Playing Catch-Up Part I

The last couple of weekends have been full of explorations of the area, wonderful food with wonderful people, and a new familiarity with transportation in Antibes. Because there is a lot to update about, I will do a picture-book-type explanation of each, to keep my writing shorter and the post more visually pleasing.

Snow Days on the Riviera: 

So a few weeks ago we had two snow days in a row...not kidding. Funny thing is there was no snow in Antibes at all. The buses announced Monday night that they would not be running Tuesday because of the CHANCE of snow. They just don't know how to handle it here, on the beach.

So, since we couldn't really go anywhere, we stayed in Resideal, and watched the wonders of hula hooping. There is a girl here who just bought a hoop because her and her friends all hoop back in Pittsburg. It is not your average hooping either...more like hoop dancing. We all watched her skills and then tried it out ourselves. It was quite the beautiful day.

Our New Thursday Night Venue: 

Then there was Thursday night Karaoke night! Though most of the SKEMA international students we know like to go to the Hop Store, we discovered The Quay, another Irish Pub with a better ambiance, and of course, karaoke! Also, these beauties were given to a few of my friends and myself on the house. Needless to say this is likely to become a regular Thursday night event.

Buses, Nietszche and Eze:

Friday we set out for Eze, the hilltop village we vsited on our first weekend here. Thanks to train strikes, though, we got to take three bus rides, one being an hour long, just to get to the village.

FUN FACT: Apparently train strikes are very common in France. This one was already the second one since we've been here. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind the strikes are each time, but I think it often has to do with benefits or salary issues. As was the case in October.  

Eze was worth the transportation, though. We found the trail that German philosopher Fredrick Nietszche walked up daily. Apparently the heat made him hallucinate, which is where he got his inspiration. The view was gorgeous, and while we saw snow on palm trees at the top of the trail, we ended up on a beach!

Le Super Bowl: 

Saturday was fairly uneventful, and ended with a night out at the Ondine Villa, where some of our international friends live. Sunday Julia and I hosted a Super Bowl party. This was a great idea in the sense that people brought delicious food to our apartment, and a not so great idea since the game here only started at midnight. Still, it was fun to have so many people over, and I made a rendition of the cheesy potatoes my mamma makes that went over very well. 

The Rest of the Week: 

The week went nicely, as well. Took a quick trip to Cannes before class on Monday and benefited from the massive sales going on here (they started in January and didn't end until February 14) by buying a dress from Zara. Supposedly they have Zara in the states, my little towns have never heard of such wondrous places. The shopping here really is fantastic.

On Wednesday I had a spontaneous lunch date with a friend here, my first French meal out! It was delicious. I have no pictures of it, since it was spontaneous and all, but I'm sure we will go back. In the mean time, you can listen to this song if you are sad about the lack of pictures.