2nd day in Nice, jet-lagged but getting comfortable...

Our 2nd day in Nice left us all feeling very much at home. Our flat in the old town of Nice is really growing on us. As we walk to the Monoprix supermarket 3 minutes away (on pedestrian only streets) we walk past: a dozen or so cafes, and the following beautifully displayed stores with plein-air storefronts: bath salts, provencal soaps, wine, olives, spices, a pirate candy shop (?!)... skinny little winding streets with towering red and yellow buildings.

Today we attempted to get over our crazy time change by attempting to go back to sleep after our initial waking up at 3:30. Finally we gave up at 5:30 and just got up. Fish had to get up too, since we were so loud. We decided to take an early-morning walk (to eat croissants) and ended up in a little church square at 8 am with the kids running around the fountain at top speed trying to scare away pigeons. At that point Fish and I knew that we were in for a long day because how could this energy be sustained? True to form, we decided to tempt fate. Fish went off to school (4 hours of French classes! He is truly amazing in his energy & focus) while I, fully knowing that the children are hopeless in the heat, decided to take a walk to the Molinard perfume museum with the girls. The museum was super small and very accessible, showing the tools & implements used to make perfume and soap. Most interestingly, it discussed the reasons for the invention of perfume: in the 1800s when it was considered unsafe to bathe more than twice a year, frankly they just needed something to disguise the stench. The girls each got a little animal soap (chicken and cat) and proceeded to play with them for the next hour. Alas, on the walk home the kids wilted and we had to stop off at an expensive cafe for an Orangina and a cafe latte, but the stop was perfect, just enough to get them up the hill to the flat. A stop for flowers (where the girls completed the transaction on their own), a little sprucing up of the flat (the girls are very motivated since they are receiving 50 euro cents per day that they help out) and we were all out. Unfortunately, the getting up from the nap was the hardest part of the day, taking a full hour and involving a whole lot of whining (much of it from me), but eventually we did get out the door in order to go see Nice's Modern Art Museum. On the plus side, it was free (the mayor's attempt to make culture more accessible to the citizens was to make all city museums free to the public) and it had very interesting exhibit on Chinese fireworks artist Cai Guo-Qiang which definitely woke the girls up. We also were able to talk a lot about nudity and why the French are so important in art history as the ones who were able to re-vitalize the nude after a period of repression of the human form following the Renaissance. Hopefully there will be no bad dreams from the museum.

I (Balika) went off to my language class which was only two hours, but definitely made me feel like a dunce- although I really did get a lot out of it. And on the walk home I marveled again at Fish's stamina to do 5 times the amount of language classes as me. And a follow up on the castle hill is in order... apparently the canon that goes off daily at noon really does occur, and it is right above our house, and both times we have heard the blast (meant to be a time keeper for the people of Nice) we have screamed. The playground on the castle hill (although not the greatest playground in the world) does have the best view of any park I have ever seen... it looks out over Nice, Cannes, Monaco and the great big expanse of the bright blue Mediterranean. beautiful. Beware, however, the following of directions of a 7 year old who swears that she remembers the way home. You may just find yourself on the wrong side of the mountain. Tomorrow the goal is to not have a nap and to sleep through the night!

Arrival in Nice, France

What a journey! It took a total of 5 minutes (out of Kodiak!) for Isabella to ask, "Are we in France yet?" with a very cute grin. We quickly informed her that this question was taboo, so we were able to continue on our way without feeling too crazy. To start our trip with rested girls and avoid the airport as long as possible Fish drove out with the bags at 6:00 am to check in. After leaving Kodiak at 8:30 am Friday morning, we arrived in Seattle in late afternoon to do a little last-minute shopping (floor tiles for our bathroom, coats for the kids). After some requisite swimming in the hotel pool, we finally got the kids to sleep... After a frustrating (but ultimately successful) search the next day for floor tiles (where we alternately cursed and thanked ourselves for thinking to buy a Garmin GPS) we headed back to the airport to check into our Seattle-London flight. Thankfully (small part of the world!) we ended up running into some good friends (the St. Johns) and their two kids so the kids got some good solid playtime in the kid area.

A quick 8 hour flight later (for the girls anyway, who were able to sleep- Sven had to sit in the jump seats in the back of the plane for about 4 hours since a lady sitting next to him fainted and had to lay down in his seat) we arrived in London, then transferred on to Nice, arriving Sunday late afternoon. Actually, come to think of it, Eilidh didn't sleep super well. She woke up every 20-30 minutes or so to tell me, "Momma, I can't sleep." Flying into Nice we were treated to a wonderful view of the ocean and the mountainous terrain around Nice, dotted with red-roofed houses. We debated taking a taxi into town, but the apartment we had reserved is in the old town of Nice which is not accessible by car anyway, so we decided to lug our bags onto the bus and up what we knew would probably be a horrendous number of stairs. Indeed, we discovered. Many, many steps, but the girls were great and helped out with pushing and pulling and in general upped our spirits as we groaned at the expanse of steps in front of us. With the sun, imagine that, shining and a lot of sweat we made it to our flat.

Once we got to our flat, however, we realized how worth it the place is. What a view! And no sound whatsoever-except the ringing of church bells- as we are raised above the old city with a view of the gorgeous rooftops of the city, the doves and the lush mountains in the distance. A 30 second walk up the (more) steps gets us to the castle hill, which because of its status as the highest spot in Nice is the location of the very first settlement this area. The Greeks first settled here around 2500 years ago, then in the middle ages a castle rested on the hill. Alas, castle hill no longer has a castle, as Louis XIV's leveled it in 1706. This is our next stop, so more on that later.

For dinner on our first night we went out and walk around old town. After about twenty minutes we found a relatively nice restaurant where we sat outside and were entertained by the passerby's, dogs, and would be clients who spent more time asking the hostess about prices and then walking on. The girls ordered an amazing thin crust pizza with olives & mushrooms and for desert they both devoured lemon & chocolate gelato. We then went straight home because the world was starting to get wobbly for mom and dad. Eilidh was wonderful enough to read Bella to sleep since we were too tired. We had high hopes that we would not suffer from jetlag since we didn't get to sleep until 10 o'clock but we all woke up at 3:30 AM and played Go Fish. Fish won.

The Girls spent the morning traipsing around the 'Promenade des Anglais', sticking our toes in the Mediterranean sea (not much more, since the waves were quite big) and frothing at the mouth at the sight of all the tarts and beautiful cheeses. Breakfast: chocolate croissants & espresso. Lunch: ham & brie baguette with plums.

Fish went off to his first day of French immersion at the Ecole Internationale de Langue et de Civilisation Francaise" where he will be attending classes 9-1 Monday-Friday for the next four weeks. After having a very strong double expresso for breakfast with the girls he reluctantly left to attend his first class in over ten years, that he was not teaching.

I went in the general direction I eventually found the l'Alliance francaise, where my class started at 8:45 AM.

Our professeur de francais, Sten Roi's first lessons was about introductions: je mappelle..... (my name is)...., Je suis ..... (I am)..., etc., etc... Attending the class are: Hari (from India), Alice (from Australia), Paive (from Finland), Rosa (originally from Spain), Galina (from Russia) Kolbrun, Kolbrun and Elin (all three from Iceland) and myself. So accents are very fun to hear and mine is just as challenging. Sten has a lot of wonderful energy and made the first day of learning French fun. He enjoyed teasing me about being "Eskimo" and nose kissing, yes nose kissing!!!!- had to burst that myth and he was very devastated- but alas I do actually nose kiss with my Bella. What was more funny was watching the other students looked at him like he was from Mars as he tried to explain nose kissing in French- which ironically I understood exactly what he was saying. Besides this the pronunciation of the l'alphabet was fun...twisting my tongue around. More of this fun adventure to come.

Matisse

Matisse Musee a must visit.

To see single lines
bringing forth
such grace, beauty
no words can say so
clearly how
Lydia Delectorskaya
inspired Matisse
to create life
within lines.

Sven