Day 41

Day 41: Thursday, April 30, 2009: Today was my first day in Nice, France, with my family! But first, I had class. We are scheduled to have two hours of class, then a four-hour break, then two more hours of class. So I bought a train ticket to leave during the break at 12:15 p.m. So then Christophe decided that we were just going to have one long four-hour class. Because everyone loves that!

The class was creative writing. We began at school and went on another walk of the city. We wrote down everything that we heard, saw, smelled, tasted, and felt. We were then going to use this and write a poem. We ended at the hill of the Palace of the Popes to write. I only had about 15 minutes to write before I had to leave to walk back to my house and get ready and go to the train station. Bernard drove me there after insisting that I eat a ham sandwich.

At the train station, I expected that he would just drop me off and go. I know how to take the train. He was really nice and carried one of my bags for me and waited on the voie until the train arrived. Then I found my seat and began working on the four-hour ride there. I did some grammar homework and read a little. I didn’t want to write in my journal because I would need the dictionary and then people would not think that I was French. I hate being pegged as an American anytime I go somewhere because people don’t understand that I am studying here, they just assume that I am a tourist.

So then I arrived in Nice. The views from the train along the ride were excellent! The sea is so blue! I love the Cote d’Azur! I waited at the train station for my Mom, aunt, and Mamaw because they were flying into Milan, Italy and taking the train to Nice. The train arriving from Milan was only half an hour after I arrived and I figured that they were on that so I waited. The train arrived an hour and fifteen minutes late without my family. So then I waited for the next trains from Italy; nothing. I waited for three hours before deciding that I was done and I walked to the hotel.

The hotel was recommended by the program director. It doesn’t have a website and people only know of it by word of mouth. I got a room for us four for 100E a night. It was across the street from the beach! That is an excellent for that type of location in Old Town Nice. If anyone ever goes there, let me know and I will pass along the hotel info. The hotel is more than 100 years old and the rooms could use a little TLC but it was excellent nonetheless.

Well the woman at the hotel didn’t even take my name of credit card info when I called to make my reservation. It is that laid back. I also reserved a room for three of my friends – Melissa, Lance, and Meghan – who were also going to Nice for the weekend. They are arriving tomorrow. Tomorrow is May Day so there are no classes!

So I finally get to the hotel and I tell the nice old woman owner that my family’s train was late and I wanted to wait for them here. She gave me the room without paying. I also explained that I was studying in Avignon and from that point on she spoke French with me and didn’t treat me like an American tourist. I unpacked a little and decided that I wasn’t going to sit in a hotel and wait for them to arrive since they hadn’t even called me. So I left and walked along the beach. I walked all the way to the point by the port and sat to watch the sunset. Just then, the woman at the hotel called and told me that my family had arrived!

So then I walked back and met them. It was really nice to see them after six weeks in France. They freshened up and then we found a place to eat since no one had yet. We had Italian. I had my Mom try Pastis with me. It was a good day besides that wait at the train station but what can you do.