The final travel blog! And I’m writing it as I’m at the airport going to Switzerland…
I passed AirFrance and man, was I tempted…
So, I think I finished off when I had dropped J off at the hotel while he was deathly ill…
I drove 20m and “tried” to find the street. I think it was “72 whateverstreet” and there were literally 5 houses with the #72 on them. Dad arrived and he was with Sherry, I think. And he started asking me if I was scammed/punked, etc.
Ugh. Dad! SO stressful, haha.
But we figured out I was at the first 72 gate and we were the last one all the way up the hill! Figures.
The house was beautiful. The manager was not available at the moment but she came about an hour later. Figuring out where everyone would sleep was stressful. But Cindy and I walked around twice and concluded this as the only way… and we figured it out.
It must have been 6pm at that point? 8pm? No clue. I was so done. The day had been long. Some of us walked down to the town – which was about a 12-15m walk – and found a dinner place. There was a little nerves from Cindy’s side on letting her kids go to eat with me – potentially being near sick people – but we sat outside!
It was lovely. I think we also got gelato that night. Because, of course!
The next morning I woke up and stepped out on my balcony and…
Heaven! I went on a jog that morning and that was lovely too. I wanted to do NOTHING that day (Monday) and that’s what I did.
Well it’s not exactly what I did but still… We did go to the grocery store, walk around, etc. I went and brought J lunch and sat outside with him for 20m chatting. I convinced him to go home early at that point. I don’t think he realized he could switch his flight without extra costs.
But I went back and hung out at the pool and watched the boats go by.
The Morrison’s went over to Nice. Sharon and Truck did a cute little sightseeing trolley and had lunch with G on the pier.
We all went down to the adorable shops and outdoor restaurants. This place was yummy! All the restaurants were!
Tuesday, the kids and I played games with Justin and then went to St. Tropez which I covered in a previous post.
We definitely went out to dinner though and I think that was all of us, pictured below. Except I’m noticing now my kids didn’t go. There was always some group of people who didn’t want to join, which was perfectly fine. This restaurant was also yummy.
Every morning I would usually get in a 2 mile jog. Either going down to town or just on the streets. Often I would bring home croissants for the group.
I loved my morning workouts!
Wednesday we headed to Monaco and then when we came back, I went out to dinner with the Morrison’s. They were leaving super early Friday morning (like 3am) so I knew they would be busy getting ready Thursday evening so we had made plans in St Tropez anyway.
That was a fun dinner. Again my kids didn’t go… HA. We couldn’t find a place to seat us outside but inside was still nice and this place was fancy.
I love all of these pictures, they make me laugh so I had to post them. Allison and I had a good time…
Dad and Cindy looked adorable.
This picture makes me crack up because it’s totally drunk Kristi.
I was having fun drinking with my siblings. I encouraged them to go around and talk about the best memory with Dad, which made us all smile.
They were:
Kristi: Driving home every Friday and hanging out in the car and talking about so many things. Loved learning which freeway lane to be in to make all the transitions! And always talking about finances. Listening to KNX1070 for the traffic report, and of course, ordering egg rolls and taquitos from Jack in the Box and cooling them off in the air conditioner!
From Scott: Visiting Winchell’s Donuts!
From Kyle: Walking home from school (one memorable rear-ending incident!) but because you would always be talking to people, we would get home late but I ended up appreciating it. Plus, always watching the same movies continuously again and again. Plus an additional one, how you always negotiate with anyone and always get the deal you wanted!
From Kara: When you would take us over to Grammy’s and always have a pizza party every Friday
From Ryan: Going to Starbucks before and after preschool and you getting a Gold Card for him. Plus going to baseball tournaments during the summers up in Seattle.
Thursday was another beautiful morning as the sun rose.
I think this morning I went down and had breakfast with Dad and his family. He ordered a meat and fruit plate and it was literally some of the best fruit I had ever had. It was cut perfectly and tasted SO good!
We did a lot of shopping that morning too. The pharmacies with all the French skincare were addictive for Cindy and Allison. I just made them buy me all the good things as I didn’t know what to buy.
Thursday evening we headed over to St Tropez for the show (covered in another post) and said goodbye to Dad and the family!
Friday morning – another run!
I went the opposite way and checked out all the beach clubs. We wanted to hang out at the beach – plus Lionel was coming! (Lionel – Sam’s bestie from school who was an exchange student and actually lives in Switzerland so came down to see us!)
Had to get a picture with the sign.
The beach clubs were super cool and so was the whole morning once we rallied everyone and grabbed our beach chairs.
The water was gorgeous.
We spent a few hours there. We met Lionel’s mother who was so sweet so we chatted with her for awhile.
We also just lounged and got some reading done.
It was so great to see Lionel with the kids.
I think Lionel came back and hung by the pool that day. I’m not sure though. It’s all a blur now!
I think he met us for dinner – at that point his Mom was feeling sick and stayed home which was a bummer. Dinner was great but we had to laugh, somehow we found an Italian place and they didn’t speak French OR English! And Lionel was our French translator!
We figured it out though.
Of course, the standard gelato after!
The next morning was another day up with the sunrise and then a run. Such gorgeous skies and water.
Loved the marina!
So.. Saturday was our last day. This was another day where I was like NOPE, I am not doing anything today. I’m not struggling around and exhausting myself when I love this house and hanging out at it.
So I parked myself on the couch.
I had a late breakfast…
Sat around all day and got some sun…
I think the kids went to the beach with Lionel. Or maybe they went to the beach two days before with Lionel? Maybe that was it 🙂
I think he came over to swim for an hour!
Okay, I did drive the parental units down to the bus stop as they wanted to go to… some cute little city halfway between Sainte Maxime and St. Tropez. Except they missed their bus stop and it was the longest day EVER (which is why I’m glad I didn’t go!)
But they made the best of it!
We went out and had a last dinner. I actually made reservations for this one. I wanted to sit outside and enjoy the ambiance! It was yummy!
Time for our last gelato! I kept getting TWO scoops – chocolate and mint. SOOOO good.
We then packed the cars the next morning and left around 8am.
Last sunrise!
Bye Sainte Maxime!
One last picture of watching those boats come in all day long. Ahhh so peaceful!
And then the kids and I at the airport. But I already wrote about THAT adventure! Although I’m not sure I ever got that darn tax refund? I should check on that…
