After an 8-hour flight, a 6-hour layover in Paris, and another flight down to Nice complete with a 40-min delay.....Dan has made it to me in the south of France!
He arrived jetlagged, yet excited --- so we hit the ground running in my home base of Juan-Les-Pins right away in an attempt to prolong Dan's head hitting the pillow and get his body clock adjusted to France time.
Living just half a block up from the blue Mediterranean Sea makes for a lovely view from my balcony as well as easy access for strolling along the boardwalk. Dan and I did just that as soon as we unpacked his very well organized suitcase. :)
On the way to the restaurant-lined beach we made a quick pitstop for some mid-afternoon gelato (which I seem to have adopted as a daily ritual). Dan LOVED his cone full of Snickers and chocolate goodness. We then walked out on a rocky point to admire the distant yachts and crystal clear water just at our feet. Dan can't get over the scenery of Juan-Les-Pins...restaurants with couches and tables that allow its patrons to dine with their feet in the sand, colorful awnings from the shops and apartments looming just behind, and not to mention topless French sunbathers as far as the eye can see.
We got him some good handmade French pizza that is as thin as our Arby's FSI's. He LOVED that too. We had a great (cheap!) bottle of French red wine with our pizzas which you could've mistaken for warm milk as it began to lull Dan to sleep while he was still seated at the table. At one point during our conversation I had to inform him that only one of his eyes was still open --- I'm pretty sure he doesn't remember most of that first day/night as I've had to repeat a lot of what I said - but I can understand. I've already dealt with the exact same thing with our 25 students when they arrived. I'm a pro now.
The next morning we got up and went to my favorite spot for breakfast crepes - "Pan & Cake." We enjoyed ingredients like ham, cheese, mushrooms, and egg warmly wrapped into our soft crepes. Yum! Grabbed two 'pain-au-chocolats' to go and headed toward the train station for a day on the beach in the neighboring town of Golfe Juan. Below are some pictures from our afternoon - it was great and so relaxing.
Today is Dan's third day on the ground here and the students have been given a day off class to allow time for a "travel weekend" of their choice. We are going to use this time to take a day trip over to Monaco and hopefully stop in Eze on one of the legs of the train ride. It's another beautiful day with a bit of a breeze so it should be perfect for walking around and exploring new areas. I've never been to either of these places, so I'm excited to see them for the first time today with Dan. I'm sure we'll have SO many pictures to post after today.
Okay, better go check the train schedule before the entire day gets away from us on the internet. Talk to you soon.
-ab & dd
Looks like the weather is cooperating in your photos. Dan may never want to leave. Did you make it to some films or did managing the students take all your time? I keep checking for a film review or two from you on the athensexchange website but don't see any. Saw one from someone else who is in Cannes but it was not of your caliber. (I am your Daddy but I think that I am objectively accurate about that.) When do you head to Paris?
ReplyDelete