There Are Other Regions of France

Alas, I find myself once again in my room, nearly a week after my trip to southern France. And, I finally get a chance to write about it now... nearly a week after I left Paris. This'll be fun. Really, it will be, because I had a wonderful time down south... and to think, I've been northward bound for these past few months.

Despite the uncertainty of rain and the rather contradictory méteo websites, my weekend was full of beautiful weather (apparently Paris was undergoing a springtime renovation, too). The trip to the south, however, was even better because I finally got to see Lauren living out her French experience.

After waking up from my usual who-knows-how-long-I-actually-sleep nighttime repose, I made my way over to Gare de Lyon to board my train to Grenoble, the southern city where Lauren is spending her spring term. After a bit of confusion on the train, I finally found my seat and quickly found myself at the Grenoble train station. The voyage was quite comfortable and acclamating to the change in temperature, I saw that Lauren was already there waiting for me. We took her rather long journey (though I eventually got accustomed to it) from the city centre to her homestay in Montbonnot. I soon met her host siblings, Margaux and William (whom I mistakenly took to be at least five years older than they actually are), as well as her host mom, Evelyne, before heading out to lunch with Lauren back in Grenoble. We ate at Tonneau Diogène and then did a bit of tourist site-seeing at the Bastille and the Jardin de Ville. In actuality, I didn't notice too many touristy things to do, and I think that's one of the main reasons why I liked that city. It definitely has its own character, is rather charming and laid-back, but also a lot bigger than I imagined it to be, offering people something to do whenever they're not simply relaxing and living. (It didn't hurt that the weather was extremely gorgeous, though borderline hot for my liking.) The view from the Bastille was amazing. To get there, Lauren and I took Le Téléphérique, a system of boule-shaped capsules big enough for six that transport people to the top and back of the Bastille. I found that I'm still rather cautious and fearful of heights, but luckily Lauren was there to distract me. After walking around a bit, we went back to her hostfamily's house. There, I briefly met Margaux's boyfriend and then finally Richard, Lauren's host dad. He's absolutely hilarious and despite an apparent Grenoble accent (which I still can't separate), he was the easiest member of the family to talk to and understand (though I did find comparatively little difference with understanding everyone else than if I spoke to someone from the north). Evelyne prepared a healthy, wonderful dinner (there was definitely a lot more than I anticipated). After a long day of activity and such a great meal, I found very little difficulty falling asleep.

The next morning, Lauren and I got ready to leave Grenoble and head five hours by train to Nice. When we finally got there, the weather was nice (no pun intended, of course), as well as the hotel and city centre itself. After checking out the Mediterranean Sea (which was just sitting there waving about and which Lauren kept insisting was not that cold and definitely swimable), we seeked some dinner and settled on a cozy Italian restaurant.

On Sunday--Easter Sunday--we ate lunch (at Subway... I missed it sooo much) and then we went to the beach (which was grounded by stones, as opposed to sand) and Lauren shocked at least half of the tourists and passers-by when she went into the water (which was a bit colder than the previous night). After drying off, we continued with the water theme as we aimed to find out where a waterfall--visible from the beach--was hiding. Eventually, we found ourselves climbing the steps to the grounds of the ancient château of Nice. Once up there, we walked around taking photos and checking out the beautiful views of Nice (we did find the waterfall, as well). After a quick stop at the hotel (on the way I then realised that we had been walking along the Promenade des Anglais), we headed back out for Easter Sunday Mass at Eglise Notre Dame. Following Mass, we searched for a restaurant for dinner and chose another Italian restaurant and ended with gelato from a gelateria called Pinocchio.

Quicker than we wanted it to come, Monday came. We checked out of the hotel and then headed over to Monte Carlo, Monaco. It only cost 6,60€/round trip (Nice-Monte Carlo)/person to go, so pourquoi pas? When we got there, the city was just sitting there, looking all decked out and upper class. I still stand by my initial thought that in smaller pieces I would appreciate the grandeur of each piece, but all at one time was a bit much. After a better experience at the Italian restaurant in Monte Carlo (than the ones in Nice), which included Lauren attacking an intensely spicy pasta dish in a way that I'm sure select people can, we did go to the casino but weren't allowed to take photos; it also costs money to go to the tables. With those two things in mind, we checked our bags and cameras in and hung around the slot machines, which I will categorically say I am not good at whatsoever. I suppose there's some strategy and luck involved, but oh well. At least I can say I gambled in Monte Carlo, right? There's a sign posted outside of the casino that (in French) says that someone hits the jackpot every seven minutes. Hmmm... we were in there for only five. With Lauren's train back to Grenoble soon approaching, we went back to the station to head back to Nice. Along the way, we quickly stopped at a little town called Eze sur Mer, where I finally got my feet in the Mediterranean (it was very warm and comfortable).

After Lauren and I said good-bye for the last time in Europe for the semester (aïe !), I had a choice of what to do with the next three or four-ish hours before I had to get on a train back to Paris. My first big option was to go to the flower market back in Nice, as it's one of the most famous things that Nice is known for. However, since it was already nearing the evening hours, I chose the second choice: return to Monte Carlo. Earlier in the day, one of the local newspapers caught my eye and I realised that the Masters Tournament was in progress. After seeing a timetable at the station heading back to Nice, I took it as a sign that I should go; I definitely don't regret making that decision. Unfortunately, it was only day two or three of the tournament, so I didn't see any huge names playing (I was, of course, looking for Rafa). However, for only 20€, I was able to enter the facilities which amazed me like no other, especially as it seemed to be a bit hidden from the train stop. Though I have yet to play on it, there's something about clay courts that I like; I'll definitely have to stop by Roland Garros now that I've experienced Monte Carlo. In any event, I briefly saw a doubles match between Lopez/Verdasco and Andreev/Safin on Centre Court, before heading to the Princes Court to watch Lapentti take the first set against Stepanek (Lapentti would go on to win the match). I then walked around the area a bit more, taking a gander at the different company booths. As I was beginning to cut it close to the final train that left the MC Country Club, that's when I saw a few people trying to take a look past some gates. I went up to them and asked what was going on; I then heard the mention of Federer. Lo, and behold... Roger Federer was practicing. I took quite a fair number of pictures (some of which turned out) and asked a girl if she could take my photo. Initially, I had asked her in English; after a look of confusion, I asked if she spoke French... that doesn't happen too often.

I finally then got back to Nice and onto the train scheduled to leave for Paris a few minutes later. There were two options, to purchase a bed for the night, or to sleep on an inclined chair. I thought the inclined chair would mean a reclinable chair; hyuu, I was mistaken. Think of the Hogwarts Express and that's pretty much what the sitting situation was like. The ride would end up taking about 10 hours and was more or less comfortable (luckily there ended up being only three of us our specific compartment).

At 8:15am Tuesday morning, the train pulled into the station and was inconveniently located in such a way that I would have to make a few changeovers to get to work (I ended up being five minutes early). And alas, my wonderful weekend started off what now seems like a very short week.