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Back from France, via Israel

Anyone following my lovely wife on social media would undoubtedly be aware that we have spent the last two weeks on a reasonably significant journey. Structured around our youngest’s Bat Mitzvah, it started with a bit over a week in Israel and then continued for a week on the French Riviera. The grown-up elder siblings joined us on the Israel leg, and then it was just the three of us in France.

I obviously had to moderate my sightseeing appetites in order to ensure ongoing equilibrium with the rest of the family. Later wake-up calls, more time for the beach, set intervals for vegging out, only one or two sightseeing targets per day – and not every day! I cut out anything that would primarily appeal to me while potentially boring others. Not sure if the kids appreciated or even noticed my sacrifices in that respect. They did find nice things to say about most of the stuff that we were doing, but I suspect they were just being nice to their old man. And, of course, it was quite hot in Israel, sapping the energy and making it hard to stay too active for long periods. On the Riviera, it was just a few degrees cooler – still in the hot section of the scale. My Achilles heel in terms of travel is that I do not tolerate high temperatures all that well. (And before you ask – no, we could not pick a different time for this trip.)

I will as always comb through my photographic output and post location-specific essays as I progress. For a teaser, here is the 180-degree early-morning panorama of the bay of Villefranche-sur-Mer as seen from our apartment balcony.
Villefranche-sur-Mer, French Riviera
One of those views that you cannot get enough of, no matter how many times you look.