One can’t really appreciate the magnitude of the Grand Canyon until they’re standing on its edge. And you can’t truly get a sense of how beautiful and pristine the coastline of France is, until you’ve stood on the beach, with its white sand between your toes.
After taking the high-speed train from Paris to Nice in April 2008, we rented a motorcycle and rode along the Cote D’Azur to Eze, Monaco, and back west to our B and B in Cagnes sur Mer. We rode up in to the mountains and from our B and B’s high vantage point, every morning as we enjoyed a liesurely breakfast, we watched planes land and take off from the Nice airport. Cannes, where the beautiful and pampered descend every year for the world famous film festival, is located a bit further west from Cagnes Sur Mer, and the exquisite beaches of San Raphael and St. Tropez, not far along from there. The south of France inspires dreams of staying forever.
Since we left, I’ve wanted to go back, to spend more time in Paris, and perhaps visit that same B and B in Cagnes sur Mer that centuries ago was beneath the original castle of the Grimaldi family of Monaco. How beautiful is it? We spent an entire day taking photos of people’s doors! The depth of region’s history and the beauty of its style – which has nothing to do with wealth or privilege – is unmatched in our travels so far.
In the wake of the latest ISIS mass murder in Nice, France, experts are now saying the French people will simply have to get used to the realities of terrorism. Other experts say the Islamic State is launching a last gasp, before it heads back underground, having been driven out of most of Iraq. Clearly, though, world leaders are pledging to redouble their efforts to fight ISIS and the group still has active supporters and cels all over the world, scheming to do harm to infidels everywhere. Why are they so often targeting France? Because they hate it for all of the reasons we love it, I suppose.