Yesterday we went to a gorge, which was really beautiful. Or gorgeous. Are those two words (gorge and gorgeous) related? Wait, question retracted after remembering that gorging oneself is bad.
Anyway, it was great. Minus the torturous bus ride through the windy mountain roads that made me vom. Repeat of Cassis, which now that I think about, I didn't actually blog. Long story short, the bus ride to Cassis and subsequent boat ride made me über nauseous, ergo I don't have many photos from that trip. But I'll post a few along with this.
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| Ran into a dog whilst wandering around |
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| I can't help but strike a pose |
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| Cave people |
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| Cliffs |
After the super long ride, we got to a lake, which I, of course, forget the name of now. It was kind of a weird shade of blue, but really pretty. After eating lunch there, several of us rented paddle boats and paddled around for our remaining time there. Or sat, in my case, on the front of the boat, like a weird decoration.
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| Swimmer! |
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| Bungee jumper |
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| Crazy color of blue |
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| Where we paddle boated |
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| This looked fake even in person |
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| Paddle boat competition |
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| Waterfall in the mountain town |
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| French countryside |
Following that, we went to a small town in the mountains. I was shocked at how much cheaper stuff was there! I guess the further away from the coast, the lower the prices, until you inevitably hit Lyon and Paris. The town was very cute, as all small French towns are. At least in Provence, but I assume it's like that everywhere. There were tons of artisanal shops, with everything from pottery to blown glass, and I'm pretty sure I saw some samurai swords, although I'm going to guess those weren't made by the guy who was selling them.
Sadly, it is now Monday of my final week in Cannes. My family arrives tomorrow, and we leave on Saturday for Barcelona and then Paris. And then I'm home. In two weeks...
This week all I have is a final in my French grammar class, which is on Thursday, but I still have class every morning. For some reason we also have a final Art History class tomorrow, even though we took the final last Thursday. Wednesday we have our farewell dinner, Thursday night there's an ice cream party, and then Friday we have a farewell drink in the courtyard. Saturday morning most people are leaving pretty early to catch their shuttles to the airport in Nice. I'm really going to miss this place and all the people I've met here. I think I'm also really going to miss hearing French in everyday life. Anyone know a French person in Omaha that can help me stay on track?
::edit::
It is now Friday, and you can see that I'm doing really well with this whole blogging on time thing. But for real, I don't want to leave tomorrow.
The fam got here safely, but not without some problems. My dad and brother's bags did not make it on time, but they arrived by post on Wednesday here in Cannes. Also, the whole stick-shift thing is... going okay. My dad has accidentally rolled backwards into two cars, that I know of. I wasn't in the car for that, but I'm hoping that it doesn't happen on our journey tomorrow. Tomorrow we're beginning our trek to Barcelona, but stopping at random cities along the way and staying somewhere overnight. I'm hoping that I'll get to see Aix-en-Provence, because I still haven't made it there.
It was my der des ders day of class today. That's dernier des derniers, in case you can't understand me. I don't even understand me sometimes. It means the last of the last. We watched lots of random things on youtube and then some of a French stand-up comedian. We finished with a game of "Ni oui, ni non" where people ask you questions really quickly, but you can't respond with yes or no. It's way too difficult. I tend to epically fail at it.
Some people are leaving super early tomorrow, so tonight really is the last night. Sad day. I'm commemorating with a list of things I'll miss about Cannes (or France, in general):
- the view of the Mediterranean from my room
- the view from the bathroom. You think I'm kidding? I'll upload a picture later.
- living next to water and mountains
- hearing French every day
- easy transportation from city to city
- amazing museums, to which I often get in free with my long-stay visa
- being a foreigner
- beach at night
- crêpe soirées, gelato (mostly mango flavored YUM)
- not having a cell phone
However, I don't want to get myself super bummed out, so now a list of things I'm looking forward to about being back in the States:
- stores are open late, and not closed over lunch time, and open on weekends
- easily accessible Mexican, Indian, Thai, etc. food WITH vegetarian options
- my car, my room, my house, my bike
- knowing that people understand what I'm saying (at least usually...)
- hanging out in Omaha parks
- Midsummerfest
- and seeing all my friends, of course!
Look at who just graduated from the Collège International de Cannes, with only good notes (I mean... once they took off that cinema class one...)
