Taper sur bois

Is that how the French translate knock on wood? Either way, I'm doing it!

After a lovely winter excursion up to the Alps and my dad's house -- this morning we took a walk around Lac d'Annecy and went to the Sunday farmer's market in Annecy le Vieux -- a quick afternoon flight brings me back to Antibes and what I think will be the start of a beautiful French spring!

Lac d'Annecy under its morning winter fog. Today was my third time around it!

Although it's not quite spring yet, I have every indication to believe it is in the South of France. I was only wearing a tee-shirt with a tanktop underneath, but already the double layer was too much for me in the 60+ degree weather! My roommate says the rain is behind us now and since she's been living here for seven years, I'll take her word for it.

So knock on wood that I don't jinx this beautiful weather!

Flying down here, I opted to go for a window seat -- which I never do. Since I'm used to taking super long flights, I prefer the aisle seats because I have a bit more room to spread out, and I don't have to bug people sleeping in their seats next to me if I need to go to the lavatory or stretch my legs around the cabin.

The decision quickly paid off as I saw all of Geneva under a cloudless, 55-degree sky. The last two times I've flown in/out of Geneva, it was muddled in dark clouds and fog. Another advantage was seeing the Alps all the way down to Nice including Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in France!

Once we reached the Baie des Anges down here, we spent nearly half of our 45-minute flight circling the ocean, waiting for our cue to land. During the unnecessarily long circle, I actually was able to locate my apartment BUILDING in Antibes, I saw Monte-Carlo, the costal Lérins Islands where the Man in the Iron Mask was said to be jailed, and even part of the long peninsula that is the Italian Riviera which extended long beyond my line of sight.

As much as I'm not ready to go back to class tomorrow, this weather is enough to motivate me to get out and enjoy my second half of the program in France! Plus, it's only one month until my next break and there are a lot of holidays between February and April, meaning I don't have to plan too hard to give a fun cultural lesson ;-)