Watch out, Cannes, les Americains sont ici!

When I first got to Cannes, I didn't think I would ever be able to get used to living here. It felt too much like a vacation. But now, I can't believe how much France feels like home already. As I spend more and more time wandering around, figuring out where everything is, and learning the language better every day, this routine is becoming very normal. It now feels completely natural to just walk to the market for fruit or flowers or to people-watch. There are so many tourists here from various countries, and I feel more like a native than one of them.

Yesterday was the first vendredi(Friday) of the school year! The other Americans who are here for four months with the AIFS group (they're from schools all over the U.S.) joined our classes, so there are now eight Americans in B1.3 (apparently, I am not in B2, but one level below due to their new complicated system). We also added another Russian girl. Our discussion after the pause was about gay marriage and whether or not we agree with it, which was so fascinating. It turns out, everyone in our class believes that gay marriage should be allowed, but the eight of us Americans (and our French professor) are the only ones who believe that gay couples should be able to adopt children. Other European countries seem to put a lot more emphasis on a traditional view of the family; they all kept repeating that children need both a mother and a father, ideally, or the child is in danger of having psychological problems. We argued that the "ideal family" doesn't exist in reality - no family is perfect - and there are single-parent families who are just as happy or happier than two-parent families. It all depends. The Europeans, however, were all very adamant.

One of the Russian girls also had strong opinions about the United States...specifically, the number of states. Christine, our prof, asked how many states we have, and all eight of us answered "cinquante" in unison. The girl gave us a strange look and said that she thought there were fifty-one states, and we said no, there are fifty. She answered that she thought we had fifty-one if we include Alaska. (Has she been listening to Sarah Palin?) We said no, there are fifty states. She asked why our flag has fifty-one stars on it, and we answered that it does not; the American flag has fifty stars for fifty states. Then she rolled her eyes like she still didn't believe us and stopped arguing. It was all-in-all an unbelievably strange conversation.

After lunch and my meeting with Beth, Katie and I decided to walk to the médiathèque (media library) to get library cards and browse. It's a few blocks down the street, and the old library building is surrounded by a garden. In the garden, I found my future car! Quelle chance! (What luck!)

The library is rather small and the selection isn't too great, but we aren't really going to need the Taj Mahal of libraries in the next three and a half months. We can also check out CDs and DVDs. Katie and I spent a lot of time in the children's section, because sometimes it's helpful to read books in French that you've already read in English (or read les contes de fées - fairy tales - and picture books). Right away, we were drawn to Harry Potter like a magnet, and now I'm about to start Harry Potter et le Prisonnier d'Azkaban! Katie got a different young adult book that she's read already.

Turns out, we spent too much time browsing and didn't have time to sign up for cards before the library closed at 3. We also talked to a couple of the librarians who work in the children's area - they were adorable older women who really wanted to talk with us and help us with our French. We explained what we were looking for, and they kept pulling books like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Sherlock Holmes that were originally written in English, and told us that we'd better eventually start reading books by French authors after we get more used to the language. They held our books for at the desk until we came back this morning to check them out.

Afterwards, we returned to school to rest before dinner. For me, "resting" turned into leaving for a fifteen minute walk which turned into a two-and-a-half-hour walk. I explored the areas to the west of the Collège, which mostly consists of apartments and homes. Beth is living somewhere near the school in that area. I then made my way back along the beach and to the east, where we usually go. I kept walking and walking until I found myself in the super ritzy, expensive, classy area of town, with all of these expensive, upscale, brand-name stores. Suddenly, some of the buildings up ahead looked oddly familiar until I realized they were the same ones in the background of a picture Liz and I had taken on the balcony of our hotel room over three years ago! I kept power-walking ahead until I found Hôtel Canberra, where our group stayed on Hill-Murray's France trip. There was the roundabout where our bus got stuck and everything! There are a lot more new buildings in the area now, and the hotel was renovated and updated since we were there. The public area of the beach nearby was also much smaller; now there are more restaurants and private areas with beach chairs and umbrellas.

There is also the Emporio Armani nearby! First Armani sighting of the semester. How exciting.

I wandered around some more in the glitzy area of town before returning for dinner (pizza and tiramisu again!). Afterwards, Regina, Mickey, Laura, and I split a cheap bottle of wine (which was amazing for the three Euros we paid) while we watched The Proposal. Then we all got dressed up for our first night out! (We were determined to actually go out this time and not just sit on the terrace all evening and go to bed at nine.)

Some of the guys decided we should all go to the Baôli Discothèque, which is a very fancy club and a frequent haunt of Leonardo diCaprio, apparently. It's a little ways away on Palm Beach, which is where all the fancy lounges and night clubs are located. Of course, it turns out that no one knew exactly how to get there, and after we walked to the bus station, we discovered that the bus we needed stopped running from 9pm until 2am. The group had about fifteen or twenty people total; some of the other American students and a group of Japanese students followed us out. We found some cabs that weren't too expensive and they drove us down to the club, which wasn't letting anyone in until dinner was over (at midnight...yes).

We all walked down the street to a nice restaurant and lounge for a drink while we waited for the club to open. We actually loved the lounge - it was literally right on the beach. There were white couches and lounge chairs right on the sand, and lots of pink mood lighting. The sand there was the softest I've ever walked on, so we spent some time taking pictures and dancing there. It was slightly expensive, but not outrageous.

Baôli was a completely different story. When we got there, the bouncers weren't letting everyone in; they were basically picking and choosing small groups from the crowd forming at the entrance. They seemed to favor well-dressed, snotty white people, so five of my friends and I talked to the bouncers like we were entitled snobs and got in right away. The other two or three groups (who were not comprised entirely of caucasians) had to wait awhile and do some extra convincing. That was strike one against Baôli. I'm not sure who they were trying to keep out, but they wouldn't believe that almost all of us were American because some "didn't look American". I only heard about all the trouble the next morning so I don't know exactly what happened, but we probably won't be going there again.

I could not believe my eyes when we were inside; it was like something out of a movie. There were tons and tons of people dressed up in clothing I'm sure costs more than four years of college tuition. We took a peek at the drink menu for kicks, and yes, those prices in the right column are in Euros...per bottle. I am not kidding. It was the most insane place I have ever been. Ever. They were playing bizarre techno music all night. We danced for a little while; I think I lasted less than an hour before I'd had enough. The dancing was fun, and it wasn't a bad night at all, but most of us agreed it wasn't our thing. Just an interesting story of how we experienced the upscale side of Cannes.

Half of us left the club at 2:30. We didn't want to take a cab because we thought it would be too expensive, so we all walked back. It was over an hour of walking barefoot (stupid heels) along the path near the beach. By the time we got back at 4 in the morning, the girls were all literally limping and hobbling up the stairs. Now we're experiencing extreme blisters and I, for one, will not be wearing heels again for a very, very long time. The other half of the group stayed about a half-hour longer, took a cab back (it was only thirteen Euros split among five or six people...) and beat us to the school. Zut alors.

After all that excitement and only three and a half hours of sleep, I was ready to see something substantial, and so was Katie. A lot of people went shopping in Cannes today, but we decided to go see Le Suquet, which is a medieval building near town hall and high on a hill that Beth recommended. After returning to the library to get our cards and check out our books (and talk to the librarians some more! They remembered us, and had to correct my French quite a bit since I was rather sleep-deprived), we headed downtown again and hobbled up the hill to the building. There is a beautiful view of the city and harbor from there, as well as a large église (church). Their churches have such a different style here - the inside carvings and decoration is always very dark but calm. I'd love to go to a Mass here - they have them at 11am on Sundays, so I will have to try to make it there.

There is also the Musée de la Castre on the hill, and students get in free (thank you, ISIC card!). Inside is a random hodgepodge of ancient artifacts and paintings from all different places and cultures. My favorite part was a room full of ancient instruments, including, bien sûr, flutes!

We finished off the afternoon by wandering around some more. We do lots of wandering, but it doesn't seem to get old - there are always new things to see and explore. I can never help but ogle over a stand full of fresh fruit and vegetables, or pastries and bread at les boulangeries. It's only been a little over a week, but we have definitely been making the most of our time every day, and doing plenty of relaxing in the process! I also saw a poster for a Baroque and Classical music concert at a church in Cannes tomorrow night - there is a ton of flute music (oh, and violins and bassoons too, or something like that) on the program, and I cannot wait to go hear it! Maybe I can find myself a teacher already...

Week One Adventures

Finalement, les cours ont commencé! (Finally, classes started!) Not something you hear too often, but the start of classes actually meant relaxation time for us here. I'm actually enjoying them for the most part. Our three-hour grammar class is difficult to sit through at times, but our professor, Christine, is nice and very animated. I am finding that I'm definitely improving after only three days. At our level, we start by taking notes on specific grammar rules or doing formal listening exercises, but we always get off-topic and begin talking about cultural differences and everyday-life topics. This helps so much - I get to learn about society and culture in England, Ireland, Russia, Germany, Italy, and France, and we do a lot of comparing and contrasting in our discussions. Our assignments are short and to-the-point, and I like taking them to the beach for a change of scenery.

Beth's class should also be a lot of fun. This one is more like a "normal" class, since it is in English and we have a somewhat normal workload. There is a lot of reading outside of class (also perfect for the beach) and it has been rather difficult for me to get my head into the educational mode, but Beth is a really good teacher and she's putting a lot of effort into preparing for our seminar (it's the only class she's teaching this semester!).

A couple of nights ago, all ten of us went down to the beach to watch le feu d'artifice (fireworks). It was the last night of Cannes' August celebration, so we thought that they'd have a fantastic show. After sitting on a wall for almost an hour, making up songs and taking pictures to try to stay entertained, the show started (late), but we were down wind of the show and all we could see was smoke. So most of us went back to the school before it was over.

Yesterday, we got out of class at noon, so Katie and Shawn and I decided to take a walk downtown and sit at a café for some people-watching. It was such a relaxing afternoon, and of course we finished off the afternoon with another trip to the beach.

We heard that lamb was being served for dinner, and five of us chickened out (with the cook that we have now...). We got paninis from the café on campus and brought them to the beach for a picnic. They were AMAZING. Definitely our favorite meal of the semester so far. We watched the sun set on the beach before going back to campus, where I fell asleep after twenty minutes of season 2 of the West Wing. Perfect.

I can't wait for the weekend! I don't know what we're going to be doing (nothing is planned), but we have started signing up for excursions through the campus for the next few weeks. I also signed up for an exchange program with French students who want to come to campus and meet one-on-one, speaking in French half the time and English the other half. Jun, one of the people who works here, is working on finding me a flute teacher and a place to practice on campus. I could get used to this!

How did we do all this in four days?

The past few days have been extremely busy and tiring. It turns out that the roommate I thought I had just finished with a four-month term here on Friday, so I only got to talk to her for a few minutes before she left on Saturday morning. She said she was from Slovenia and had had a great experience here, which was good to hear.

This is ma chambre (my room). It's not bad for a dorm room; there is plenty of space. The only downside is that there is no air conditioning in the rooms, and no screens on the windows, so lots of mosquitoes get in at night. I spent Friday night mosquito hunting with a magazine in hand every twenty minutes or so, and it took a long time to finally get to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I had been all but eaten alive. Apparently this region is having a bad year with these pests.

On Saturday morning, Beth took us on a trip downtown Cannes to see la gare (the train and bus station), le supermarché (the market), and Monoprix, which is like an upscale Target store. Most people from our group needed to get a few toiletries and things anyway. Downtown Cannes is a little bit like Nice - there are lots of winding streets and little shops everywhere, but the city has a much more modern feel to it. At least we now know where everything is and can explore further on our own when we have time.

We all took the bus back to the Collège for brunch. On the weekends, they serve brunch and dinner, and on weekdays we get three meals. Apparently, the regular cook is on a month-long vacation, and right now we have one who is very slow and not so competent. He burned our crêpes even after taking a very long time to make them. We talked to one of our servers who works here but is from Pittsburgh - she did not seem too thrilled with him. The great news for me is that the French love their coffee - so much, in fact, they drink it in bowls! J'adore leur café au lait! (I love their coffee and cream!)

In the afternoon, we had our first excursion to the town of Grasse! The main highlight was a tour at the Parfumerie Fragonard (Fragonard perfume factory). This was actually a different factory from the one I toured on our high school trip three years ago - apparently, there are three factories in France, and this one is the best (said our tour guide). She was an excellent guide, very animated and funny, but she had a ton of great info. She asked a lot of questions and kept trying to make us guess the answers, which gave us a lot of trouble. At the end, she had us try several different scents and attempt to guess what was in them. I was terrible at it - I could never be a Nez (a certified "Nose", or someone who has had ten years of schooling to be able to identify and analyze perfume scents).

Afterward, we had some time to explore the Vielle Ville de Grasse (the old area of the city). As usual, it included many many lovely winding streets with lots of things to look at. We ventured over to the Hôtel de Ville (city hall). Right next door in the cathedral, there was a wedding just starting. It didn't look much different from an American wedding. We continued to walk and take pictures until it was time to return to the bus station and go back.

The first thing we were all craving was a trip to the beach. The water is crystal clear and this beach is sandy. During the day, there are lots of waves made by boats sailing further out on the water. There are several platform docks floating a little ways into the water, like at SJU's lake, so we were able to swim out and sit for awhile. All ten of us spent the time getting to know each other, and we eventually decided to bury Andrew in the sand. Apparently, they don't do that here, because we got a lot of very bizarre stares. An adorable little French girl, probably about three years old, was watching us and decided to try to bury herself. We got a bit artistic and gave Andrew some muscles and abs. We were just finishing adding boobs for him when, of course, Beth arrived at the beach and admired our lovely sand artwork.

That night, we were all pretty tired and went to bed early. A few of us were scared out of our minds when fireworks started going off nearby (Mickey thought we were being bombed for a second there), but a lot of us had a great view from our windows!

Sunday brought more excursions with it, this time to les villages perchées (villages "perched" on the sides of cliffs). We went to three of them; first was Saint-Paul de Venice, then Tourettes sur Loup, and finally, Gourdon. They were each charming in their own unique ways. These villages are ancient, created by groups of people to protect themselves from invasion, so the oldest parts have large, thick stone ramparts and various other measures used to keep enemies out. They were mostly unknown until various famous French artists and musicians decided they enjoyed the environment and solitude, and they tended to stay there often.

Saint-Paul de Venice was more of a tourist attraction than anything else, but it had many shops and boutiques owned by artists. Most of the art was gorgeous, or at least interesting, and very expensive, but if you wanted your living room to have character, this would be the place to go.

Tourettes sur Loup was a little bit higher up, and it was special for me because the musician and composer Francis Poulenc (who wrote one of the pieces I played at my junior recital last year) spent a lot of his time there. It was quaint and very quiet compared to the first village, and everybody seemed to prefer this one. There were cats walking around leisurely dans les rues (in the streets), flowers and plants growing everywhere, laundry hanging outside of windows to dry, and of course some shops.

Gourdon was a brilliant grand finale. I believe it was at around 700km in altitude (there were lots of curves and bends on the drive up - not so fun) and there wasn't much to the city except for a small château and one main street with shops. At the end of the street, though, there was a huge landing with a spectacular panoramic view. We could see Nice, Cannes, many other cities, hills, and valleys from there. Everyone took many pictures, but since a few of us were lightheaded from the altitude, we piled back on the bus soon after and headed back to Cannes.

When I arrived back in my room - surprise! - I had une nouvelle camarade de chambre (a new roommate)!

Her name is Madokams, and she is from Japan. She'll be here for two weeks. Madokams is kind of quiet, but she's very nice and we've had some interesting conversations. She only speaks a little bit of English and I've only learned four Japanese words, so we were able to manage en français with the help of some bizarre hand motions. She is here with a group of Japanese students who are studying a little before going back to Japan to start school. After this, they're going to Paris for a few days, and then back home.

Everyone who is starting class now had arrived by Sunday night, so we all had a meeting in le théâtre (yes, there is one here on campus!) about rules and safety information. The placement test was scheduled for Monday morning at nine, and so most of our group decided to cram into Evans' room for a cram session. It was difficult since we are all at different levels and we spent a lot of time explaining and arguing and beating our heads against the wall, so eventually we had to call it quits.

For some reason, I couldn't fall asleep until 2:30 in the morning (everyone was hyped up about the test, and I think it rubbed off on me). I would have gotten several hours of sleep still, but whoever moved in next door decided to have a very loud, heated discussion (with someone at home?) from four until five in the morning. My grand total of sleep hours was 1.5, and I realized I wasn't going to get any more, so I headed to the beach a little before seven. The water was perfectly calm and still, and the beach was empty except for several runners, so I dived in for a wonderful half-hour swim as the sun rose over Cannes.

Things back at campus were not so calm. Everyone was even more hyped up about the test. It's understandable for the CSB/SJUers, since we have to test into a certain level that corresponds with the language course that we need to fulfill for our French majors or minors. The good news is that there is plenty of time and opportunity to move up and down between levels. We broke into groups after breakfast and sat through the written and oral tests. Five of us are in the same class at the level they call B2, which is fantastic because that is exactly what I need to get my FREN312 credits. After all the excitement and nerves, everybody decided to take the afternoon off to relax. I got my first Orangina from the café and Mickey, Katie, and I decided to take a long walk. The afternoon was spent running errands downtown again and then watching a presentation back at school (I was quite exhausted at this point and slept through most of this). We had a social with wine and snacks so we could talk to the other students, followed by dinner, homework for Beth's class, and an early bedtime for me.

Today marked the first official day of school. I got up early for another swim in the sea, and after breakfast, it was time for our first three-hour grammar and speech class. I really like our professor - she is animated and fun to listen to, and most of the class was spent speaking. Aside from the five of us from the U.S., there are girls from Russia, England, Ireland, and Italy, and a guy from Germany. It makes for very interesting conversation, and there is zero English spoken in our classroom. It is a long time to think and speak in French, but it is so helpful in getting my brain into the French mode. We do have a 15-minute "pause" at 10:15 when everybody on campus goes into the courtyard and socializes for a break. It is such a relaxed lifestyle here - no back-to-back classes, people actually sit down and eat full meals, no running to catch the Link bus, no mental to-do lists the length of a novel... We just get to speak a different language, learn a ton about other cultures, and meet new people.

After lunch, Beth's class met, which was kind of funny since we've all been together for the past five days anyway. It was a more formal setting...but at the same time, it was completely casual because we know each other so well already and this is a totally different style of learning.

Then it was off to the beach again...surprise! I went on a long swim down the coast this time - I am feeling knocked out. Hopefully I will be able to stay awake for fireworks later tonight! I cannot believe how much we packed in to the first weekend, but life here still feels so relaxed. The focus is on discovering others and yourself, and at the same time learning some practical things about the French language and culture. So far, I am loving everything!

Nous sommes à Cannes!

Here we are in beautiful Cannes, complete with food and lodging and sandy beaches! But first, here are a few pictures from the past couple of days in Nice that I am now able to post:

My first French café (coffee) at the Charles de Gaulle airport / La plage (the beach) of Nice at sunset.

Dad and his new pigeon friends.

Dad and me (Nice in the background) atop the Tour Bellanda.

The French equivalent of "I'm with stupid" ...brilliant.

This morning, Dad left early and I ended up sitting inside (a café, the hotel lobby, the airport), reading and listening to music and people-watching for most of the day. It was raining until early afternoon and I had all my luggage to carry around. Around 3:30 (or 15:30 - I'm starting to get quicker at military time), I met up with four of my friends at the airport. Beth (our professor and trip leader) had set up a van to pick us up at the airport, which was considerably cheaper than getting a cab.

We haven't had a chance to see much of the city of Cannes yet. The five of us checked in at the Collège International de Cannes and met up with three others who arrived earlier in the day. One of the guys on the trip apparently decided not to come at all, and there were still two more on their way. Those of us who were there threw our luggage in our dorms and went for a walk to see the beach.

Mountains to the west.

Boats and the harbor to the east.

This is our first group picture, minus Evans and Andrew! From left to right: Shawn, Katie, Alejandra, Mickey, Regina, Laura, Liz, and me.

We tried walking around Cannes for awhile, but there isn't much to do near the Collège. We will need to take the bus into the main part of the city. After our walking excursion, we explored the courtyard on campus and I started unpacking.

Our rooms are a decent size and setup. It would appear that I have a roommate (and a rather messy one, at that), but I have yet to see her. Hopefully she won't mind my iPod alarm tomorrow morning (which, excitingly, sounds like a duck quack when it goes off).

Dinner was excellent here - I had kabob pizza, salad, and tiramisu. Afterwards, we had a quick meeting about the next few days and a short tour of everything Beth has discovered about the Collège since she's gotten here. Everyone was getting slap-happy from the lack of sleep, and that led to amusing conversations about palm trees and watching dinner. We all can't wait to get some sleep before going on excursions in the area for the next couple of days!

Bonjour de Nice!

It's impossible for me to wrap my head around the fact that I will be here in the south of France for four whole months! The past two days have felt like walking into a completely different world. I'm already thinking mostly in French and figuring out what to do to blend in.

The eight-hour trip overseas was the easy part. Dad and I were in first class where we were served a four-course meal, wine, coffee, and enough bottled waters that I got in trouble with French security later. I watched three movies, turned my chair into a bed, watched the sun set and rise, and didn't sleep. Then it was time for more coffee and food and landing in Paris! Charles de Gaulle is the most confusing airport I've ever been to, despite the fact that everything is in both French and English. We got off the plane and onto a shuttle which drove in circles around the terminals until it dropped us off at a seemingly random entrance. It took us awhile to figure out where we were going since we didn't have a gate number, but it turns out all the flights to Nice were at the same area (which happened to be at the opposite end of the airport). We got our passports stamped (they didn't ask us any questions or even look at my visa), followed sign after sign after sign for gates 2F21-36, waited in the ticket line, waited at security, set off the metal detector (that was me), had one bag searched for possible contraband (that was mine, because apparently adult gummy vitamins are questionable items), had another bag searched (that was also mine, for one of Delta's many bottles of water). We then had to wait over four hours in a tiny clump of gates because something was messed up and we didn't get on the first flight to Nice. They had a standby "hole", as Dad called it, in the middle of the terminal, and we would have to go there at a specific time to claim our tickets once our names came up on a screen. There were 50 open seats on the 12:55 flight, and we were on that one.

Because we were flying standby and always seemed to end up in the wrong spot at the wrong time with some strange problem or another, I got a lot of chances to practice speaking French with people at various counters around the airport. Most airport employees speak English too, so we were able to get by, even when Dad's luggage was lost and we had to file a report. (It came in on a later flight, and we picked it up that night.) Figuring out the airport shuttle and finding the hotel also took some time, and we didn't get to collapse onto our hotel beds until around 4:30 in the afternoon.

Even after all that, we had some energy left to figure out the Nice bus system and go further into town for dinner. This area feels like home already, with its cafés, shops, boulangeries, Smart cars :), narrow streets, and beaches. We ate at a little table at a small café outside on the sidewalk (it went just like the café skits we had to do in French I in high school...more or less) and explored the area for a bit. The beach here is rocky, but people still lay out on mats and swim in the water.

This morning, we ended up sleeping in until 11:30 on accident. My internal clock doesn't seem to be accustomed to the time difference yet at all. Dad and I went downtown again, but we wanted to go further down the coastline to the old area of Nice and the market area. We spent most of the day wandering through the winding streets, exploring and people-watching. Dad got a kick out of the people who walk around with a baguette in hand (we even saw some people with as many as three), so we bought one. He decided to feed a couple of pigeons and we escaped just before all the pigeons in Nice figured out how to get a free meal. We wandered up into the cliffside where the tower of an old fortress still stands, and there is a big park that includes many stone pathways, a cemetery, a waterfall, a playground/picnic/restaurant area, and a panoramic view at the top of the cliff. We ate at a couple more cafés and the French-speaking was a success! I even got directions to the soccer field that Nice's team plays at (guess who wanted to know that?).

We're now back at the hotel, about to get some sleep. I'm excited for tomorrow when everyone else arrives and we move in to the Collège. We have a van coming to get us at the airport in the afternoon. I wish I could post some pictures tonight, but the internet is sketchy at the hotel and it doesn't want to upload anything. Next update will be from Cannes!