Orange You Glad...?

Things start hopping again in the South of France when spring begins to bloom. While Nice goes mad for carnaval at this time of year, the very quiet and stately town of Menton celebrates all things citrus with La Fete du Citron.

A few weeks ago, I strolled through the dazzlingly festooned Casino Gardens. This year's theme was "Grand Civilizations," providing visitors with an unusual trip through various epochs around the globe. All rendered in citrus fruits and flowers. And campy mannequins. It was wacky, whimsical, fun -- and unabashedly cheesy.

Enjoy the short video below. You can also view a larger rendering of the video on YouTube.

Blooming Crazy

As part of the Carnaval de Nice celebrations, the Bataille de Fleurs (Flower Parade) is a colorful, festive highlight. Our Swedish friends Gittan and Jolle were in Nice a few days ago, and went to the parade; they took some great snapshots that they shared with us. I made a video of the pictures (under my nom-de-anagram, Ace Wrangle), so I could share the fun with my tens of faithful blog readers. Many thanks to G&J for documenting the event so superbly.

To see a larger rendering of the video, click here for the YouTube version.

How Swede It Is!

One of the best things about being a sometimes-expat is meeting up with old friends. We last saw Jolle and Gittan (below, L-R) when we dashed to Sweden and Denmark for a few days during our 2008 stay in France. They invited us for a lovely lunch at their home on the sea in Åsa, Sweden.

As it happened, they came to Nice for a few days, so Honey suggested we get together so she could meet them while we all caught up. Our friends arrived with a pretty bouquet:

And lots of love (and breadsticks) for their new friend, Honey:


We headed out to a cozy restaurant in Old Nice that's become our favorite, Bistrot d'Antoine.

On the way home, we took in the nighttime sights, including some of the Carnaval festivities.

Earlier in the day, Gittan and Jolle went to the Parade of Flowers, and shared some dynamite pictures of the spectacle. Stay tuned for those pictures in an upcoming post. (In fact, it was Jolle who snapped the final image in the above series, as I was too short to peer over the barricade surrounding the main square. Thanks for capturing the moment, Jolle. And for being tall!)

Put a Spring in Your Step!

No big news here, but the three of us decided it was time to shake off the cobwebs and get ready for spring with a "clip, clip here, clip, clip there...and couple of tra-la-las" -- so we cleaned up our act. Vince and I went to the barber for a trim, and Honey went to Angel's Toilettage for a grooming. Honey always leaves looking like a million euros, and she loves to see her groomer, Laurie.

Before (avant)

After (apres)

I like my new look, but Honey is still prettier than I am ; )