Marché aux Puces

Les Photos:

1. The harbor at Beaulieu-sur-mer
2. A boat made of oranges (this is the time of the citrus festivals here)
3. Marché aux Puces (the flea market)
4. St. Paul de Vence
5. St. Paul de Vence art gallery
6. St. Paul de Vence courtyard
7. St. Paul de Vence (the restaurant I talk about below)
8. St. Paul de Vence (from below)

Mon Dieu! I am home from school for just a quick half hour and find I have an internet connection! I am on my way to Menton shortly for the fêtes du citrons but thought I would at least begin a new post before I leave for Menton (and the internet connection leaves for who knows where).

It is hard to believe that we are nearly at the end of the third week at l'Institut. One week to go, and I still feel I have so much to learn! C'est la vie, n'est-ce pas? We never stop learning, wherever we are in life. There have been some very stressful days in class...some days are more difficult than others. It seems that when we get to the point that we cannot take another minute, les professeurs back off and give us an exercise that is perhaps a little less taxing. They know what they are doing, after all. I think they bring us to the edge and then pull us back in again before we go over the edge! I am thinking that Villefranche-sur-mer is a perfect analogy for l'Institut. There are so many hills to climb, but there are also gentler slopes to go down. The ancient roadways bend and curve at great heights around sharp corners, with barely enough space to squeeze yourself against a medieval wall when confronted with oncoming traffic, yet somehow we survive the daily walk to and from school. There are some close calls, but in the end we will all survive and live to tell the tale (hopefully en français!).

Last weekend we had a 3-day weekend! On Saturday, Elizabeth and I returned to Nice to do some shopping. We had some fun (and spent some money) at Galeries Lafayette and at the bookstore (we were on the hunt for more books on French grammer/verbs and a new dictionary (pour moi). We had a nice lunch at a cafe in vieille Nice (Old Nice) and then went back to Villefranche. On Sunday we went to Beaulieu-sur-mer (just the other side of Cap Ferrat) to the marché aux puces (flea market). It was lots of fun and turned out to be good practice for my French. I had a very nice conversation with a gentleman who was selling old paintings. He took the time to explain several of them to me (the origin of the painting, the artist, the location, etc.). Amazingly, I understood quite a bit of what he said! I also had an interesting political discussion with another vendor. As soon as he knew I was une Americaine he wanted to talk about American politics, naturellement! I have found this to be true everywhere...the French love to talk about American politics! This is true, actually, with everyone I have met that isn't an American. It seems that almost every day someone asks me what I am hearing about the primaries. I never cease to be impressed by the depth of knowledge that other world citizens have-- not only about the United States but the rest of the world as well. They not only know their own histories, but they have an incredible grasp on world history and current events. I used to think I had a fair grasp of things, but I don't anymore... (I also thought I knew some French!)

On Monday we went to St. Paul de Vence and Tourette-sur-Loup, two medieval villages. I've posted a picture of Michael, Diane and Elizabeth above at the restaurant where we had lunch. On our trip here almost eight years ago, I had lunch in the same restaurant, at the same table, with my mom, Jennifer, Nancy and Fran. Needless to say, I spent some time that day thinking about that day that now seems so long ago...it was bittersweet.

"Cuzn Don" reminds me that I haven't mentioned the weather. It has been cooler than I expected, in the high 50's (a few days we had some low 60's I think), but the sun has been shining every day but one (the first day of school!). It feels like early May on the Cape. All the daffodils are in bloom, pansies in pots, violets popping up...the orange trees are laden with fruit...and the birdsong makes me believe it is truly spring. We have two "pauses" each day at school, and we all head for the terraces out back and bask in the sun until it's time to return to class. We practice speaking French to each other (and if it's been a particularly difficult morning or afternoon, we sometimes revert to English and whisper under our breath!). None of us wants to pay the fine of one euro for being caught speaking English so we don't do it too often!

I have not been keeping up with my notes, so I'm sure I'm missing lots of good stuff, but I'll post it if I remember it later! Until then,

A bientôt!