Is he pushing it over or holding it up? Only YOU can decide. So, to continue with the Neverending Story...on our way back up through Italy we made a pit stop at Pisa. It's kind of touristy but still cool.
Know what else is cool? Running into Friendly Bird Lady outside the Leaning Tower. This modern-day Mary Poppins hails from China which meant that Don was able to bust out his Chinese, as was also the case in Rome and a couple other places.
Bird Lady seems like a very cheerful person and had lots of bread. Those pigeons loved her. Henry maybe not so much, what with his extreme stranger-danger phase he's going through right now...but at least he didn't burst into tears. And really, that's all I can ask for.
Luckily, Bird Lady thought Henry was cute despite his unrelenting scowl--which I'm beginning to realize is how he copes with new experiences. (It's also how he copes with old experiences, as well as everything in between.)
Bird Lady: "Want a pigeon?"
Bird Lady: "Want a pigeon?" Henry: "............."
That's my boy. Shyer than a wild animal. In any case we wandered in and out of the cathedral buildings at Pisa and holy cow get a load of this ceiling:
If I were Catholic I would probably never pay attention to the church service, I'd be looking at their ceilings the whole time. Actually, Mormon chapels are not exactly known for their exciting decor (Protestant iconoclasm and all that jazz) and yet I still find myself gaping at the ceiling for minutes on end.
After Pisa we drove for hours up the Mediterranean coast into Southern France. Although we went right alongside and sometimes through cool towns like Monaco and Nice,unfortunately we weren't quite close enough to get any good pictures of the coastal area. But we could see that the next lane over probably did have spectacular views, if that helps at all. Ahem.
Spent the night in our hotel in Aix-en-Provence and woke up next morning to go to the local market. Aix's downtown is smaller than I had imagined it but very characteristic. It would probably look a lot more charming bathed in sunshine, but, you know...this fluorescent overhead light look you get in February is borderline acceptable.
So here are some shots of the farmer's market. They have a lot of local products made with honey and of course almost every stall sells Herbes de Provence--and who doesn't like eating lavender?! I tell you what, using flowers to spice your food is GENIUS. They do it all the time here.
We only caught the tail end of the market. I imagine it's probably in full swing by now; two months ago it was still respectable:
Somebody parked their bike next to the lettuce stall:
Debbie and the ocean of flowers:
We stopped by a local candy shop to try the famous Aix-en-Provence regional dessert: CALISSONS. They are small oval-shaped candies about the size of your thumb consisting of a soft, chewy fruit underside and a flavored candy shell on top.
Apparently calissons are a big freaking deal. They must be, considering they cost like 14 euros for a pack of six.
Umm, calissons are good, don't get me wrong--but they're not 14-euros-for-a-pack-of-six good. Seriously, are these things made of crushed diamonds? I would rather learn to make my own, thanks (not that I ever will.)
So like the total hobos we are, we ate their free samples and ran off.
Hee hee.
I have no idea what Henry's showing me here, but it better not be something he just pulled out of his mouth. Yum.
We took a post-lunch stroll through some cute picturesque streets and as I was coming in for a picture of this ginormous lion-head door knocker, an extremely friendly security guard who works at this building jumped into my shot. French people are so fun:
Also strolled past this scooter and could not resist:
Handprints! Haha. And last but not least, Dustin's ever-deepening relationship with fountains. They bring out the, uh, "best" in him(?) 
Yep. Definitely liking this side of Dustin right here.
I really have no problem with that idea.
If I were Catholic I would probably never pay attention to the church service, I'd be looking at their ceilings the whole time. Actually, Mormon chapels are not exactly known for their exciting decor (Protestant iconoclasm and all that jazz) and yet I still find myself gaping at the ceiling for minutes on end.After Pisa we drove for hours up the Mediterranean coast into Southern France. Although we went right alongside and sometimes through cool towns like Monaco and Nice,unfortunately we weren't quite close enough to get any good pictures of the coastal area. But we could see that the next lane over probably did have spectacular views, if that helps at all. Ahem.
Spent the night in our hotel in Aix-en-Provence and woke up next morning to go to the local market. Aix's downtown is smaller than I had imagined it but very characteristic. It would probably look a lot more charming bathed in sunshine, but, you know...this fluorescent overhead light look you get in February is borderline acceptable.
So here are some shots of the farmer's market. They have a lot of local products made with honey and of course almost every stall sells Herbes de Provence--and who doesn't like eating lavender?! I tell you what, using flowers to spice your food is GENIUS. They do it all the time here.
We only caught the tail end of the market. I imagine it's probably in full swing by now; two months ago it was still respectable:
Somebody parked their bike next to the lettuce stall:
Debbie and the ocean of flowers:
We stopped by a local candy shop to try the famous Aix-en-Provence regional dessert: CALISSONS. They are small oval-shaped candies about the size of your thumb consisting of a soft, chewy fruit underside and a flavored candy shell on top.Apparently calissons are a big freaking deal. They must be, considering they cost like 14 euros for a pack of six.
Umm, calissons are good, don't get me wrong--but they're not 14-euros-for-a-pack-of-six good. Seriously, are these things made of crushed diamonds? I would rather learn to make my own, thanks (not that I ever will.)
So like the total hobos we are, we ate their free samples and ran off.
Hee hee.
And um, what else was cool...oh yeah. Radioactively blue roses:
Insert clever Smurf comment here.
Grandpa and Henry having lunch at an outdoor cafe. Yep that's a giant Gothic church just behind them; after a while you see so many that they just sort of blend into the landscape:
Insert clever Smurf comment here.Grandpa and Henry having lunch at an outdoor cafe. Yep that's a giant Gothic church just behind them; after a while you see so many that they just sort of blend into the landscape:
I have no idea what Henry's showing me here, but it better not be something he just pulled out of his mouth. Yum.We took a post-lunch stroll through some cute picturesque streets and as I was coming in for a picture of this ginormous lion-head door knocker, an extremely friendly security guard who works at this building jumped into my shot. French people are so fun:
Also strolled past this scooter and could not resist:
Handprints! Haha. And last but not least, Dustin's ever-deepening relationship with fountains. They bring out the, uh, "best" in him(?) 
Yep. Definitely liking this side of Dustin right here.
Slurp
Well I think it's safe to say that at one point or another we all enjoyed Aix, especially Dustin, who would like to come back and go fountain-licking there again someday.
Well I think it's safe to say that at one point or another we all enjoyed Aix, especially Dustin, who would like to come back and go fountain-licking there again someday.I really have no problem with that idea.
No comments:
Post a Comment