Quoi de Neuf?

Les Photos:

The beach at Cannes in the first photo, and the restaurant on the beach where we had lunch (Elizabeth and Diane are on the far right); the train station in Villefranche; Galeries Lafayette at the Place de Messena in Nice; musicians at the Place de Messena; Eze; my class photo; class in "Le Grand Salon" at l'Institut; dinner at Au Clair Obscur with the class; one of my teachers (Julien, on left) and the chef at Au Clair Obscur; the parade at La Fête du Citron.

I left off my last post en route to La Fête du Citron in Menton. (http://www.feteducitron.com/) What a fabulous experience! We caught the train at 7 PM from Villefranche, about a 30-minute ride to Menton. Menton is the last city in France before you get to Italy. February is the month they celebrate the citrus, and what a celebration it is! The parade was magical...beautiful floats, all made of oranges and lemons, marching bands (the one in the picture is from San Remo, Italy), dancers, singers, fireworks, thousands of bubbles being sprayed from floats, catching and reflecting the light, heaps of confetti spilling from the sky all night...the children (and a lot of adults!) all had a can of silly string in hand, and we were all covered with it by the end of the night! By the end of the hour-long parade, the crowds had joined in with the parade. It was a "pinch me" moment... to be standing there, a part of the festival, looking out over the parade to the lights of the Italian coast...

Friday night our class went out for dinner together. It had been a particularly difficult day/week for all of us, and one of our classmates had announced she had to leave a week early so it was our last chance to all be together (we have truly bonded as a group). It was a wonderful evening...good friends, good wine, much laughter and some silly French and "Franglais" all mixed up together. At the end of dinner, one of our teachers, Julien, came into the restaurant and joined us for a drink. He pulled a guitar off the wall and sang us some French songs and some American songs (imagine Johnny Cash singing Folsom Prison Blues with a French accent). The fun really began when he was joined by the chef of the restaurant! Initially the chef was still cooking, but he leaned his head over the counter and joined in the songs...it was straight out of a Hollywood musical! He banged his pots and pans in perfect rhythm with Julien's guitar... When he had finished in the kitchen, he came out and grabbed another guitar from the wall and joined Julien, playing and singing for us. It was really something special. Yet another "pinch me" moment.

On Saturday Elizabeth and Diane and I went to Nice for some more shopping at Galeries Lafayette and a walk through the old city. The picture above from a window at Galeries Lafayette says "Quoi de neuf?" (What's new?). This is a casual French greeting used when you run into a friend... You might answer with rien de spécial (nothing special), pas grand chose (nothing big) or le train-train (the same old thing). It's a slogan being used at GL right now to signify what's new for spring...I had to capture the phrase for the blog because it's something we say to each other every day!We took the bus from Nice to Eze after lunch. Eze is another medieval city, built high up in the mountains. You can only travel into the ancient city on foot because of the narrow passageways. When I was in France in 2000 with my mom (and Jenn, Nancy and Fran), we went to Eze. We had also been to Nice that day, to the marché, and we had bought olives, a baguette, cheese and fruit for a picnic. We had our picnic on the way up into Eze, and it is a memory that is as clear to me now as if it happened yesterday. I couldn't help but feel another bittersweet pang when I was there yesterday...

Today we set out for Cannes. It was another beautiful day...the sun was shining, the skies were blue...but the public transportation on the Côte D'Azur was a nightmare! We waited for the 10:30 AM train from Villefranche...and we waited, and we waited...it never arrived. The schedule was changed on the marquee, and we learned there would be a 12:30 train. We went back into town and had a café au lait and then went back to get the train. We had a lovely train ride along the coastline to Cannes. After arriving in good time we had lunch on the beach at Cannes and then had a stroll around the old part of the city. We headed back to catch the 4:35 train to Villefranche...and we waited, and we waited...it never arrived. The marquee changed the departure time several times. We finally caught a bus back an hour later than planned...but it stopped in Nice unexpectedly and did not take us on into Villefranche! We had to walk to the bus station from the train station to find a bus back to Villefranche...we found a bus was leaving shortly...magnifique! Alas, it was cancelled and changed to a different bus at a later time at the last minute...and again, we waited, and we waited... By the time we got back to Villefranche, we were exhausted! C'est France, c'est la vie... We headed out for a glass of wine and a light supper, and thus ended our last weekend together in Villefranche...

Now the hour is late, I have yet to do my weekend homework, and tomorrow beckons... It is hard to believe the last week is here. I am relieved (the intensity of immersion learning has reached a crescendo, and I am ready to leave on a high note!); I am sad that this wonderful experience is drawing to a close; and most of all, I cannot bear to say goodbye to my friends here. I hope we'll see each other again... in France, Australia, Denmark, England or Cape Cod, but it is an experience that won't be repeated for any of us again in quite the same way. I will ever be grateful I have been lucky enough to have it.