sunburn in February? I'm NOT going to complain!

Well. That was quite the adventure!
(yes, I know it's March. but I got the sunburn in February! and it's even better when the sunburn isn't from snowglare!)
(for my own benefit, I'm doing a timeline. then I'll get to the good stories)
Sunday: beach lounging, picnic lunch, parade, dinner, cruise ship to Corsica
Monday: essentially just wandering around Bastia and Sisco in Corsica, chilling by the water, cruise back to Nice
Tuesday: arrive at the 'hostel,' dinner at the Restaurant du Gesu, night parade
Wednesday: back to the market, Battle of the Flowers, Russian Cathedral
Thursday: train ride to Monaco, Palace, gardens, casino, head back to Nice then back to Nantes
Friday: arrive in Nantes, ULTIMATE crashandburn

So that's what we *did.* My favorite parts:

sitting by the Mediterranean. We did a lot of that...Jenan had brought a deck of skipbo cards, so we'd either play skipbo or write postcards (or journals, for me!), or just bask in the sun. It was so nice to just relax for once...nowhere to go, nothing to do, just enjoying the sun and warmth (my utmost apologies to the snowbunnies back in the states...). And the sea itself...it's amazing. I've NEVER seen a shade of blue like that. When it's overcast, it's this deep grey blue, but when the sun comes out, it turns a brilliant sapphire blue that I didn't think existed except in photoshopped pictures.

the parades. France may not do Halloween, but that's okay - they have Carnavale to make up for it! Little girls were running around in princess costumes (or the occasionnal punk/goth, for the middleschoolers). There were pirates and batmans and spidermans and clowns...even the adults were dressed up! The parades were so much fun...the crowds had TONS (literally) of confetti and silly string...it was amazing. Since it's the year of the rat, the theme was "King of Bats, Cats, Rats and other Legendary Creatures." There was a dinosaur, a ton of vampires, bats and rat-themed floats.

the "hostel" in Nice. When we booked Nice Home Sweet Home on hostelworld.com, I was expecting something like the hostel I stayed in while I was in Paris. Clean, but simple, bunks with strangers, that sort of thing. We walk into the room (just for us, by the way) and it's HUGE. Bigger than some of the IES classrooms! There was a tv, dvd player, and a cd player. There was even a little balcony outside our window! Needless to say, it was incredible. The owners are so nice, too. At any rate, when we got there on tuesday, we were exhausted by our corsica trip - the ship docked at 7 am, so our days started EARLY. we decided to take an afternoon nap that was intended to be from 3 to 4.15. well...I was the first to wake up at quarter of 6! if any of you ever go to Nice...try to get a room in the Home Sweet Home bed and breakfast. It's SO worth it!

Monaco. It was pretty incredible, I'm not going to lie. You can tell there's money in that country! We did try our hand at the slot machines in Monte Carlo...all that happened was that we lost 5 euros =D It's just a really...beautiful place. It's so fun to gawk at the ginormous yachts in the port and the shopfronts boasting things that we sure as anything couldn't afford! it was the last day of our trip, so we were all pretty beat.

There were other highlights, of course, but those were some of the best.

And back in Nantes...I saw the most amazing movie last night. It's called Paris, and it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear last night when I just wanted to be in New Jersey with the rest of my family. It's the stories of people living in Paris, how their lives are all intertwined without them even knowing it...one of the main characters had a terminal illness...and the whole movie is about seizing the moment, living life to the fullest and taking the chances that could change your life - because it's too precious to waste. ...and I bawled through the conclusion. anyone surprised? ya shouldn't be! but it had Juliette Binoche and Romain Duris in it, a couple of my FAVORITE actors.
so yes.
carpe diem!
à+!