Des Amèricains--MU students Doris, Erica, Kris, Missy, me and Chris in Nice. |
The French Riviera is everything that you've heard about: sun, glamour, and the occassional topless woman. (Man, I loved France!) In all reality, we didn't spend that much time on the beach in Nice because it only had medium-sized flat rocks that really hurt.
The only catch to this whole program was that we had to a class or two. (I'm not sure how they slipped that one by me either.) It was a good thing a professor from MU, Peter Dola, was in charge because he made sure that we were enjoying ourselves as much as possible.
A gem--The glamorous Monaco Harbor. |
The whole country, about the size of a large city, was so impressive. It was obvious that the Monacoans did well with their own place in the sun.
"Livin' la vie foue"-- American Doris, me, and Missy enjoy what soon became our own personal beach. |
Cannes-- Sand on the beach in Cannes was such a relief that we had to go there the first chance we got. As you can tell by the picture to the left, the American women, Doris and Missy, were eager to pose with me. (I hope.)
My roommate Pete and I had a hard time adjusting to living with our French parents, Guy and Colette Béard. We failed to understand that the French people truly love their dogs and Americans--no matter how nice they were--were next in line. For instance, when Colette went to the train station to go to her sister's house, we were happy to go and see her off. On the way back home, Pete and I were surprised to find that the dog Dick got to ride in the front seat with us "lowly" Americans sitting in the back. We were only able to find the humor in this story some time later.
If we were not in class, then we were at the beach. The best time I had there was bracing against the waves made by the U.S. George Washington when it docked near Cannes. (The sea was angry that day, my friends.)
I didn't think I would miss Guy and Colette but I did. (Just not the dog Dick, who died a couple years later. Me? Jealous of a dog? Never.)
 The most relaxing trip--The monastary on l'Isle de St. Honorat, off the coast of Cannes. |
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Paris--
After the
program officially ended, some of the group went off to the City of Lights: Paris! I could hear the accordions call me. (You know, the ones you hear every time you think of the Seine River and Notre Dame.
I will never forget my first day in Paris. I was
finally in the city I had waited my whole life to see. There was no way I was
going to take a nap while the city called out to me.
While the rest of the group rested, a friend named April and I went out by ourselves to do our own touring. Little did we know that we would get lost and not be able to
meet the group back at the right time. By the end of the night we were having so much fun that we couldn't have cared less.
After all, we were lost in Paris!
That night, we saw everything: the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower(!!), and a lot of other things we had no idea what they were. To my first night in Paris, I had to have escargots. Pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. April wasn't as adverturous, but I did coax her into eating at least a half of one.
I will always remember the first time we were close and saw the Eiffel Tower that night. We both started running down the street with big smiles on our faces laughing because we knew that we were officially in
Paris. Very exciting!
The rest of the week, we spent going to the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, mass at Notre Dame, and up to top of the Eiffel Tower. I
nearly ran out of money, and was tense for a couple of days. I came really close to cussing out this old bag who ran the hotel. I could have used those new French words I learned but didn't.
At the end of the trip, I was ready to go home and see my family. Too bad our original plane got hit by a truck and our luggage didn't arrive home the same time I did. Oh, well. C'est la vie.
Triumph--The sun sets on our first night in Paris.