It's been just over two weeks since I've arrived here in Nice. Here's a quick recap of what's happened so far!
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| Nice from the plane |
I left Portland early Friday, August 27th nervous and excited for my four month escapade living and studying in Nice. After 21 hours of traveling I finally arrived Saturday afternoon exhausted but eager to start my adventure. I was greeted at the airport by my host parents, Sylvie and Jean. On the drive from the airport to the apartment as we drove along La Promenade des Anglais I almost had to pinch myself I could not believe that I was going to be living in such a beautiful place for four months!
When I arrived at the apartment I was delighted to see my room and thrilled that I had a balcony and view of the city from my room.
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| My room |
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| View from my balcony |
After unpacking, resting, and eating dinner, the family and I went to La Promenade de Anglais for an end of the summer celebration, "La Prom," where the Nice community commemorated the end of the summer and tourist season with fireworks and live music. As the night ended I was eager to get some much needed sleep as well as see what tomorrow had install for me. Sunday morning Sylvie took me on a short tour of Vieux Nice where we went to the local farmers market which is held just off the Promenade. Every Saturday and Sunday there is a farmers market where you can buy anything from fresh produce to pastries and flowers. Throughout the week an arts and crafts market is held there where you can find handmade jewelry and bags. Everything is very beautiful and not too expensive - it's very hard to resist buying everything!
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| Looking towards Vieux Nice |
Monday, August 30th, marked the beginning of orientation for the Sweet Briar JYF Nice program. This was the first day that the group - all 11 of us girls and the directors, Margret Scouten and Jacqueline Letzter - met together at the St. Jean d'Angély campus. I was slightly nervous at the beginning of the program worried that everyone would be so much better at French than I, but after meeting everyone I was put at ease and realized that I would fit in just fine. From the start I immediately clicked with two other girls in the program, Jacqueline, who is from Rhode Island but goes to The College of Wooster in Ohio, and Meg who is from Syracuse, New York and goes to Le Moyne. They are both very nice girls and get my dry sense of humor. Within a week of knowing each other we made plans for Barcelona for five nights in October as well as Dublin in November. We decided since we all have some Irish blood in us we had to make a trip to Ireland! The first day of orientation ended with a tour around Vieux Nice with our French correspondents.
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| Meg, Me, and Jacqueline in Massena |
Tuesday we started orientation class with our teacher Stefanie who looks more like she belongs on a runway than in a classroom but she is very nice and patient with us as we begin our transition from English to French. After class we took a tour of the Cote d'Azure with Margret Scouten. It was beautiful to see the coast, and as usual the water was amazing.
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| Le Port de Nice |
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| Beach at Beaulieu |
Wednesday there was a planned "excursion" to Beaulieu (directly translated means beautiful place - which is exactly what it was!). It's only a 20 minute bus ride from Nice, and the best part was that the beach was much less rocky than the Nice beaches. After swimming and eating lunch on the beach we headed to la Villa Rothschild to tour the house and visit the gardens. The house was magnificient and the gardens no less impressive. The whole time we were touring them I kept thinking how much mom would love them!
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| Me, Meg, and Jacqueline at Beaulieu |
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| Meg and Me at La Villa Rothschild |
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La Villa Rothschild
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Thursday and Friday were occupied with countless hours in the classroom which were made more painful by the beautiful weather and welcoming beaches that called our names. But then the weekend came and another excursion was around the corner. Sunday morning Meg, Jacqueline and myself woke up at a painful 8 AM to board the bus to what we thought was another day lounging at the beach and taking in the sights. After a two hour bus ride into the mountains we found ourselves in the l'arrière-pays nicois: l'Estéron, more specifically in a small village, Sigale, population about 200.
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| Sigale |
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l'Estéron
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The director then told us that we would be hiking down the mountainside to the river at the base of the mountain. Meg, Jacqeline, and myself were a little under prepared to say the least. But nevertheless, in our sun dresses and flip flops we descended the mountain with the rest of the group - who had apparently gotten the memo and had worn hiking boots and shorts. While we suffered though the grueling 5 hour hike, we all agreed it was well worth it in the end - the sights were incredible!
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| At the base of the mountain |
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| The river we hiked down to |
Monday through Friday mornings were spent at the St. Jean d'Angély campus with orientation classes followed by afternoons relaxing at the beach. Sunday morning we headed out for another excursion, this time to l'île de St. Honorat and Cannes. We took the train from the SNCF train station to Cannes and then from there a 20 minute ferry ride to 'île de St. Honorat. There we went to the beach to have lunch, which was quite rocky and reminded me of the Oregon beaches a bit.
Afterwards, we toured an ancient monastery (circa 410) and then returned to Cannes for a tour through Vieux Cannes.
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| The group in front of the monastery |
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View of l'île de St. Honorat from the monastery
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Today, Monday the 13th, marked the official start of the school year. As far as my schedule goes it is more than manageable. I am taking four classes, two taught by professors working with the Sweet Briar JYF program and two through the University of Nice. Each class meets for 2-3 hours once a week. This leaves plenty of time for going to the beach, traveling, and of course studying! I am taking Musicology of the Baroque and Renaissance periods, Sociology of Education (both of which are through University of Nice) as well as an art history and writing class sponsored by the Sweet Briar program (and of course everything's in French!).
The musicology class was held this morning and I was anxious at the beginning thinking I would be completely lost and not be able to follow the class but luckily the professor, while she talked a mile a minute, did scribble some notes on the board so I was able to get the gist of what was happening. The professor is very animated so I think the course should be interesting and pretty fun! I can only hope that the rest of my courses go as well!
Thursday night Meg, Jacqueline, and I went out to celebrate the end of our first official week. After gnocchi at Pasta Basta we headed to Les 3 Diables for drinks and dancing. Never have I seen such a bizarre display of dancing, I felt like I was in the middle of a Jersey Shore episode with guys fist pumping and just in general being out of control. We were in awe that people actually act like that.
