"Travel Weekend"

Having been given the Friday off from class creating a 3-day weekend students ventured whimsically to places like London, Amsterdam, Venice, and Avignon.  Meanwhile Dan and I used this time to take quick train trips to Golfe Juan, Monaco, and Antibes - each enjoyable in their own right.  I've already written about our first day of lounging (topless!) on the beaches of Golfe Juan and I planned to write about our Monaco experience this morning, but considering my camera's juice is completely dissipated at the moment I guess I'll just give you a little taste and divulge the full details with accompanying pictures later.

Monaco was fantastic.  I don't know if I've even visited a place where everything down to the sidewalks is so ornate.  The remnants of the Grand Prix race from a week ago are still intact in the streets.  We walked around for about five hours exploring the winding streets of the world's second smallest principality (Vatican City holds the title of smallest).  We documented every square inch with 300 pictures or so.  I promise to only post a miniscule portion of those.

Yesterday from noon to eight we journeyed through the tiny, old streets of neighboring Antibes.  I'd spent a day there before when I was here three years ago - lunching with ladies from my program and snapping goofy model-esque picture poses atop a scenic overlook by the sea.  This trip with Dan, though, was somehow different.  We took more time to notice the small things - exploring many more nooks and crannies than I had previously.  The local artists in the open air market, the myriad of hats for the taking at the hidden absinthe bar, and the rocky shoreline with white crested waves crashing beneath the walled city were just some of the things we admired.  

I'll post more in-depth stories of our adventures along with pictures later on when I get a chance.  For now we're going to grab lunch, charge my camera battery, and head over to Cannes for an afternoon of sightseeing, shopping, and maybe a movie in one of its many theatres.  I can see out the window of our rooftop classroom now that there appears to be a threat of afternoon thunderstorms as the sky goes from a light white down to a deep purple off in the distance behind the harbored tip of Golfe Juan......hopefully we can do a quick raindance to hold off the looming showers.  

Anyway - time to run.  Will report back later.  A tout a l'heure!