Toulon with Vince & Marie

We're still settling into life in Kiev. On thing we've had to do without for long stretches is internet, so these photos from summer are a little late in coming.

We started our summer in the south of France with Vince and Marie. They live right on the beach in Toulon. Cole flew out from California as well and we all spent the week on the beach. Such a treat after England.

Marie took a long weekend and we drove down the coast to Saint Tropez, Cannes and Antibes. Saint Tropez harbor is relatively small but it is packed with yachts that are bigger than some of the buildings. Most are flying the Cayman Islands flag and are guarded by a troupe of tanned, buff men in polo shirts. We ate gelato and tried to decide which monstrosity we would choose to own.

Saint Tropez

We stayed the night in Cannes. I kept wishing Cary Grant from To Catch a Thief would saunter by on his way to the beach club. We spent the afternoon on the beach packed in like sardines. The next morning we hiked up to the hill in town and got a view of the city. I think I must be really spoiled because even though Saint Tropez and Cannes are undoubtably beautiful I felt they fell short of Santa Barbara.

Cannes

My favorite place we visited was Ile de Porquerolles. Its a short ferry ride from Toulon to this small island. After Cannes this felt very relaxed. There are no cars so everyone rents bikes or walks. The small town has a couple restaurants, hotels and ice cream shops. The rest is very undeveloped. As we were only there for the day we headed to the big beach which you see in all the travel brochures. The water was crystal clear turquoise with not a single ripple. Next time we're there I want to spend a couple days and take bikes around the island and explore some of the other beaches.

Porquerolles

We wondered how this guy got in?

The south of France is great if you love olive oil like me. They soak everything from olives and cheese filled ham to squid and sardines in oil and herbs. The effect is incredible. I could not stop popping the sardines like candy. They have a sharp briny flavor but they are mellower than the canned variety because the fish is so freshly cured. Lunch was spent eagerly soaking up the oil with bread and licking it greedily off my fingers. Amazingly most of the people we saw were quite thin and fit considering a large part of the local food is drenched in oil. Luckily for our waistlines we were only there for a week. Though our next stop was Italy were all we did was eat.