Our spring vacation has been all about taking it easy. Although I'm on a short break from chemo, problems with my sciatic nerve and back have made it difficult for me to do any real walking and I haven't had much of an appetite. This means I've been staying home, chez Georges' sister, more than I normally would. Saint Raphael is a quiet town, especially off-season, so there aren't tons of things to do, but the mini-golf has been open in the afternoons and normally it's just nice walking around or taking short drives.
We did take a short drive the other day, to enjoy lunch at one of our favorite beach-front restaurants, located on a little cove. A few people were even swimming or kayaking. I put my feet in the water for a few minutes but that was about all the cold water I could stand. I love the red rocks on the coastline here.
Another day, we drove into the center of town, and I parked myself at a table at Le Poussin Bleu for a hot chocolate while Georges and le Garçon went to the nearby bookstore. Just next to this restaurant is a hotel-restaurant called the Excelsior, and Georges and I celebrated our engagement seven years ago by having a glass of champagne right there at one of those tables!
Back at home, the adorable black kitten my sister-in-law adopted last August has grown into a long, lean, green-eyed teenager. This was her first time being allowed out on the balcony (she had her eye on a bumblebee cruising the flower boxes). She can't be left out there unsupervised, though, because we don't yet trust her to stay on the balcony... there are free-roaming male cats in the apartment complex garden, she seems to be in heat, and she hasn't been "fixed" yet. So, we chaperone her.
We're just at the end of our first week of vacation. I'm hoping to get a bit more energy and mobility back so I can be more active. But at least I have sunshine, clean air and a comfortable place to recuperate from a long and difficult winter.
