Hmmm...where to start. The week was relatively uneventful as far as classes go: I am starting to get used to the long blocks of class. My shortest class is 2 hours (straight) and my longest is 4 horus, with just 15 minutes of "repos" in the middle. It's a little difficult to handle, especially coming from CU where most classes are only 50 minutes. But, I imagine it will get easier as time goes on. Tuesday was a friend's 22nd birthday, so we hit the town dressed to the 9's. After a few rowdy Irish pubs we ended up at a club called "Mistral". Very posh and chic, we felt a little uncomfortable, but danced anyway. Speaking of which...the dancing here is absolutely hilarious. Though I don't profess to have any sort of coordination, I must say that I don't think the French have "the moves". Most club dancing can be summed up in 2 words: 90s techno. There is a lot of fist pumping, finger jabbing and bum shaking, but in no particular order and to no particular beat. All the same, it is a lot of fun to go out and experience the Aix night life.
The rest of the week went well, and ended in very little weekend homework: something I was very pleased about. Friday afternoon some friends and I headed to the "Renoir" movie theatre on the Cours Mirabeau to see the original version, French subtitled "Le secret de Brokeback Mountain". I have heard loads about this movie, all positive. I have wanted to see it since I got to Europe over a month ago. Everywhere I go I hear someone else raving about how great it is. But, as luck would have it, the projector was broken. Though we wanted to stay and relax in the amazingly comfortable theater seats (the first comfortable sitting apparatus I have encountered thus far in France), we were forced to leave and were refunded our money. Maybe another time: I refuse to give up on that movie.
Saturday morning we hit the ground running for our CEA excursion to Nice and Monte Carlo. We caught the bus at 8:30am and drove about 2 hours to the amazing Mediterranean resort of Nice. I admit, I actually had pretty low expectations for Nice as I have heard it is not all it's cracked up to be. I beg to differ. Nice was absolutely amazing. Despite our minimal time there, I loved the city. We started off on the Avenue des Anglais: the sea front boulevard named after the rich Brits who made Nice what it is today. We headed first to the traditional Saturday flower, fruit and veggie market where we bought the uiciest strawberries I've ever seen. After a stroll through the market, drooling over grilled panini, tender herbed goat cheese and purely local olive oil, we headed up the Colline du Chateau for an amazing view of the pebbly beach, the Baie des Anges and the Alps in the not so distant distance. The weather was absolutely perfect for our visit of the French Riviera: cool, but very sunny and only a slight ocean breeze. By the time we reached the top of the "hike" we were pulling off our jackets. After checking out a waterfall at the top of the colline, and after purchasing a few postcards, we headed back down to Vieux Nice for lunch. On the square just in front of the Palais de Justice, we found a perfect lunch spot with a large table for the six of us right in the sun. I had a margherita pizza and goat cheese stuffed ravioli (both split with a friend). Needless to say, by the end of our meal I was stuffed. After quickly paying we ran to the "Bataille des fleurs", a crazy traditional parade in celebration of Carnaval. The name Bataille des fleurs comes from the fact that flowers (fleurs) are thrown at the guests in plentiful amounts. The flowers, aromatic yellow sprigs called mimosas, are collected in great bunches by local women to be used as table center pieces. The parade was absolutely amazing, and our admission had been paid by CEA in advance. Though we didn't get bleacher seats, we enjoyed every minute from the sidewalk on the Avenue des Anglais, the Mediterranean shining in the background. The "Bataille" was full of intricate costumes, hilarious crossdressers and immaculate floats and balloons. See photos.
After the parade we had just enough time to see the famous fountains in the town center, get caught up in a student-led demonstration/riot, and get slightly ripped off buying some gummy candy. (Did you know: Haribo candy company, known for gummy bears and other gummy things, is based out of Marseille? It's all the rage here) Caught the bus around 5pm and were swept off for an evening in Monte Carlo.
Though the bus driver got lost and it took longer than expected, we eventually made it to Monte Carlo with just an hour or so to get ready for dinner at the Cabaret theater. With required attire of no sneakers, no sandals and no jeans, we went out in dresses and heels only to walk about 25 minutes up a hill to the casino. As it was dark, I didn't get a great view of Monte Carlo on the way to dinner except for the silhouettes of gigantic yachts in the immaculate harbor. Also, Monte Carlo is absolutely the cleanest city I have ever seen. There are security cameras everywhere as well as police, which makes it seem very eerie and very safe at the same time. The streets were oddly deserted for a Saturday night: we saw only 10 or so people on our walk up the hill. Once we reached the casino, I understood why. Nightlife in Monte Carlo consists entirely of gambling and cabarets: you must be rich to play there. Dinner was great: four courses including delicious pesto soup and creme caramel with flambeed bananas (Jada would've loved it...) Then there was a show after dinner called "From Broadway to Monte Carlo". It was very entertaining: songs from many different broadway classics including "Mamma Mia" and "We Will Rock You", as well as some Riverdance and lots of half naked women. It was really amusing if a little bit contrived. After the show we hit the town. Weather: pleasantly mild. Played a few slots at the casino, something I needed my mom for as I had no idea how to play. Then we went to the "American style bar" suggested by CEA as it was the only thing open past midnight. It was packed, but relatively lame with loud 90s American music and 7 euro beers. I went home relatively early to our hotel, just 3 blocks from the port.
Woke up at a decent hour for breakfast the next morning and realized the view from our hotel window was actually spectacular: we could see the port, the yachts, sailboats and the Med. Our hotel was actually relatively ghetto, but I can imagine it was not cheap considering the city. After a huge breakfast of the typical croissants, bread, jam and nutella, a few friends and I headed out. We only had until 1:30 to be tourists. First we went to see the port in daylight, then went to a few minutes of Catholic mass at a beautiful church. Then we discovered the cleanest, most amazing looking train station I've ever seen. It was at the top of one of the cliffs, and had an amazing view of the sea. In case anyone doesn't know, Monte Carlo is extremely "cliffy". EVERYTHING is built on cliffs, and one must either ascend windy, zig zag roads or climb beaucoup de stairs to get around. After some exploration, we went to the Palais Princier for the changing of the guards at noon. Very cool, of course, with the rifles, drums and uncomfortable looking uniforms. Similar to Buckingham Palace. I spent the rest of the day at the aquarium/oceonographic museum, which is breathtaking both outside and in. I took lots of fish pictures: see attached.
A short and windy bus ride after Monte Carlo we landed in Eze at the Fragonard perfume factory. We took a short tour where we learned that there are only 120 "noses", or scent testers, in the world. Apparently being a "nose" is a quite lucrative profession preceeded by 7 years of schooling and consisting of just 2-3 hours of sniffing per day. "Noses" cannot drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or eat spicy foods as a prerequisite to their job. We saw the workroom of the nose, with tiny glass bottles of over 250 different scents, from ylang-ylang to vanilla, and fleur d'oranger to lavander. We also saw the soap presses and the machines that mix the face creams, as the Eze factory specializes in soaps and lotions rather than perfume. After the tour we were left in the "showroom" to try out smells and decide on purchases. Overwhelmed by all the variety, it took me and some friends 1.5 hours to choose our souvenirs, and we walked out of there with headaches, large shopping bags and light wallets. :) We had very little time before we had to board the bus to Aix, so we grabbed some quick crepes in the medieval village and were on our way.
WOW!! I know it was a long entry, but SO much to talk about in such little time. What a blast of a weekend. Now it's back to the grind for a few more days, then a week long break on the horizon.
A few last minute random thoughts:
- I have never seen so many people exercising at one time (running, jogging, biking) as I saw in Nice on the beachfront promenade. It was amazing, inspiring and overwhelming all at once.
- Monacans speak an interesting mix of French, Italian and English. The locals all look Italian to me (tall, dark and handsome types). Monaco (the principality) only has about 30,000 residents, many of whom probably have links to the Grimaldi Dynasty. The streets of Monaco are very well kept, and police men are stationed at most corners to ensure that no one jaywalks or otherwise interrupts the flow of this eerily utopian society.