Au revoir, Les Etats-Unis, Bonjour, Londres et Cannes!

Well, ladies and gents, after 3 cancellations and 1 delay - I have, at last, arrived. Mon dieu, merci!

London was fantastique! 

I was super bummed that I didn't get to spend as much time as was originally planned, but the day I did get to spend there definitely made me want to spend more.

My group had a tour on a coach (not bus, we we're informed) Friday morning - about 30 minutes after I arrived at the hotel and I got to see the usual sights (e.g. Buckingham, Tower of London, London Bridge, Jubilee Market, Big Ben, Parliament, that pedestrian bridge from Harry Potter, etc.)

And speaking of Harry Potter...

I told you all that I was going to Cannes, so that you would only be mildly jealous, but really I got accepted for a semester at Hogwarts. 

More of London:

Something on the gate of Buckingham Palace. No funny dressed guards = frowny face.

Lions. Oh my.

Right before it collapsed and sent muggles flying.

Random street performer. Sadly, I missed most of his act, but I can only assume it went well if he ended like this...

Where I want to live.

I went to a pub after our tour and had fish&chips, hold the fish, and a beer. Wandered around, then back to the hotel - showering was so great. Please keep in mind that my flight took off at 5pm central time and landed at 6:15 am London time. Which means that it landed at about midnight central time and I didn't sleep much on the flight - I pretty much pulled an all-nighter. However, I managed to not nap (read: go to bed for several hours) and staved off loads of jet lag. (Bonus: by not sleeping on the flight, I got to watch movies. Such as Never Let Me Go. Good stuff.) Night consisted of getting some Italian food and coming back to my roommate a her friend sharing a bottle of wine and telling awkward stories. We got along well, obvs.

Today consisted of getting a wake-up call at 5:11 am and then actually getting up at 5:30 to catch my flight. We got to Heathrow early, then had some brekkie, then had our flight delayed several times. Eventually, though, I got out of there and to Nice! The mountains I saw on the way here were beautiful. I sat next to a guy on the flight who's from Amsterdam, but works in London, and has a house in Nice that he stays at on the weekends. Supes jeal. He gave me some good advice on places to go and things to see.

Bus ride to Cannes went quickly and then I got all settled in!

My lovely desk. I haven't yet decided where to put my shower towel.

Bed with strange cylindrical pillow.

Holga photos - lots of lurve.

Roomie is not a French or otherwise international student, other than that she's American. Turns out they had no internationals to put me with, but I'm happy with her so far! Our room has a view of the Mediterranean, if you look off to the right and through the trees. Otherwise it has a view of the little parking lot and more buildings, but I'm not complaining. I'm in France, after all.

This week will hold:

me attempting to buy a cell phone and other goods at local stores

a placement exam

meeting my professor(s)

starting classes

a tour of the city

a trip to Monaco and Eze next Saturday (yep, I'm leaving the country already)

A bientôt, mes amis!