And then...France.

Just as we were getting used to our "Grazie" and "Buonasera", it was time for "Merci" and "Bonsoir"! We flew from Venice to Nice, then rented a car and drove out to Villefrance Sur Mer, to the little B&B we were staying at. Once we made it out of the crazy cluster that is Nice (seriously, I almost had a heart attack, Keene was a really good driver though), it really did feel like resort time! Even though they would call it "Fall", it was definitely a Seattle Summer :)

Yep, that was our view.

Hrm...where to first...oh I KNOW! How about the gorgeous mansion, Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild! Let me tell you: Baroness Béatrice de Rothschild knew how to build a manse! I theorized that if her, Ludwig, and Gaudi could've hung out, they would've made some amazing mansions together...

The villa has these amazing themed gardens - all landscaped in relation to the house to mimic a ship, because the Baroness loved going on cruises. She sounds like my kind of lady!

Here we go again with the couples pic...

Keene was really inspired by the surroundings, and he got a little fancy!

Check it: homegirl knew how to pick out some land. The mansion is on Cap Ferrat, which is basically a small peninsula surrounded by the beautiful waters of the Riviera.

Gorgeous.

Photo Op!

You guys: she had this awesome sculpture garden. I was particularly taken with this guy:

We never really determined how all these sculptures were acquired back in the day...perhaps it was a little shady?

Dude, it was time to get zen. Peace, y'all.

Duh. OF COURSE there's koi. What kind of mansion would this be without them!?

Keene's sister has quite the collection of succulents at home, so we had to document some of the awesome unique ones we saw there:

Gazebo statue lady!

Lovely, amiright?

Sigh. And since it's France, I really can type, "Le Sigh"

I was trying to get a cute shot of me crossing those stones in the water, when the fountain turned on! I was quick enough to avoid it, but as you can see, that would've been disaster:

It seems like choreographed music is essential for any fountain display:

TA-DA!

My Ken for my Barbie house.

View from the Gaaaahdens.

This is my "it's MY mansion, don't even think about it!" look.

Not a bad place for a bay window.

Fancy chairs for your dogs!

Gorgeous embroidery from her collection of dresses.

And more...there were also some of those teeny tiny Japanese high heels, but I couldn't bring myself to take a picture. Too gross!

I really liked all these old travel cases.

Look at him being all fancy again. Where's that pinky?! Pinkies up!

We ended our visit with some cakes and cappuccino in the courtyard. I love mansion exploring!