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Published: February 27th 2009
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Nice!
The View from le chateau de Nice. Bonsoir!
Wow is this semester going by so fast. I can’t believe I have been in France for 6 weeks (I had to look it up, it’s been that long). That went by so fast. These next three months are going to go by even faster. I started my actual classes here, yeah it seems really late considering I’ve been here for 6 weeks. Monday I have a history of art class, which seems really interesting but hard for me at the same time because I am not good at analyzing art, but I do get a free pass to all the national museums in Paris (the Louvre, Musee D’Orsay, etc.). Tuesday I have my language class and a literature class, which is going to be my toughest class. I am in that class with students from my level all the way to superior. The first day of class we jumped into an analysis of Proust; its hard enough for me to analyze something in English let alone French. I have to read a whole novel by the next class! I know it will be really hard, but I am up for the challenge. Wednesday I just have my class
with my study abroad program which is mostly consisted of cultural outings throughout the city and museum visits. Thursday I have my language class again in the morning. And Friday I have a phonetics class in the afternoon which will help me to work on my accent. I am excited for my classes but this might possibly be the hardest semester that I’ve had in college so far. Wish me luck!
Otherwise, life is great. I have finally adjusted I think. There are still some moments of frustration but I take the little victories when I can get them. The best thing to hear is that a French person thinks you are Parisian. I got asked by a French woman for directions today, which was cool cause I guess I am starting to look like I fit in here =). I went for a run today in the Luxembourg gardens; it was amazing. The weather was a little chilly but it was perfect for running.
Last weekend my study abroad group went to Nice on the cote d’azur, it was so so beautiful. I didn’t want to leave. We were there from Friday to Sunday. It was a
much needed break from classes. The weather was so nice, a little chilly at times, but in the sun it was gorgeous. On Friday after flying into Nice we got to out hostel and dropped off our bags. We all went out and did a little exploring. I ate lunch in Vielle Nice, the older section of nice. There are a lot of cute little restaurants and shops in that area. The architecture in nice is very different from the north of France. There are so many more colors. After lunch we went down to the beach for a little bit to soak in the sun. The water is so blue, its indescribable. The beaches aren’t like in the US; there is no sand, they are all pebble beaches because the waves from the Mediterranean are not strong enough to grind the stones down to sand. We all met up for a tour in the afternoon. I learned so much about the history of Nice, most of which I have forgotten by now, but it was still very interesting.
After the tour I went out to dinner at a cute little italian place. There are a lot of Italian
The Dock in Monacco
One day I will dock my yacht here. restaurants and gelati shops because Italy is so close to Nice. That night we all went out as a group and went to a bar with a live band, it was a lot of fun. The next day we headed up to the castle, which doesn’t actually exist anymore, but the mountain that it was on has the most beautiful view of Nice. After that we went out to lunch as a group and had some traditional Nicoise food. It was quite delicious and filling.
After that I went with a couple of people from my group and took the train to Monacco. It was about a 20 minute ride. Monacco is the second smallest country in the world. Monacco is home to the Monte Carlo Casino and some of the richest people in the world. You walk down the street past Prada, Gucci, Chanel, just to name a few, all with Porches, Lamborghinis, Mercedes, etc lined up in front of them. First we went to the Monte Carlo casino; it is gorgeous and so lavish. I played a few slots just to say I gambled in the Monte Carlo casino in Monacco! After that, we headed towards the
ocean. Monacco is bashically situated on a cliff, so there are a lot of windy roads and staircases. There is a beautiful view of the dock from behind the casino. There are such huge yachts there, its unbelievable. After walking around for a few hours with our jaws permanently dropped we took the train back to Nice to meet up with our group to go to the parade for Carnival.
Carnival is basically the equivalent to Mardi Gras but take Mardi Gras in Louisiana and multiply it by 10. The parade was so much fun. They had awesome floats and music and it was basically like a confetti silly string fight the whole time. We had a war going on between us and this little boy who kept spraying my director in the face. That was the most fun that I have had in a really long time. The next day we had the afternoon free so I went to the market. There was so much to buy there. All the fruit, flowers, and fish were so fresh, it was really cool. After that I headed down to the beach for a few more hours of sun before we
headed back to Paris. It was such a great weekend to be in Nice because of Carnival and the beautiful weather. I want to go back!
This week has been really good despite missing the beautiful weather in Nice. I am going to take this weekend to relax and do my homework and try and plan out my spring break. I have 2 weeks so I was thinking about going to Spain and Morocco! I hope it works out because it would be so cool to go to Morocco. Tonight I am meeting up with my mom’s Uncle Dave and my Cousin Jacob, who live in England. They are in Paris because Jacob has an interview at the University of London Institute in Paris, so I am going to meet up with them for dinner, so that will be nice.
Bon Weekend!
Katie
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