Is this a dream?

It is difficult to describe the beauty of this place, or capture it with our little point-and-shoot camera. It is no wonder that artists of all genres have come to the Cote D'Azur that speaks so colorfully to the soul. Thankfully they have penned and painted what I can't hope to articulate. Day after day we stop in our tracks to take it all in and ask ourselves, "Is this a dream we are living?" The colors of the sea, the light, the drifting sailboats and rocky cliffs, the spectacular views at every turn...this place is paradise!

This afternoon we went to Monaco to the Exotic Gardens. This hillside garden was full of, well, exotic plants, and windy paths with little bridges, and little lookout points that made your heart stop!

Adele captured this picture right before I escaped a man-eating plant...

This week the girls learned about what archeologists do. Adele was fascinated and, after confirming that wearing jeans was not a job requirement, she made it her new professional goal. There is an anthropological museum in the exotic garden (this is really why we went) and we saw lots of bones, pottery, spears, etc. Adele, while looking at a skull, declared she would wear gloves when an archeologist.

Many of the artifacts are found in various caves in this part of Europe. One of these large caves was a part of this exotic garden, and we went deep into the earth to see where bones are sometimes found. The cave was damp, and when a milky drop landed on Adele's arm she freaked out like a poisonous spider had just landed on her, and was looking at me with frantic bug eyes that said, "QUICK, WIPE IT OFF!!!" At that moment the romantic idea of an archeologist quickly faded away.

One area looked like a carmel river with falls. Tennie licked a stalagmite to see how it tasted...not like carmel!