Yesterday I took a double-decker bus tour and a train tour of Nice. Sure enough, it's beautiful all over! Nice boasts 400,000 years of history and has kept dang good records of nearly every year! Sort of puts 200+ years of USA history in a different perspective, but that's another story :) I was like a Chinese person in Disneyland taking pics of everything we zoomed past on the bus. I really wish I could post them on here or on facebook somehow.
Then last night I went with Celine to her concert at a church in Old Nice. She is an amazing violinist! What a treat that was! It was the final conert of the Festival de la musique sacrée... So there you go, I went to a church on a Sunday ;)
Today was my first day of school and it brought back a ton of memories from my last study abroad. I started by taking a written, listening comprehension and then conversational exam to see what class level they would place me. I was feeling confident until the conversation part of the test... That's where I need lots of work. I hope the class they put me in will be challenging but mostly helpful. I guess I will just hope for the best in my classes tomorrow. I'll keep you posted on that.
After school I took a train to Monaco. (Reread that sentence one more time and just listen to how cool that sounds!) It's just a 20 min train ride away and it's a beautiful little 2 square mile country. I went to an exotic cactus garden on the cliff overlooking the sea and the city. They sure did squash a whole lot of high rise buildings into that little space of a country! I also went to an aquarium but didn't stay long because they have huge tanks of tropical fish in Utah too, so I wanted to see things I can't see there, you know?
What else? Oh, I'm having a bit of trouble getting my damn credit cards to work here. All I have are big bills and many places will only accept coins or credit cards. It's becoming a gigantic pain in the butt, but on the bright side it's keeping me from spending too much on my card. But I do really need to figure out what the problem is before I run out of cash. I think it may stem from the fact that someone stole my card 5 days before I left the USA so now everything's all jacked up... but again, that's another story...
Other stuff:
- The weather is absolutely positively perfect!!! Not too hot, not too cold. Just fabulous!
- My room is the coolest ever! I have the most amazing view and Celine is quite a gardener so the jardin est tres belle!
- I love my walk into town each day. I'm in a great location, not far from the beach or the train station. Getting around without a car has been no problem at all. There is a great tram and lots of busses and it's only €1 each way so it's pretty cheap.
- I had my first sandwich nicoise yesterday with a glass of bordeaux on the promenade... it was fabulous! That was my first time trying anchovies and they actually weren't too bad. The restaurant owner/greeter/waiter was Italian (il y a beaucoup des italiens ici) and he had a crush on me. He gave me a free additional glass of wine and asked me to come back and have lunch with him on Wednesday :) Too funny! It was the first time that I've gotten a bill from a restaurant where my drink actually cost less than my food!
- Speaking of random men... I've been here for 3 days and have collected 3 random mens phone numbers... and NOT because I asked for them! Celine warned me that the men in Nice are "tres chaud" but I thought she meant good looking, like when we say a guy is "hot". But what she really meant I guess is way forward and way friendly! Of course I will never call any of them, but I think it's funny as hell that they keep trying :)
- I've noticed MANY other fellow women traveling alone. More than I ever would have imagined! I love seeing kindred traveling spirits out here :)
- Lastly (for now), everyone seems to smell really good here! Not like over-the-top Axe icky smell, more like you-smell-so-good-I-want-to-follow-you-around yummy smell. Surely it's due to the fact that Nice is known for its parfumes, but it may just cause me to break my "No parfumes" rule so I can come home smelling like heaven :)
Ok, that's enough for now. Thanks to those of you who have been following along with me... More adventures to come!
It sounds like you are having a fabulous time. I am SO jealous. I have always wanted to be able to do something like you are doing. Enjoy every minute! XOXO
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous!! I love your descriptions of everything. You're beautifully articulate and I absolutely LOVE being able to follow every step of your trip this way. I had no idea Monaco was its own country, let alone only 2 square miles! =D
ReplyDeleteGlad you're having a good time. Cant wait to read more. I love you!!
Okay, where to start? It doesn't help that I can't see your entire post at once.... I have to keep scrolling up to see what I want to comment on.
ReplyDeleteFirst, please bring Celine back to work in my garden. The house I am renting has an herb garden and I imagine at one time it was "jardin est tres belle". Haha!
I haven't read forward in your posts so forgive me if you have already addressed some of the things I comment on. I wanted to take it in as it was intended, one post at a time, and not reading them all in the same day.
So sorry to hear about your credit cards. I hope you are able to get that straightened out, but if not let me know and I'll wire you some money. The good news is that you are in NICE with all those "friendly" men.... just take them up on their offers to dine. Tell them it's so you can practice your French and nothing more (of course), and then you won't have to buy another morsel of food. You can save your cash for all the other stuff. Free food, free French lessons all laced with large doses of flattery.... what else could a girl ask for??? You think I'm joking.... okay maybe I am a little, but it's an option if you get desparate.