Return to Europe - to celebrate 10 year anniversary!

May 27 was our 10 year wedding anniversary. We decided to celebrate by taking a trip to France and Belgium. It's been almost 2 years since we left Belgium and we wanted to go back to Europe, do some of our favorite things, and see some friends. My parents and my in-laws graciously accepted our invitation to care for their two grandsons while were away.

We set off on the first day flying to Belgium. When we landed, we asked an astonished tourist information booth staffer how long it took to walk to Zaventum center. Most people don't bother to visit the town where the airport is, but it's not that far from our old house and we figured we could make it there within the timeframe of our layover. We had a nice hike to Zaventum where we picked up some croissants and other good stuff at a bakery and enjoyed them by a pond where we saw quite the assortment of ducks. It felt like being home again, in a way.
We next flew to Nice, France where we found our hotel, took a walk, grabbed some dinner and rested up for day 2, when we headed to Villefrance-sur-Mer, a quick 10 min or so bus ride from Nice. (Public transit in this region is quick and inexpensive - 1 euro per person per trip!) It was a wonderfully quaint and picturesque town on the Mediterranean. We happily looked around an old fort that now serves as the center for municipal activities like the police station, the mayor's office, and an art gallery. It had lots of wonderful flowers that capture the light in just that way that artists like. And the blue blue sea was always there to stare at in wonder.

We hiked around a penninsula called Cap Ferrat, enjoying views of the sea and villas with interesting architecture and nice gardens. It was a blissful day of walking, which was my main goal for the trip since I do so much sitting between my commute and desk job.

We saw some lizards and birds, but our most interesting sight was probably paparazzi hiding out underneath someone's balcony to photograph the people on a yacht belonging to someone with the last name Ibramovich. Mystified us as to who he was.

For dinner, we found a place with a second floor balcony overlooking the sea. We had some pizza and just enjoyed being in France. We took the train home since we missed the last bus out of Villefranche. If we'd been with kids, we'd have been back at the hotel hours earlier....