The Fabulous French Riviera

             A week and a half ago, my friend and I went to Nice for the long weekend.  We spent five days in the beautiful French Riviera. 

Monaco

            Whenever we travel together, we have found that something always goes wrong but ends up miraculously working out.  This trip was no different.  Our train trip took about eight hours with two transfers.  We got off the train for our first transfer in Marseille only to find out that our next train was late, meaning we would miss our third train transfer in Toulon.  On an impulse we found another train to Toulon that left in less than five minutes and hopped on.  We were apparently not the only ones with this idea as the train was packed. 

Casino at Monte Carlo

Safe on the train, I decided to munch on some pretzels I had brought with me, but I pulled them out upside down and spilled hundreds of pretzels all over the floor.  It was hilariously embarrassing.  We could barely move it was so crowded, but we managed to pick them all up.  Luckily, the people on the train were very nice about it! We didn’t get a single dirty look! In addition to spilling pretzels all over the place, we were also in the way the whole time.  The train conductor had to hop over our bags every time we stopped and he had to get off onto the platform, but he could not have been more good-natured about it. 

Grand Prix Racetrack

            When we finally arrived in Nice, we found the hostel near the train station.  We walked into a nice lobby full of business men in suits checking in.  We automatically assumed we were in the wrong place and stood around like idiots for about 10 minutes trying to figure out if it was our hotel or not.  Checking in was an interesting experience.  When I checked in, I discovered that the man at the desk did not keep anyone’s reservations on file and instead asked me how much it said to pay when I booked it online.  I offered to pull up the reservation on my email, but the wifi wouldn’t work.  He didn’t require it anyway.  We also had to pay for our four night stay in cash, which we obviously didn’t have on us at the time.  It was strange.  The hostel was on the top floors of the hotel and was actually not too bad.  We met some cool people that stayed in our room with us.  One was even from Arkansas! I was overjoyed to find a fellow Razorback half-way around the world!

            Our first night, we took a walk around Nice and ate gelato by the beach.  We soon found out that there were lots of creepy guys in Nice that tried to hit on us and ask for our names.  We thus assumed new identities.  My new name became Caroline Craft for the remainder of the trip.  Yes, if you’ve seen Mean Girls, that happens the name of the mathlete that loses to Lindsay Lohan at the end of the movie.  

            The first day, we went to Monaco.  I can understand why the wealthy have dubbed it their personal playground – it was so beautiful! We saw the casino in Monte Carlo and walked along the beach.  My friend had a bit of a bad habit of cutting off people’s heads when snapping photos, so at her request, we had an impromptu photography lesson in Monte Carlo. We also saw the most extravagant children’s birthday party of all time.  It was exquisitely decorated complete with pink marshmallows on the tables and a giant inflatable pink castle on the beach in Monaco. 

            We then proceeded to the Japanese Gardens.  It was a lovely little park so obviously we started taking a bazillion photos.  The most adorable park ranger basically followed us everywhere we went and offered to take photos of the two of us together.  He was so sweet! He even gave each of us a lovely flower from the gardens.  It was a lovely time and the weather could not have been more perfect. 

Nice Old Town

            After that we walked along the Grand Prix racetrack set up for the Formula One Race the following weekend.  It was surreal! We then climbed a hill to see the old town and royal palace.  The views were incredible.  Then we walked through a beautiful park and headed back to Nice.  That night we had an amazing dinner, and I tried Magret de Canard (a.k.a. duck) for the first time.  It was so delicious!

View of the City

            The next day was not quite as nice weather wise so we spent the day shopping and exploring Nice.  We went to the open air market and got some fruit for a picnic lunch on the beach.  Then we climbed up the hill that overlooks the city and spent some time up there.  We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping in the Old Town.  We found lots of little interesting shops and even stopped for crepes and coffee at an amazing little creperie. That evening we went out for seafood.  Again, the food blew me away. I had shrimp and red snapper.

Antibes

            The next day we went to Antibes and Cannes.  The weather when we got to Antibes was awful. It was terribly cold, windy, and rainy.  We were expecting sun as we hadn’t been able to check the weather forecast since Wednesday since the hostel’s internet didn’t work.  We still managed to have a good time and enjoy the lovely little town.  We went to an incredible market and looked around.  We also found a neat little English book store that we spent some time in.  Then we took a long walk by the exquisite coastline.  It was beautiful.

"La Sirga" Cast and Crew

            After that we headed to Cannes for the Cannes film festival.  We ate pizza for lunch before meeting our friend who was there with his company to throw a big a-list party on the rooftop of a castle the next day.  We walked around the festival, spent some time on the beach, and went to go see a film.  It was a Columbian film called La Sirga about a girl who loses her family and goes to live with her uncle.  The best part of the day was the atmosphere of the festival.  There were so many people there from all over the world and there was just a really neat vibe. 

We then went to the red carpet to sneak a peek at some movie stars.  We managed to see Shia LaBeouf which was pretty cool.  My friend had gotten to see the cast of Madagascar the night before.  That evening, we stuck around to see a screening of a film on the beach; however, unfortunately the showing was canceled due to the weather. 

By the red carpet

Beach in Cannes

In Cannes, we had some interesting experiences unrelated to the awesome festival.  First, as we were walking past a group of business men chatting on the sidewalk, my sweater got hooked onto the zipper on one of the men’s bags.  He didn’t notice, but I was stuck there frantically trying to unhook myself.  It was so embarrassing! The second involved being attacked by water balloon fire from the roof of a building on our way back to the train station that evening. The next day we headed back to Toulouse.  The trip was absolutely incredible – beautiful places, lovely people, and lots of cool experiences!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Lovely Friends!

            They say that April showers bring May flowers, but I hope they also bring consistent sunshine! If you have been in contact with me over the past month at all, you probably have heard me complain about the weather.  We had about three weeks of consistent rain during April, and the weather has been bipolar ever since. Luckily, Toulouse is starting to bloom after a month of rain and gloomy weather.  The weather was lovely for my birthday on Thursday, and Friday, it was allegedly 31 degrees Celsius.  I spent the afternoon doing my nails, reading a novel, and chatting with my girlfriend in the park.  It was fantastic! I just hope the weather decides to stay like this!

            This past weekend I went to an event called “Semi-mer” hosted by the school’s extreme sports association.  We left from the school at 6:30 in the morning (which is about 7:30 French time) for a beach near Biarritz on the Atlantic coast.  It was about a three and a half to four hour drive.  When we arrived, we settled into the hotel which was very nice and then headed to the beach for a barbecue lunch.  As I had guessed, we had what I’ve deemed “French Style” hot dogs (i.e. sausage in a baguette).  After spending a little time on the beach, we headed over to a nearby lake to go sailing.  It was an interesting experience and so much fun! Being on the lake kind of reminded me of Arkansas. 

My awesome friend surfing!!

Beach!

            After, we returned to the beach for the rest of the afternoon.  It was a rather lazy day sunbathing, sleeping, reading, and playing a bit of Frisbee.  That evening we went to dinner at a restaurant.  As soon as we got there, all of the French people started immediately banging on the tables, yelling, and singing.  They continued like that for pretty much the rest of the evening.  It was kind of funny being with the other Erasmus.  None of us knew why they continued to make so much noise and grew tired of it rather quickly.  The evening was nice though, but there was so much food – starters, rice, pasta, meat, chicken wings, and dessert.  We had also eaten a lot during the day because we had been scarred by previous experiences where we didn’t get the opportunity to eat for long periods of time.  We were so full after dinner that my friend and I went home and went to bed almost immediately, after attempting to watch MTV.

            I slept amazingly and slept in the next morning.  We spend the entire day again lounging on the beach.  It was a great weekend to get away and relax.  I had a blast!

            This week, my courses end on Wednesday after which I will immediately board a train to Nice for five days.  I am so excited! We will be visiting Cannes during the renowned Cannes Film Festival, Nice, and Monaco. 

            

"Remember, Don't Drink All The Wine!"

                Last Tuesday was a national holiday in France.  As we were out of class, my friend and I went to Bordeaux for a wine tasting tour.  We were very excited since we kind of live in the wine capital of the world.  We had a wonderful day despite all of the things that went wrong.

Bordeaux!

                Unlike in the U.S., cities pretty much shut down on national holidays here.  That includes all public transportation – metro, buses, trams, everything.  This affected us first in Toulouse.  We rented bikes and rode to the train station since the metro was closed.  As I was wearing a dress and Niamh was wearing a skirt, riding bikes proved an interesting challenge.  After almost getting hit by a car, we finally made it to the train station.  We met a guy on the train that we talked with for a while.  After we told him we were going to Bordeaux for a wine tasting, he informed my friend for the first time that you weren’t actually supposed to drink the wine, just taste it.  When we got to his stop, he left us with the most memorable quote of the trip “Remember. Don’t drink all the wine!” We were quite tickled by his emphatic advice.

Beautiful Vineyard

                When we arrived in Bordeaux, we got tram tickets to the city center and waited for about ten minutes before realizing that the trams weren’t running because of the holiday.  We then proceeded to walk forty-five minutes to the tourism office where we barely made the bus for the tour. 

Wine Tasting

                The tour went well, excluding the fact that my phone went off during an intense spiel about how wooden wine barrels are made.  I had no idea how significant the wine industry was in France, and especially Bordeaux.  Over 50% of agricultural land is dedicated to wine production, providing tens of thousands of jobs and a multi-billion dollar French industry. 

Being a Child... 

We went to two vineyards in the Entre-Deux-Mers region southeast of Bordeaux.  The first was classified as a domain due to the amount of wine produced there.  The domain had been run by the same family for fourteen generations and only distributed its wine through direct sale which is apparently a unique practice among most vineyards.  This particular domain made some of its own barrels on site and the owner showed us in great detail how a barrel was made all the way from cutting down the tree to the finished product.  He gave us lots of information about the wood used, explaining that they only use European trees as they give the wine a different quality than American trees. European wooden barrels are also more expensive than American barrels because they only use 30% of a cubic meter of European wood compared to 80% of a cubic meter of American wood.  American wood apparently has more “knotholes” than European wood.  My friend and I found this part of the explanation quite entertaining as the translator didn’t know the English word for “knothole,” and when one of the guests told him that the word he was searching for was in fact “knothole,” the translator misunderstood and proceeded to say “noodle” instead of “knothole” for the rest of the visit.  The most interesting part of the process was how they actually get the wood to bend by lighting a fire within the barrel and using your hands to help the wood take the appropriate shape from the outside. 

Beautiful Chateau

After the tour and tasting, my friend and I found an irresistible playground on the way back to the bus which of course we couldn’t help playing on while we waited to proceed to the next vineyard.  I’m convinced that no matter how old I get, I will never grow up. 

Favorite Winemaker Ever!

The next vineyard was actually classified as a chateau, and it was spectacular.  On top of a small hill surrounded by green meadows and vineyards sat a beautiful eighteenth century chateau.  It was like something out of a fairytale.  Beyond the eighteenth century style courtyard was a very modern stainless steel facility in which some of the wine was produced and stored.  The winemaker at this vineyard was the cutest thing.  He was so incredibly passionate about what he does and it really made the visit for us.  His French was also very easy to understand so we listened to him mostly as he drew beautiful imagery from his description of winemaking.  It sounded so beautiful in French, but the translator was unable to do it justice in English.  In fact, after we listened to the winemaker in French, the English translation seemed to be completely different from what he had actually said.  We got to go into the chateau for the tasting.  It was lovely.

Tasting

When we returned to Bordeaux, we began our trek back to the train station and stopped in a nice but inexpensive restaurant by the river.  It was so cozy, but after carefully selecting our choices and drooling over the menus, we realized we did not have enough time to eat and make it back to the station in time for our train.  The waitress was very understanding.  Almost immediately after we left, it began pouring down rain, and neither of us had umbrellas.  By the time we got back to the train station, it had stopped raining, but we were soaked.  All of the dry people coming out of the station gave us really weird looks.  

Even though we couldn’t get transportation, eat at our restaurant, or stay dry during the torrential downpour, we had an absolutely amazing day.  We didn’t ever get discouraged or upset, but instead kept smiling and fully enjoyed our lovely trip to Bordeaux.