Nice, Monaco and Genoa

For Diama, mother of 3 littles, grant writer, wife of a busy man. I don't know how you have time at all to read anything, let alone my ramblings, but I'm so flattered that you do!
We left Marseilles this morning and did zero sight-seeing because quite frankly after wandering the streets with small children alone in the dark the night before I just wanted the heck out of dodge. Plus we got that little tour when the police drove us around...
We stopped at Nice (pronounce "niece") in the French Riviera and oh my the Mediterranean is so beautiful. Amber W., family photos in the French Riviera is as frustrating as Inola. I'm glad you didn't have to suffer through it with us.  I squinted as hard as I could but couldn't see Africa. I saw the American flag on the beach though! They have a beautiful old castle on a hilltop. We decided against stopping and instead found a hiking trail and had a picnic. It had beautiful views of the city. Beckett and I posed in front of our favorite kind of tree. Whenever you see a palm tree, you know you're going to have a good time. I wonder if I could get one to grow in Inola?
These people are cliff dwellers. How have they built cities on such steep cliffs? So many tunnels! I kept yelling "Time Tunnel Approaching!" All the moms get that joke and think I'm hilarious.
Next we went to Monaco! Monaco is a tiny country surrounded entirely by France. They don't have a boarder control or anything and we didn't get stamps in our passports, nor did we in Italy. That's like running 5k and not getting a tshirt. What the point, even? We saw the big yachts in Monte Carlo, where the fancy people party, and I'm not making this up, the streets in the tunnels were sparkly. So glamorous.  Traffic made me literally break into a cold sweat.
Then we drove into Italy!  So pretty. We went on the tiniest road ever and it was "two lane" and on the world's steepest cliff. Terrifying.  These 5 okies put on CCR and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for the Italian countryside cause all five of us know all the words and I have to close my eyes to do the high harmonies and I prefer my eyes closed for trips like that.
The hotel is part of a new booming industry called "Agrotourism." Nothing screams Kendall like agrotourism. I very much expected to pull up to Dwight Shrute's beet farm. I told Curtis we could have just spent the night with Kristin's dad, and I bet he would have charged us a lot less.
Actually, I love it at the farm and never want to leave. We ate dinner in their restaurant and, much like the stereotype of the Italians, we had to beg them to stop bringing us food. When they randomly brought us two platters of smoked meats Curtis made plans to become a professional farm hand here. We seem to be the only guests. Can't wait to go see all the animals tomorrow.  They even have a playground and the whole place is new and spotlessly clean and the kids have their own space (we were all 5 in the same bed last night. No bueno.)
We are reconsidering the rest of trip. We would love to spend more time here but in the morning we will have to check with some other hotels that we are booked with to see if they have any flexibility on dates for us. We are supposed to go to Piza and Florence tomorrow, but we will see what our options are in the morning.
So, literally, we have no idea where we are sleeping for the next 6 days. Yet, unlike yesterday, no trips to the American consulate, therefore I'm calling today a win!