All we do is eat!

We needed a long break after walking through just half the Louvre so we went to an outdoor cafe to people watch. Everything's more fun in a little espresso cup.



Macaroon framboise (real raspberries!)...



My favorite combo - bread and a pound of melted cheese. I would've died a happy gal after this croque monsieur.



Highlight

We thought it'd be a swell idea to rent a car in Aix-en-Provence so we could make the scenic drive to Cassis, Nice, Cannes, and Monte-Carlo. We get to Avis and thought it'd be easy getting our hands on an automatic. Apparently, we were too optimistic. So I shamelessly confessed that I had only driven stick a few of times over TEN years ago. She didn't seem concerned and ignored my comment. Next thing I know, madame pulls the car up and hands me the keys. I said I REALLY don't think I can do it, to which she replies, "You'll be fine. Just drive." Holy cow. My lips quivered a little but I took the keys from her anyway. She offered to show me how to drive it, which turned out to be a verbal lesson along the lines of "this is 1, then shift to 2, then 3 and so on. you listen to engine and then you shift. here is emergency brake. ok?" She smiled, hollered good luck, went back inside, and watched me in amusement. SOMEHOW, SOMEONE from above was watching over me, perhaps because I honestly admitted and even insisted I shouldn't be driving. Ah, but here I was on the road. I managed to get out of the parking lot into the street but immediately pulled to the side and put on the emergency lights. I think I really needed to breathe. I've never held my breath for longer than 5 seconds until then. So after all the cars passed by, I went for it. I can't say it was smooth or that Jon felt the least bit safe, but I got out of the darn city! The worst part was all the traffic and that minor moment on the hill when the car was sliding backwards, but we survived. Even got on the highway (in heavy traffic!) and got us to our next destination: the other Avis location to swap for an automatic!!!!



It was fun while it lasted. Made me want to get a manual car. But we are quite enthused about having the automatic for the rest of our time in France!!!

We're off to Monte-Carlo in the morning!