things to post so I'll get back to work on them, but let me leave you with this.....

The Circus is in town.  Not your ordinary Barnum and Baily's big tent kind of circus, but rather the little Italian traveling circus that employs all of it's family to do all of the jobs.  Seriously, from seating the audience members to walking the tightrope.

It was small and quaint and rather cute.  Being T and E's first one I think it went over very well.  One day I'll get the little video put together.  But until then.....

A quick stroll around outside the tent to see the animals.

A rather feisty group of girls!! 

The three Musketeers.

Charlie's competition for being the cutest and most talented dog
in the world.

The family, I mean finale, I mean family, oh, whatever.

Ok, I'll get my act together and get crackin on a post about all the things that have been going on over here....thanks for hangin in there! :)  Oh, and T has lost both bottom teeth, naturally this time.  So now he eats through a straw.  Just kidding.  Not about the teeth though. :)