NICE, France

Nice - 24-08-2018

How we Missed our Trip Canyoning

By: Toby

How we missed our trip canyoning

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What is canyoning? Check it out here. Looks like fun! Maybe next time :)

Girl's Day

By: Vangie

CANNES - 23-08-2018

Our trip to Cannes was delayed by a day due to Vangie's broken collarbone, poor girl!

We took the train to Cannes. We were all happy to get seats together. We didn't actually stay long in town as we had ferry tickets to go to St. Marguerite Island, just off the coast. St. Marguerite has great hiking trails, wildlife and swimming. We were able to find a few geocaches, explore the shoreline and swim of course. We also visited Fort Royal and the Musee de la Mer. Fort Royal contains a prison where the Man in the Iron Mask was held from 1687 till 1698. Many Protestant ministers were also held and martyred there in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Part of the museum is in an ancient cistern and contains items retrieved from ancient shipwrecks.

There was also a really interesting art exhibit there by Jason deCaires Taylor called Flux, in which he has immersed over 800 sculptures in the ocean over the last decade. These sculptures are documented in underwater photos as they are transformed by natural processes such as erosion and coral growth.

I thought this was an interesting concept.

There were some pretty neat boats in the Cannes port.

When in Cannes...

Enjoying the boat ride.

One of the cannonball ovens on the island.

What a great view!

In the cell of the Man in the Iron Mask

A plaque commemorating the Protestant ministers who were imprisoned and eventually martyred on St. Marguerite Island.

Here's a little news report about the Flux exhibit that we saw.

Heading home on the train with big baguette sandwiches and French pastries.

Monaco - 20-08-2018

by: Zeke

Yesterday we went to Monaco! First we took the tram to a bus stop, and waited a half hour for the bus. After the 70 minute drive we went to a park for lunch.

us on the bus

Soon we were on our way to the Prince’s Palace. The prince’s palace is amazing. There was a lot of antiques and we weren't allowed to take pictures. There is an audio guide to lead us through it.

After the palace we went to the Oceanographic Museum. It had an aquarium they have lots of Moray Eels and Piranhas, and sharks they even had an Octopus. The museum had early versions of diving suits and submarines, they also had a model of a fiji mermaid!

a cuttlefish

After the museum we headed down to a cement “solar” beach and went for a swim. After swimming we were all pretty hungry so went to a restaurant for supper. My brother and sister were getting grumpy so we went to the train station and headed home.

the water was super deep and you could see a bunch of fish

learning about france - 18-08-2018

This week we've been working on some projects to learn more about France and the places that we've visited in Nice.

There is a museum here celebrating the art of Henri Matisse. Currently, there's also a special exhibit about Matisse and his working relationship with Picasso. Vangie chose to do some research on Matisse for her project.

France.pdf

Toby did his research on plants in the Mediterranean. He's included photos from our visit to Parc Pheonix in Nice.

Common plants

August 15 was a national holiday - Assumption. Zeke did some research for us on why this is a holiday.

France progect.pdf

An accidental adventure - 10-08-2018

At the M.A.M.A.C.

The Gingerich kids LOVE to swim. On Thursday, we had promised them a swim after we visited the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The Museum was great! So many interesting things to see. By the time we got to the beach that day, a small thunderstorm was just starting and we headed home in the rain. So, we promised them a whole day at the beach on Friday.

Playing in Parc du Paillon, Nice

Late on Friday morning (still adjusting to the time change), we headed out for Villefranche-Sur-Mer to spend the day on the beach. In Cote-d'Azur, you can take the Ligne d'Azur buses all over the place for 1 Euro each. It's great. We got on a bus and ended up well past Villefranche in Eze (pronounced "ezz"). Oops! Turns out that we were in an ancient medieval city! After a pizza lunch, and my first French Cappucino, we climbed up into the city. There are hotels, restaurants and even apartments there. At the very top, there's a beautiful exotic garden. So far, the kids were patient with not yet being at the beach because there were so many interesting things to see.

Zeke thought this would be good place to put his olive oil and balsamic for dipping his bread.

The narrow winding streets.

The view from the top - Le Jardin Exotique

This was the public washroom. It was an interesting experience because it was a self-cleaning bathroom where after each person used it, the toilet and floor were washed down automatically. It made the kids a bit nervous.

Finally, we headed back down to catch a bus going down to Eze-Sur-Mer waaaay down the hillside to hit the beach. But at the bus stop, we realized that we had just missed the bus (that runs every hour). So, our choices were to wait 50 minutes for the next bus, or hike down. At the Tourist Information Booth, they said it was a 45 minute walk on rough terrain. The kids were starting to get anxious about getting to the beach. In true Gingerich style, we decided to go for it. We were dressed for the beach - all of us in our bathing suits and sandals. Vangie and Zeke were both in flip-flops.

The hike down the hillside.

Getting closer.

Notice the "no flip flops" sign above her head. This is at the bottom. We hiked straight down 2120 m.

We made it! It was exhausting - and so hot. Such a relief to jump in the water. Eli loved every minute of it...said it was the best day of his life!

We found another Villa Marguerite (that's also the name of the place we are staying in Nice). Here I am super hot and sweaty and my legs are shaking from the hike.

Finally at the beach!

So great to hear their laughter!

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