Ma vie en Cannes!: Week 2!

Cannes behind me, taken from Ile de St. Marguerite

Week 2
Sunday, July 5: Brunch! Beach, walking around town
Brunch is officially my new favorite meal! On Saturdays and Sundays, we have brunch, but I had missed it on Saturday. It was so good. I walked in to see a tray of fresh fruit, pastries, croissants, and my favorites, pain au chocolat. For those of you who may not have experienced it, it is a croissant, the most delicious buttery goodness, disguised as “bread” and it is then stuffed with chocolate. I am sure you can find one near you. You should go find one now! Ok, so apparently this spread, which also included various cheeses (!) was just to get us started. We sat down and noticed a menu. We get to order anything we want from the menu and it is unlimited. I was sufficiently stuffed after my cheese, mushroom, and tomato omelets, but I am looking forward to topping off my breakfast next Sunday with a crepe! Please excuse me for anything I may misspell or phrase in a bizarre way. As my French progresses, I feel like my English is getting a little “funky.”

Monday, July 6:
Tuesday July 7: REALLY windy day, reading on the solarium, walk through town
Today, it has been so windy. I absolutely love it! The water is so much fun! We don’t usually have very many waves here, but today, it was really rough. It made swimming more fun, but also more difficult. Class is going well and I feel like I am learning a lot. Although being in the water was great, lying out and reading on the beach wasn’t very fun because wind kept hitting me and my things were flying everywhere. Luckily, we have a solarium on campus, equipped with beach chairs so I read out there for a really long time. The wind makes it much more comfortable!
Lunch and dinner have been good and we seem to have more people dabbling in vegetarianism because our meals are often better than what it served to the other students. After dinner, we walked into town to take a look at the market. Some of us have been considering purchasing art over here, but no one bought anything last night. We hadn’t walked along la croisette (nicest part of town, where all of the nice shops are) at this time before. It was fun seeing so many people out and about and dressed up for dinner. We also, once again, saw the group of break dancers in front of le Palais de Festival. I am so impressed by their balance and skills. It is so much fun to watch them! The daylight hours are so wonderful, but I always lose track of time. We left on our walk after dinner and didn’t come back until 9:45! At least I am walking off all of this French bread!

Wednesday July 8: French class market trip, olives, Brie de Meaux, Ile de St. Marguerite, Man in the Iron Mask
This morning, we had a surprise in our class. After our break, we met and walked to the largest local food/flower market. It’s right near campus and they have everything including fish, beef, pork, cheese, olives, fruit, flowers, and lots of other goodies! For my class, we worked in pairs and did a scavenger hunt. We had to ask different people questions and at the end, we went back to our classroom and shared the answers. Each pair had different questions and they were all related to French (especially Provencal) produce. We had questions about different types of meat, where certain cheeses were from, and questions about local food specialties. I had to indulge in some olives and brie de Meaux. They were both so delicious, especially the olives! My roommates and I are going to go to the market on Sunday after brunch and buy things for lunch (since we only have brunch and dinner on the weekends).

After class, we went to l’ile de St. Margerite. This is one of two islands right off the coast of Cannes. We took a ferry out there, which I think was the best part. These islands have a rich history and the second island, which is smaller, has a monastery and the monks make wine and cheese. St. Marguerite is most famous for its prisoners, especially the Man in the Iron Mask. I really enjoyed learning about this story and we went to the two museums on the island. They are in the same building, the fort/prison, but one is the museum of the prison and the other is the muse de la mer (museum of the sea). The day was perfect and very clear. The boat ride was amazing and the island was absolutely beautiful. We didn’t spend very much time out there and I am planning on a return trip to the island. You can actually walk all around the island so I think we might do that.
Tonight was also a theme dinner: Mexican. Although the food was lacking and there was no cheese to be found (not my kind of Mexican meal), we did get beer that was tequila flavored. These were actually delicious!

Thursday July 9: Soiree de Glaces
Today was very relaxing; I walked around town after class and spent a lot of time at the beach. After the beach, I came back, did some reading, and went to dinner. We had a soiree de glaces (ice cream social) tonight. I was a little suspicious and thought it might just be prepackaged ice cream bars, but it was so much better. They had so many flavors and also had topping! I had dark chocolate, raspberry, and mint chocolate chip with chocolate syrup!
Friday July 10: Wine Tasting, wine and games in the courtyard, Station
Today was busy, but fun. After lunch, I did yoga with my roommate (we have been doing it every day). After yoga, we had a meeting with the director of the college. He wanted our group to come meet him and share any concerns or problems we have been having. Only four of us showed up, which was a bit disappointing, but at least we got to share our concerns. After that meeting, my roommates and I walked into town to get some wine for the evening. Once we got back, we had a wine tasting at the college. This very nice guy came and taught us how to taste wine. We tasted a rose wine (very popular in this region and produced nearby), a white wine, and a red wine. After dinner, we all continued with the wine theme in the courtyard. We drank wine, played cards, and a group of us went to Station (a local pub).

My roommates and I out on the town
Saturday July 11: Brunch, Relaxing, finishing my book
Today, most of the group went to Monaco and Eze. My roommate Clair and I decided to stay here and skip the trip. The excursion trips are very long and I wanted some time away from the group. I also had a friend that was going to be in Cannes for the day with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, with the lack of communication devices, I didn’t end up being able to meet up with them, but I did finish my book today! It was nice to have a lazy day, finish my book, and get started on my new one. After this book, I am going to head to the FNAC (local bookstore) and get a French book. If you have any suggestions, let me know! Well, I am off to bed. Tomorrow, we are going to the market and spending the rest of the day at the beach. The weekends tend to be very crowded, especially this weekend because most people have the weekend, Monday, and Tuesday off for Bastille Day.
Sunday July 12
Today was wonderful and so relaxing! It was quite loud last night (a group came back into the courtyard at 4, 4:30, and 5:30). I managed to get sleep though and I got up a bit before brunch to hang out. Brunch was delicious, as usual. After brunch, we walked to the local farmer’s market. This farmer’s market puts every other market to shame. I only got more olives today (a new kind), but I saw lots of stuff that I want to go back for. We also have a friend who stays in an apartment here and we might tell him we will provide dinner for him if we can use his kitchen. There are just so many amazing things, including different cuts of meat, fish, pasta, cheese, bread, olives, herbs, and dried mushrooms! Everything is very reasonably priced as well.
After the market, we spent most of the day at the beach. I started a new book and also swam out to the floating dock for a while. After a few hours in the sun, my roommates and I decided to watch a movie. We watched The Proposal. It was so cute! I cried, but I tend to cry in every movie, happy or sad. Dinner was alright. I am getting a little sick of having to sit at the separate vegetarian table with the one other vegetarian. We are thinking about asking if there is a way to change these arrangements. The food was good though!
After dinner, we went to gelato and I came back and hung out in the courtyard for a while. We have some new people on campus so it is fun getting to see all of the new people and the changing dynamics on campus. Well, I am off to bed. Tomorrow is our big Bastille Day party and we have Tuesday off! I am very excited. I think we might picnic on the beach all day.