With Dave's trade show in Milan over, we hopped on a train towards France (well, it can't really be called hopping if we have four suitcases, one duffel bag, six backpacks and two long bags of exhibition display materials). While it started completely crowded, by the end of the line in Ventimiglia near the border with France we were almost completely alone.
Our destination was Menton, France - wedged in a small stretch of coastline between Italy and Monaco. My sister lives in the next town over and we were lucky enough to use the guest points we had in the Home Exchange network to find a house for 2.5 weeks. Our stay is not completely free. Earlier this spring we had allowed people to stay in our rental property for free to earn the points (losing out on rent) and it cost $150 for an annual membership to use our points. However, at the least it's an offset cost and at the best, we avoided paying income tax or local hotel taxes or losing to currency conversion. And we lucked out to be near family! Here's the view from our place. First time Dave and I have ever lived anywhere we could hear the ocean (sea) waves crashing.
The Côte d'Azur (or French Riviera) reminded us a lot of San Diego! The day we arrived we had warm weather and the boys got right to work enjoying the beach. They also got to play a little with the French boys who live upstairs from us. Kicking a soccer ball around and swinging sticks is universal!
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