On ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser d'oeufs (can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs- French proverb)

Wow, it's been a little while since I've updated. I hope everything is well with everyone and you guys are enjoying the benefits of a true spring.

I went to Nice and Monaco last weekend. A little less than seven hours in a bus and we were at the coast. The water was beautiful and we even had a bit of sunshine while we were there. In Monaco, we visited the aquarium, the gardens and the church where Grace Kelly is buried. We walked around the old part of town, and the palace, and even saw the Monte Carlo casino. (We weren't dressed appropriately enough to venture inside, so we kind of lingered around the front for a while. As long as we could have without being suspicious... a bunch of American girls in blue jeans! Sacre bleu!) We didn't stay in Monaco very long because everything was very expensive, and we were spending the night in Nice, anyway. So we hop back on the bus to Nice. I love this city. It reminded me a lot of Barcelona. They speak Nicais there- an Italian/French mixture, and even the street signs are in two languages. It was an incredibly endearing city- a couple steps from the waterfront you have these immense outdoor markets, selling everything from fresh flowers to fish. Everytime you turn a corner, you happen upon a different church in a different style of architecture. The food was delicious as well. We were encouraged to try the petits farcis- stuffed vegetables. Holy cow- my stuffed onion and zucchini were delicious. And it always helps to have friends and good conversation around as well. Even if we did drift into non-table topics... ;)

That night we just sat on the beach. We did a lot of that- and it was perfect. There is nothing more relaxing than just sitting on a beach, joking about how far the horizon is, and enjoying the company of others. It was a stone beach- the water makes a different sound when the waves pull back into the sea- it's so...strange! It was a little hard on the feet, but simply breathtaking. We did the touristy thing- we had a guided tour of the city, we saw the ancient Roman bath ruins, went to the Matisse museum. I had my salade chevre chaud- Im going to miss you!- and it was all in all a very fun weekend. Guy- our bus driver- even stopped at a rest stop with a playground on the way back- we let out some pent up energy and he gave us candy. He was awesome- and incredibly thoughtful.

On Sunday, we went to this tinytiny village on the side of a hill called Eze. It is literally, built into the hill. The streets were just wide enough where I could stand in the middle with my arms stretched out and practically touch buildings on either side. It was built upwards, not outwards, and the church at the top was cute. There were more markets in this tiny town. It was like it was built for dolls or something, instead of people. So funny.

We also went to the Fragonard parfumerie, at the base of the hill in Eze. Learned some interesting perfume facts- 1000 kilos of lavender for 1 liter of extract- and smelled some beautiful scents. I threw some samples- the pieces of scented paper- in my purse, and now the mixture of scents is very strong- they kind of smell like an older lady at church. We all know that smell. Ha.

Speaking of, Im going to midnight mass with the family in celebration of Easter on Saturday night. Im excited- something about a fire ceremony followed by a water ceremony? Outside at night? Who knew those Catholics had all that fun? (No offense meant towards any Catholics reading this!)

I threw a surprise 21st birthday for my friend Gothy last night. We all worked together and pulled it off. It was such a surprise! She was shaking and almost cried. I was happy that she was happy- it's hard to celebrate your birthday thousands of miles away from your friends and family. So you make a family of friends here, and sometimes you just need to know that everyone's on your side. It was really funny, because the plan was her host sister was going to take her to dinner and then say her friend was at this bar and that Gothy should come with her. The bar where we would all be waiting. And so Gothy tells me yesterday afternoon that her host sister invited her to a bar, which is very strange because her host sister is Muslim and it's against her religion to drink alcohol. So Gothy was really confused, and asking, "What am I going to do at a bar sitting between two Muslim women who dont drink?" It was really hilarious, but I kept a straight face, and she was pleasantly surprised. (Her host sister stuck around, by the way, and drank orange juice. I love her! She reminds me of Manar!) So that was fun, and as a result Im a bit on the exhausted side today.

Spring IS coming to Grenoble. Trees are blossoming- cherry trees, orange trees, apricot trees, trees of every sort. I love it. Flowers are blooming, things are melting. Grenoble is coming alive and I can wear capris! This weekend we're looking into exploring a cave. And there's a carnival in town, so hopefully that will be fun. French carnies? I wonder how different they are...

Im about to post some pictures as well. They start in Beaune / Dijon, go through Paris with the family, and end in Nice / Monaco. Enjoy!

Bonne Paques!
Bisous,
Chelsea