We've spent the last couple of days in Villefranche thanks to some train strikes and bad weather. We had the worst rain yet very early this morning and things seem to be clearing up for next week. We haven't done anything particularly fancy but these have probably been my favorite days.

Each morning we got up slowly and went to one of two bakeries. One is up the hill and the other is down the hill.

We're trying to decide which one is our favorite and who has the best what. The verdict is still out on, well, everything. Mostly because it's all pretty good.

More thorough, serious testing is necessary. Good thing we have another week.

On Friday we went to the beach again. The water was much more clear but it was also colder. It didn't stop me though!

After the beach, we cleaned up and went to the citadel.

The big surprise there was the Volti sculptures. There's a whole, beautiful, free museum of them.

For dinner, we ended up eating at a little Vietnamese place just down the stairs from us. I got beef pho and had the best meal of my trip up to that point. Maybe it was because I was still sick and/or a little tired of the same stuff, but it hit the spot in a big way.

At the table next to us were a couple of really fun, interesting people who work on the yachts. It was fascinating to hear a bit about their lives and what they do.

I have to admit that I am more than a little envious of how well-traveled they are. But I'm just not that much of a nomad. I need some home time to offset the wanderlust.

Saturday was supposed to be a stormy day so we planned to stay in.

My dad and I walked down to the bakery and watched an older man pass us, whistling and clearing his throat. He seemed like he was on his daily constitutional.

He was adorable.

He quickly turned onto a tiny street and narrowly missed a bucket's worth of water falling on his head.

So we watched as he watched the offending balcony above, trying to figure out when it would be safe and what, exactly, was going on up there.

Meanwhile, a woman on the balcony was obliviously washing it, throwing water all over and tossing down leaves and debris. She simply didn't seem to care if anyone was below.

The combination of the two was a perfect snapshot of this village. I haven't laughed quite like that in awhile.

We continued on, bought some goodies and trotted back up the hill to tell my mom the story.

After breakfast, we went to the food market at the park on top of the hill, outside of town.

We bought some veggies and decided we would get a roasted chicken somewhere and eat in.

Since we also needed some supplies from the bigger supermarket in Beaulieu, Dad and I caught the train after a stormy lunch by the water.

I could go off on a tangent about trying to catch the train during a strike but that would take awhile. Suffice to say, we waited a long time and got there a little bit bedraggled. It's really another story for another time.

Once at the Super U, though, we saw more great stuff.