A Nice weekend (and Monaco morning)

This past weekend, Liz (a fellow assistant and Michigander that lives in Avignon) and I had a weekend getaway to the Cote d’Azur. We visited Nice, a place that has been on my ‘to see’ list for a long time, and I was anxious for a weekend by the beautiful blue water of the Mediterranean. Meeting at Avignon TGV at 11am on Friday, we jumped on the 3 hour train to Nice. This train ride boasts stunning views of the coast, going from the suburbs of Marseille through Cannes and Antibes before reaching the terminus of Nice. I had taken this train before, when we visited Cannes for Amy’s birthday. This time it was quite gloomy, with dark clouds threatening rain the entire way.

Once we arrived in the city and dropped off our things at our hostel, it was off to exploring the city. As Liz had been to Nice twice in the past, she toured me around the city but also left room to wander through the narrow streets and massive places that closely resemble the piazzas that I experienced in Rome and other cities in Italy. With Nice being so close to the border of Italy and quite a bit of its history being tied to the Romans and the Savoy house, I noticed many similarities between Nice and the country to the East, in architecture, colors, and food. In Place Rosetti, we stopped and grabbed a gelato at a highly recommended shop: Fenocchio Glacier. And with good reason – we were amazed by the amount and range of flavors they offered from 8 different types of chocolate to fruit flavors as rare as passion fruit and lychee. There was even a savory selections, including avocado, tomato basil and  black olive. Needless to say, I went with two scoops of the sweeter options: bounty bar and rocher. Sitting and enjoying this gelato in this petite square of Vieux Nice (Old Town) made me feel like I was in Italy again, and I have to say it was a great feeling!

After this rest, we continued on, though the dark clouds continued to spit droplets down at us. We explored most of Nice on this day, but taking pictures was not really ideal with the weather so we planned to return the next day to each of the big sights. As we walked back from the port as the sun was setting and all the lights in the city were beginning to turn on, I remember thinking “okay Nice, I guess you’re pretty nice!” It is a beautiful city during the day, but arguably even more beautiful at night. While walking back down the Promenade des Anglais, gaping at the lit up palm trees lined up next to me, I couldn’t help but feel content to be in such an exquisite place.

Saturday morning, we woke up early and got ready for a full day exploring the town. Today, the weather was in our favor and the sun shined on us brightly all day long. We went back to all the major sights again, including Promenade des Anglais, the Negresco Hotel, Place Massena, Promenade du Paillon, a wander through Vieux Nice and Place Rosetti. We did wander to a few fairly unknown places though – one of my favorites was the little garden in the courtyard of the Musée Massena. It was a wonderful time to visit Nice, as spring has just started to blossom and all the foliage is starting to burst forth all its magnificent colors. With a little shopping and a little sandwich lunch in Place Massena, the first half of the day was well spent. Oh, and with another stop at Fenocchio Glacier. I just couldn’t get enough!

The Negresco and the Promenade des Anglais

Garden in front of Musée Massena

Getting a little wet at the Promenade du Paillon (sidenote: was not posed, the water jetted up right when the picture was taken!)

Place Massena

Just can't get enough! This time, I went for fruit flavors: mango and blackberry. YUM

In the afternoon, we continued on to a part of town I had not seen yet – Cours Saleya. With tourist shops and busy restaurants on either side, this was a bustling quarter of the city. Also, they hold the marché des fleurs here, and on Saturdays another market full of Provençal goods were lined up in the stalls. We wandered through this and then continued on to the chateau on the hill, the major panoramic viewpoint over Nice. After many steps, with some heavy breathing maybe mixed in, we reached the top and gazed at the magnificent view of the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Nice. It was absolutely breathtaking, and not just from the climb up the stairs!

Flower market

Baie des Anges

After we had taken in the view, we descended the steps and walked along the Promenade des Anglais down to the pebble beach on the Baie des Anges. It was my first time on a pebble beach and I have got to say, it is pretty uncomfortable! As I had left my bathing suit at the hostel, we just laid in the sun in our dresses and soaked in the rays and the calming sound of the waves. It was a relaxing way to spend the end of the afternoon – I will never tire of staring at that blue water.

Pebbles... which felt more like stones

That night, we went out to dinner with the two other people that were in our hostel room: Ryan from New Zealand and Veronica from Germany. We met up with Veronica’s friend Utah (which might have lead to an embarrassing moment when he introduced himself… I didn’t know whether to say my state or name…) and went to eat a nice seafood three course meal in Cours Saleya. Since this was the only real meal we had during the weekend, we enjoyed course after course with wine and champagne. I chose the mussels as a starter, a skewer of fish, scallops and jumbo shrimp with vegetables and rice as an entrée and dark chocolate mousse as a dessert. Needless to say, we spent a nice three hours eating and sharing our experiences traveling and working with each other. That is one wonderful thing about staying in hostels – you get to meet wonderful people from all over the world.

Sunday morning, we woke up extremely early. Before going to bed, we consulted bus times that go to Monaco, the chic principality of France that is extremely close to Nice. Many people in the hostel had been there before and it is always been on my travel bucket list to see this city. After seeing that the bus ride was just 30 minutes, we decided quite spontaneously to spend Sunday morning in Monaco before our afternoon train back to Provence. And what a wonderful idea that was! The bus ride itself was exceptional, passing through seaside village after seaside village, through Villefranche-sur-la-Mer to Èze. After taking in more stunning views of the coast, we arrived in Monaco, got off the bus with all of our bags and sat down in a garden to eat breakfast. It was another beautiful day, and although we only had a short hour and a half to explore, it was amazing to say that we had seen some of the sights. We saw the Casino Monte Carlo, the big pier with all the decadent, huge yachts, and even saw many Ferraris from people staying in the swanky hotels. We even managed to have a conversation with a local, an old man from a nearby village who told us lots of information about France and Monaco. He explained to us that Monaco is incredibly safe; women our age can walk around town at 2am after grabbing a drink and will have no problems like getting hassled by men. Though our time in Monaco was short, as we were taking the bus back to Nice, I was smiling from ear to ear, knowing we set out and saw something new.*

Casino Monte Carlo

Monaco

After a quick walk to the train station, we were back on our way to Provence after a lovely weekend on the French Riviera. I have to admit, I was a sad to see the beautiful blue water fade away in the distance. While sitting in the sun at Avignon TGV, waiting for the bus to Apt to arrive, I closed my eyes and imagined I was sitting in front of the Mediterranean’s clear water. It’s official: that city was just too Nice to me – I know I will be back!

*PS: I really want to go back here, guys! I have got to explore it a little more :)

La vie est comme un fruit….

Another week and weekend has come and gone. With the limited time that I have left here, I can’t help but starting to feel a little melancholic about this whole experience. Though there have been some hard days, and times where I have missed home so much, I cannot begin to describe how weird it will be to pack up and leave here. For good. I have to be careful when I say this around my teachers, who have realized that I have three weeks left teaching and have asked me how I feel about it. This leads to a very nostalgic discussion: I am so excited to get home to be with my family and friends, but again, there’s something about la France and particularly la Provence that always calls me back. When I say to them that it’s weird to think I will never be back in Apt, their response is always a smile with a sly “on sait jamais!”- you never know! Then, we proceeded to talk about my constant worry once I return to the states: trouver un boulot*. Getting a teaching job in France is completely different than getting one in the states – you don’t even have an interview most times! Just fill out an online application and they send you an e-mail telling you whether you got the job or not. Say what?! They even told me they wished there was an interview process. I just don’t understand that – how can you be sure that someone is an adequate educator without ever meeting them? Bizarre, bizarre…. 

With my limited time left here, I have been trying to overload on everything français, from reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in French to watching How I Met Your Mother in French to pushing myself into random conversations with teachers, workers at the school, shop owners and servers at the restaurant, I realize that I have limited time to continue to practice the language in a native place. Plus, it helps that wherever I go, random strangers on the street will always flash me a smile and dit a little “bonjour!” That’s small town France for you!**

Another sunset view from the Apt apt. (yes, my Apt apartment)

I even pushed myself to do something that any foreign language speaker knows is hard and nerve-racking task: talk on the phone in French. I know what you are thinking, I speak French… so why can’t I do it on the phone?! Many factors affect this (not being able to see the person, body language, bad phone connection leaving voices to be mumbled and incomprehensible, etc),  but it is one of the hardest skills to master in my opinion. For shutting down all of my accounts, it was necessary for me to speak to the customer service of each one of my providers, to get information on how to go about doing this. Unfortunately, all these companies in France have their employees sign contracts where they cannot speak in English to help customers - even when they are having trouble understanding and you might be able to help them better in another language. Only French conversations can be had. Knowing this in advance, I prepared myself and hoped that this conversation would go as smoothly as one I would have with someone at a store. My phone call with SFR (my internet company) was as seamless as could be – she could understand me, and I could understand her. It was actually quite a lovely conversation. After that, with my spirits lifted, I decided to call Virgin (my phone company). This conversation was a little bumpier, but still a lot better than how it would have been when I first arrived! Either way, getting over that feeling of being timid is hard for me – in English and even more in a foreign language! I am more than proud of what I have accomplished and continue to accomplish as I grow within this language.

I took advantage of this weekend being my last true weekend “at home” in Apt. On Friday, I spent the day laying out and cleaning. I did venture out of the apartment to get some new movies and stop to get some kebab. After a nice conversation with the owner, I got out my money to pay for my meal and he told me “non, non, mademoiselle, c’est mon cadeau pour toi!”*** Though I felt weird about this, he insisted, reminding me of the little town atmosphere this place has and how a little conversation can go a long way. Then, like a true American, I went to the theater and watched Monuments Men. What a great film, filled with patriotism and a little bit of Matt Damon speaking French (albeit a little rough pronunciation, but still)! I couldn’t help but cry for my homeland a bit…

It's okay, Matt - sometimes I screw up French too!

Saturday, I went to the market for one of the last times. I ran into many students, and one of the teachers I work with, Marc. Again, these are only things that can happen in such a small town as this – I can never go anywhere without seeing a teacher or students from the lycée. Also, I heard A LOT of other Anglophones around, lots of Brits and Americans. Tourist season must be starting in Provence! With all the things I bought, I might have had a near anxiety attack and quickly did a test-pack of everything I have here… needless to say I haven’t done my April-May travels and with two checked bags, I am still overweight…. guess I will be shipping some things home! Then, I enjoyed a nice light dinner and watched A Good Year, filmed right here in the Luberon in Provence. I recognized many of the panoramic views of the little, hillside villages that are on my stomping grounds, including Gordes, Bonnieux, and Lacoste. But what was surprising was at the very end, while the credits rolled, they listed a special thanks to the people living in all of the towns that were filmed in the movie. I was more than surprised to see little, unexceptional Apt on the list! Now I will have to rewatch that movie a few more times and try to pinpoint which scene/s where filmed here in my French home.

And Marion Cotillard is in it - a fav French actress. Need I say more?

Sunday, one of my private lesson clients Laure and her husband Julien took me to the market at Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. Though I had visited this wonderful town before, through their knowledge and guidance, I saw it through completely different eyes. I learned so much about la Venise Provencal****, walking through antique shop after antique shop, and vendor after vendor in the marché. Before going today, I was not sure whether we would speak in English or in French together, as all of our communication up until now has been in English. It was a welcomed change to be expected to speak in French, even when at times I had difficulty in expressing my ideas, they would help me with giving me a new expression or words to use. Even so, these moments didn’t happen too frequently, meaning that my time from 9am-5pm was nearly entirely spoken in French. I know that many of my readers might be saying “Becca, you live in France – isn’t this something you do everyday?” The simple answer: no. Since I am required to speak English with students at work, and with the professors when in front of students, I mostly have found that I go some days speaking English more than French. Although I have had several opportunities to speak through meals and other gatherings with my teachers, this was a nice change as it was different people with different accents, for quite a long period of time. Their generosity and kindness was something that I hadn’t expected, et je ne l’oublierai jamais – I will never forget it!

Antiques everywhere!

We saw many pairs of these lions statues flanked at the doorways of the antiquaires. They explained to me that in ancient times these were used as guardians at the doors almost, portraying the fierceness of the nobility/people that lived inside of the buildings.

La Sorgue!

Laure and I in front of the many water wheels, or roules, that are scattered throughout Isle-sur-la-Sorgue.

The emblem of Isle-sur-la-Sorgue with its latin motto which when translated means the city holds strong against enemies.

Notre Dame des Anges - the church. We peeked in so I could get a look, even though there was a service happening, what a beautiful interior!

More antiquing along the Sorgue - anyone want a cup of tea on the dining set in the water on the right there?

La Sorgue est partout!

They took me to a lovely Chinese restaurant, which is honestly something I have been craving for a long time, as the one in Apt is SUPER expensive (and kinda sketchy looking) so I haven’t tried it. So when they said they felt bad because they didn’t take me to somewhere typically French, I said it is no problem. After, we went to their beautiful home and met their dog Uta, further making this day more amazing, as I got to have play time with un chien! After, they took me to a park where the Sorgue river splits into two parts, a well-known place called le Partage des Eaux. After, we headed up a windy, skinny road deep in the countryside and visited the village of Saumane-de-Vaucluse. Known for a chateau that is privately owned at the top of the village, it boasts magnificent views over the countryside while keeping its quaint, white-washed stone houses stacked in solemnity on the hillside. I had never heard of this village before, and after today I can say I discovered a new coin de Provence.

I can't tell you how many ducks I saw today, and all in twos! I guess that is the custom: as it is almost time for the mama ducks to give birth, the daddy ducks stay with them to help with the ducklings. It's bizarre I didn't manage to get both in the picture....

Le Partage des Eaux

Walking up to the village was beautiful, seeing the layered white rock flanking the hillside. Laure and Julien explained to me that some people have carved their houses into this type of rock, their house actually a part of the hillside. I didn't really believe them... until we saw one on the drive back to Apt. Unfortunately, didn't get a picture of that.

Best shot I could get of the privately-owned chateau

Saumane-de-Vaucluse

After such a wonderful day, it was hard for me to say goodbye and to adequately thank them for how much today meant to me. I think it is hard for people to realize how lonely it can be to come to a foreign country, knowing no one, not having a car, and to try and be able to make connections with people and do things. Today, I felt like I was somewhat part of French everyday life, and it will be a day that I will remember forever.

 

Now, onto another 3 weeks of teaching!

*Translation: to find a job. Woof.

**Recall: In a previous post of when I first arrived, I talked about how I feel like Belle from Beauty and the Beast with everyone shouting “Bonjour” at me as I walk through town. That welcoming feeling has not gone away, and will be one of the things I miss most when returning home to the states.

***Translation: No no miss, this is my gift to you! As you can imagine, I was torn between feeling grateful and wondering if he had put something in my food….

****They call this the Venice of Provence because the river Sorgue that runs through the town forms many canals in the alleyways between the buildings.

A little party never killed nobody

Though today I am tired and am having trouble focusing on work, I think that shows the great weekend I had. Friday, I had planned on relaxing at home, doing some more research for the upcoming travels, and starting to write letters to close my many accounts down. That is something I find interesting here – to close nearly any type of service account (apartment lease, internet service, phone service, etc), you need to send letters to the company a month in advance to ensure everything is shut down in time. Excuse me, I have to WRITE you a REAL letter and send it RECOMMENDED mail?! Clearly, France has not entered the technological age of the 21^st century where sending a simple email or even just going into the store/business and wanting to do it in person would suffice. No – everything here has to be a process, involving copious amounts of paperwork. Eh ben… c’est la vie!

However, I did not end up starting this Friday* - I decided to take the afternoon to go into Avignon. I had planned to do this Saturday but after talking to my fellow assistant friends Liz and Nysa who wanted to go to Nîmes that day, I took the opportunity to go into town and do something that I have wanted to do for a long while: visit the Palais des Papes. The Pope’s Palace, the major tourist attraction to see when you visit Avignon, is smack dab in the center of centre-ville, meaning the many times I have passed it during my several visits to Avignon I have marveled at its façade without ever walking inside. Friday, I paid the fee and marveled at the grandeur that the seven popes had made in the center of town. Avignon was the seat of the catholic church for 70 years when Southern France was part of Ancient Rome, it was the place where the popes resided. As I walked from room to room (which there were over 20 of), I couldn’t help but soak up the history as much as I could. Especially when I walked down the ceremonial staircase… since there was no one around, I couldn’t help but indulging myself in acting like a queen walking down a staircase after being crowned. You gotta soak up the moments when you can people! I am so happy that I made myself go into town to do this – it was a must-do before leaving and now I can truly say that I visited the sights in Avignon.

 

Courtyard of the Old Palace

Where the Popes ate their meals. You know, just the normal dining room.

The Great Chapel, the biggest and most magnificent room in the Palace (if you ask me!)

View of Avignon from la Tour de Gâche

La Fenêtre de l’Indulgence - after the Pope's would get coronated, they would walk to this window to wave to the rest of the court and see the people for the first time as the actual pope.

After, I did some shopping and although my time in Avignon was running short**, I had to make a mandatory stop at Milk Shop. I think I have written about Milk Shop before, but to describe again: it is a pure safe haven of American goodies. Their specialty? You might have guessed it: Milk Shakes! Since the places that sell these delicious drinks are far and few between here, I had to stop and get an American Cookie (aka Oreo) Milkshake, which of course was delicious! They also serve food too, like bagel burgers and such, but their sweets are what make them known, like their kitkat bar cake, crème brûlée cheesecake and Nutella cupcakes, just to name a few. If I was living in Avignon, this place would definitely be dangerous for me.

Nothing says 'Murica like an Oreo shake!

I might have taken a treat home for later too.... Coffee Speculoos Cake!

After a relaxing night in Apt, I headed back out to Avignon on a rainy Saturday morning. I met up with Liz and Nysa and we headed off to Nîmes, which is known as the little Rome in France, because it holds many well preserved Roman ruins. Because it was rainy and even a bit cold, we tried our best to make it a good trip by walking around, seeing the sights, taking pictures, window shopping and of course catching up on life. After getting thoroughly wet, we decided to duck into a café for a nice sit down lunch, enjoying salads and dessert. I hadn’t seen either of them since before Christmas, so it was really nice to hear what they’ve been doing and how they feel about the assistantship being done so soon. Although I came into this whole experience alone, not knowing one soul when setting foot on French soil, I am glad that I have met people to share this experience with. This opportunity of living in France has not only made me more independent but has also allowed myself to be more okay with being independent, more okay with doing things alone and being by myself. I am grateful and happy to have met some great people who I hope will remain friends when we all return to our own corners of the world.

Cheesin' with a Roman amphitheater!

Arènes de Nîmes – it is said to be the best preserved Roman amphitheater in Europe, even more so than the Colloseum in Rome.

This theater is still in operation, hosting bull fights during the summer. This guy was sad that it was raining so much too!

centre-ville

Southern France: where you can find a beautiful church with a palm tree in front of it!

 

After Nîmes, I had planned on going home, as I had neglected to do all my work on Friday and was thinking I should be responsible. However, Nysa and Liz convinced me to stay the night in Avignon as there was a wine bar that was open that night that rarely is. Le Delirium is only open once in a blue moon and since I hadn’t been out for a real night out in Avignon thus far, I had to take the opportunity, as it will probably be the only one I have with my remaining time left here. After buying a new outfit (again, was not prepared exactly for a night on the town), we spent time with a few other assistants at Liz’s apartment and then went out on the town. It was nice to get outside of Apt for the night, and even better to be out on the town actually enjoying nightlife here in France again – it’s been quite a while! Le Delirium was interesting, having a type of speak-easy vibe in décor. But clearly, the atmosphere was directly controlled by the live band. When we first arrived, there was a rap group performing and shortly after, a new group played the Beach boys and other American rock classics. While dancing to Johnny B Goode, I kept thinking how out of place this seems: a French wine bar with a band blaring American 50’s music. You never what to expect here, that’s for sure! I'm glad I ended up staying in Avignon instead of going home for the night - very unlike me to make a spontaneous decision like that but like the title of this post says, a little party never killed nobody!

Waking up early Sunday morning to catch the bus to Apt, the sun shining brightly with normal Provençal weather returning after that horrid rainy day, I couldn’t help but reflect on time. This could be because I had just said goodbye to Maria, another fellow secondary assistant and roommate of Liz, who is leaving today to return to the States. I know that this is all going to be over soon, but I think that it has just started hitting me how soon that really is. It really feels like just yesterday I was lugging my 65 pound suitcase up the three flights of stairs to my apartment, with everything feeling so new and unknown. It feels like just yesterday when I met all my teachers and students and was so apprehensive about what to teach and how to teach it. It seems like just yesterday I was setting up my bank account, and other services, using my highly rehearsed French to ensure that no language barriers would arise. To look back on moments like these and so many more, I realize how far I truly have come with my time here: in my language skills, independence, teaching abilities, and flexibility. Although it only seems like yesterday, I know that the time has only seemed to pass that quickly because it has been well spent. With only 4 weeks left of this assistantship, I already feel the rest of the time slipping between my fingers, like grains of sand blowing away in the breeze. With this time I have left, as I have tried to do throughout my stay here, it is time to profitez-bien – these are moments I will never get back.

*Leaving me in my half-asleep state today to try and accomplish these tasks. I will be so happy when I am done with all this administrative bureaucracy!

**I was actually going into town to attempt to get some work done too, in stopping by the Virgin Mobile store and asking them what I need to do to close my service with them. However, I never ended up getting there...