FRANCE!

 Jeremy and I had the amazing opportunity to join my friends in France to celebrate Jackie and Josh's 25th Wedding Anniversary!  They had chartered a (super) yacht for a month and invited us to come join them for one of the weeks, along with our squad and husbands!  While planning the trip, Josh asked if we would like to have a few days on the front/back ends to ourselves to do some travelling and we jumped at the chance.  We had the most amazing, once in a lifetime trip!

July 19, 2022

We got our bags all packed and headed to San Diego where we got checked in Priority Access!!  First Class Baby!  We flew from San Diego to Detroit.  Then from Detroit to Paris!  We have never flown First Class before and it was maybe the best part of the trip!  Ha!  I mean, we might visit Europe again someday, but this may be our only time in First Class.  So, we took full advantage!  The meals, the entertainment and the bed!  We loved it all.  What a way to fly!

We arrived on the 20th around 1PM.  I had arranged a car service to pick us up and take us to our hotel, The Pullman Paris Eiffel.  It was right next to the Eiffel Tower and close to the Sienne!

  We couldn't check in until 3PM, so we just checked our luggage and walked over to the park near the tower.  We had tickets to the Louvre, so we grabbed a taxi and headed over.  I had read that the line was quicker at the underground entrance at the mall across the street, so that's what we did.  We wondered through the museum for the next couple of hours.  It was packed!  But we got to see the main sights, 

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

The Venus de Milo

The Mona Lisa

And the Crown Jewels

I loved the ceilings!

And we had some fun in the Egyptian Exhibit.  The museum was so hot and stuffy, but it was cool down in the Egyptian room.

Once we had our fill of the museum, we headed over to the Jardin des Tuileries.  We bought some crepes and sat and took in the beautiful park.  Awww Paris!

We decided to walk the 10 blocks back to our hotel along the Sienne.  We were so tired, but it was an awesome way to see more of the city.  We finally got to check into our hotel and we took a well deserved nap.  Once we were rested, we walked around the neighborhood and found a cute cafe to eat at.  I got french onion soup in France!

And look at the view right outside our window on our balcony!

Thursday July 21st-

We woke up and got ourselves some delicious pastries at a nearby patisserie and then took a taxi to a Metro Station across town.  We met up with some lovely tourists and took a walking tour!  First stop, Monmartre!  (My Favorite)

We took the incline up the hill to The Basilica of Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre.  It is so beautiful, sitting above everything else in the city.  Before entering the church, we bought a lock and put it on the fence.  Had to!

The church was absolutely beautiful.

And the Gargoyles on the outside were super cool!

We found Cali on the walk into the village square.

And then we walked around the village square watching all of the street artists do portraits.

We got to see Picaso's house and I got to use one of the old water fountains to refill my water bottle.  

Then we went to the oldest Chocolatier in Paris, A la Mere de Famille.

Followed by a quick photo opp outside Moulin Rouge!

Then, we hopped on the Metro!

And ended up at the Arc de Triomphe!

We hopped back on the Metro and headed to the Place du Trocadero, for an epic view of the Eiffel Tower.

Then we were back on the train and headed to the coolest alley for some delicious Gyros!

Followed by a walk to Notre Dame.  It looks different because it is under construction to try and be back to it's original looking self by 2024 after a horrific fire burnt the main tower down in 2019.  But still cool to be here!  We will have to return later to see the inside!

And then out tour came to an end.

We decided to walk the Champs Elysses.  Saw some cool stuff and got some delicious ice cream and sorbet.  We went back to the Arc de Triomphe and explored it more closely.

Then, by ourselves, we took the Metro back to the Eiffel Tour for our tour!

We rode all the way to the top!  And that's when Cali called!  We got to face time her from the top of the Tower.  That was pretty cool!

We were so tired, but so hungry.  We grabbed a yummy dinner at another cafe, before heading back to our hotel.

Friday, July 22nd-

We grabbed a quick breakfast again and then grabbed a taxi to Versailles!  We spent most of the day touring this incredible palace and grounds.

We started with a walking tour of the house.

Then the Gardens.

Then a boat ride on the canal.

Then we walked to some of the outer residences.

And then, we were tired and wanted to check out the Paris temple before it closed.

So, we walked the 5 long blocks to the temple.  It was closed, but we had a fun time with the Sister Missionaries at the Visitors Center.  They knew Luke & Cali!  They were in the MTC with them!

And we got some awesome pictures before the rain started coming down!

But the rain could not keep us from going on our River Sienne Cruise!

We met these fun college kids from Santa Barbara and they said we were cool!  Yeah!

This was our last night in Paris and we did not want to leave until we visited the Village of Montmartre one more time.  We got a portrait done in the square and then head dinner at one of the cafes.  It was the perfect way to end our 3 days in Paris.

Saturday, July 23rd-

We were packed, up early and on our way back to the airport to meet Yvonne and JP for our flight to Nice!  We had a lovely flight to Nice and arrived thinking that Yvonne & JP had lost their luggage.  Luckily, their air tags were wrong and we got the luggage!  We were met by a driver who took us to the tender dock.  We hopped on the tender and headed to our home for the week, TITANIA!

We were the last to arrive.  Jackie, Josh, Janet, Jenni, Vicky, Joe and the Furhsteins were already there and ready to party!  Jackie gave us a tour of the boat and we met the crew.  Then she led us to our room, The Sunrise Room!

It was the 2nd Master Suite on the boat.  She said the Josh and her decided that we should have it, because we would actually remember it!  Haha!  And YES!

Then we got changed into our Yacht wear and headed down to meet everyone for lunch.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing and hanging out on the floaties!

That night, the crew put together a fun International Bar Hop!

Every floor in the yacht had a bar.  So, the crew themed each one after a different place.  It was so much fun.  We started in Hawaii and they even had non-alcoholic jello shots for Jeremy and I!  In fact, they always had non-alcoholic drinks ready for us.  It was awesome!

Then we went inside and found Spain!

On the 2nd deck, it was a USA Cowboy bar.  Drinks and Beer Pong!

Third floor was Mexico and some Tortilla Slapping!

And top deck was France with a full dinner spread that was delicious!

I actually started feeling a little sick right before dinner.  But Sandy got me some Zofran and that stuff works great!  I felt so much better and was able to eat and party the rest of the night.  We had a DJ on board and danced until bed time!  I even had captain hats and photo booth accessories for everyone! 

 We had such a fun first night!

Sunday, July 24th-

We woke up to the most beautiful breakfast.  And then we docked in St. Tropez.  We got in our Sunday best and walked to church! 

 And look what pew we ended up in?

Jeremy had his phone on to translate the sermon and the chapel was beautiful.

We walked back to the boat and that's when we got our first glimpse of Giannis Antetokounmpo!

After we stalked the NBA player, we rode back to the yacht and Jeremy tried to get Selma Hayak's attention.

We changed and ate lunch with everyone and then we went into town for some exploring and shopping with JP & Yvonne.

Yvonne bullied Jeremy into buying a white linen shirt.

We walked the pretty streets of St. Tropez.

And then we ran into Giannis again and I talked to him!  He was in a hurry, but was super polite and friendly.

We grabbed some ice cream and then went back to the boat to get ready for our next adventure.

I got my hair done and we all got prettied up for dinner at Cucina.  We sat outside, listened to live music and had a delicious meal.

Then it was time to club the night away at Les Caves!  This place was a really fancy, seedy nightclub.  We had our own section with a giant bodyguard.  But I was still on full alert trying to keep all of my girls safe.

 A lot of alcohol was consumed and we ended up shutting the place down at like 5AM!

Monday July 25th-

We got back to the boat, and those that shut down the cub, stayed awake to watch the sunrise.

Then we passed out hard!

I can't remember what time we woke up.  But we had to be up to meet some new arrivals, the Jungrs and the Kleins.  And head to the best lunch of my life!  I wish I could remember the name of the place. But it was a cool beach club restaurant with the most amazing food, music and live models walking around that you could buy what they were wearing!

Then it was back to the Titania for a relaxing afternoon laying up on the pool deck.  I even got some jet skiing in!  Jeremy did too and almost crashed into a speed boat!  Thank goodness he didn't !

I got a nap, which was so needed.  Then, we just hung out on the boat for dinner. And we were blessed with an amazing sunset! The raddest live band with an amazing singer was brought on board and we got to listen to that while eating another fantastic meal. 

 Then it was another night of dancing on the pool deck!

Tuesday, July 26th-

ANNIVERSARY DAY!

We woke up to the whole boat being decorated for Jackie & Josh's 25th Anniversary!

It was just a nice day laying around the boat and relaxing.

And then the crew put together a nice little pre-party with cake for us all to enjoy before the big Anniversary Dinner/Party at L'Opera!

This place was insane!  It's a restaurant that turns into a night club at midnight.  The servers put on little dance routines during the night, there was a magician at our table doing tricks, Giant bottles of alcohol were paraded around the place.  It's one of the most popular restaurants in the world!

At midnight, they take away the chairs around the tables and bring out little stairs.  Then everyone gets on the tables and dance!

There was also a stage and we danced until we shut the place down around 2AM.  It was such a fun night.  And a great way to celebrate Jackie and Josh.

Everyone kept partying all night on the boat.  But I was exhausted.  I headed to bed, while Jeremy stayed up to keep an eye on things.  He stayed with Jackie until everyone had gone to bed, except for Josh.  Then he finally came to the room. 

Wednesday, July 27th-

While we were all sleeping, the yacht sailed to Billionaires Bay in Antibes.  It was a very rocky ride and everyone woke up feeling sick.  I almost threw up, but Jenni got me some zofran in time.  But Jeremy ended up puking.  Everyone was so hung over and not too hungry, but we had reservations at the most beautiful cliff side restaurant, Eden-Roc.  Just being there made me feel so much better.  Look at that view?

We all went back to the boat after our brunch for relaxation and naps!  And then we got ready for the best 90's themed murder mystery party!

The crew did such a great job and we all had so much fun.  Janet was the murderer, but everyone thought I was!  It was such a fun night and such a fun week.  But we were all beat!

It was our last night together and we had to say goodbye.  Our squad was leaving at different times the next day.  Boo!

Thursday, July 28th-

We had one last breakfast on the boat and it was Flamingo themed.  We loved our stay on the Titania!  It was really hard to say goodbye.

Goodbye Sunrise Room!

We loved and will miss you!

We left on the tender with Janet and headed back to Nice.  Our driver took us to our hotel in Nice, or rather, Port St. Laurent.

We dropped our bags off at the desk and then went exploring.  We walked along the beach walk to a mall.  We wandered around and I bought a towel.  Then we found a spot on the beach.  We went swimming and laid out.  Then we had lunch at a cute restaurant by our hotel.

We finally went back to the hotel and napped!  Then took a night walk along the beach.

Friday July 29th-

Friday was an adventurous day!  We started by hopping on the Metro to downtown Nice!  We got picked up at the station and headed out for a tour.

We started with Monaco!

Monaco is magical!

We started with the world famous Opera House and Casino!

Then we headed up the hill to see the museum, the prison, the palace and the cathedral.  We walked through the pretty park and the tiny streets.

We got to walk into the cathedral and made a visit to Princess Grace's resting place and ended our visit with some candle lighting.

We even got to drive along the Grand Prix track and through some cool tunnels!

Next stop was a perfumerie.  Not my favorite place, but it was cool and Jeremy got some cologne. Then, it was time for my favorite stop of the morning, the village of Eze.  It's this Medieval village on a hilltop next to Monaco.  We walked through the streets all the way to the garden on top.

From the top, we looked down and saw the Titania!!  I texted Jackie and we all waved at each other! It was crazy!

On the way down, we made sure to stop into this church.  We loved all the old churches here!

That was the last stop on our tour.

We got dropped off near Old Nice and we were starving.  We found a cafe to eat at and then it started raining!  It only lasted for about 15 min.  But, we did get quite soaked.

After our meal, we ventured through Old Nice to a waterfall!  There's an elevator that takes you up to the hilltop, but we decided to scale the stairs.  It was so cool.

We made it to the top of Castle Hill and the view was amazing.  So was the waterfall.

The park up there had so many fun things to explore.  I loved the mosaics in the sidewalks.

We climbed the stairs back down and took a pic at the I love Nice sign.

Then we found a spot on the beach for me to rest and Jeremy went for a swim.

We did some shopping for the kids after that and got some gelato.

Then we hopped in a cab and went back to our hotel.

What a day!

We ate at a yummy place by our hotel and I had ratatouille!

Saturday, July 30th-

Time to go home.

Wow!  I still can not believe we were able to go on this trip.  We are so grateful to Josh for allowing us some time on the front and back end of the Yacht portion to explore France and have this special time together.  Once in a lifetime trip for sure!

We flew First Class from Nice to NY to San Diego.  I slept most of the way.

This was an unforgettable experience!

Happy Anniversary to Jackie & Josh.  And thank you for letting us be a part of it!