Murder?

After a painfully close game at UC Davis this evening, J.D. and I continue our quest of finding hole-in-the-wall dining establishments.

Oddly in the same vein as Portland's Voodoo Doughnuts, we're trying Redrum - formerly Murder - Burger here in Davis.

I can't figure out why it's called such... If anyone up here knows why please enlighten me.

But the menu features an odd array of various fried items, an entire one pound burger meal, BBQ slathered fries, nacho sauce drenched fries, over 50 milkshake/Italian soda combos and the big bird burger. I ended up getting the bird - ostrich burger, o rings and a kiwi soda.

Seating about 10 patrons inside, I'm curious to see if the taste is anything like the curb appeal here.

Luckily, it came highly recommended. Bon appétit!


Notice how the onion rings are the same size as J.D.'s half-pound burger!!! Huge!!


(Aaaand I bought a box of hair dye tonight. New hair post comig soon!)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Deux gormands

Though literally meaning "two gluttons," I'm a little letdown that the English translation for this title does not have an equally beautiful thought for this word. Glutton brings to mind a guiltless pig mindlessly stuffing his face with Lay's potato chips in front of the T.V. Whereas gourmand(e) conjures images of one who appreciates plump juicy berries ripe in their summer prime, the crunchiness of crisp green zucchini, the velvety feel of a rich chunk of chocolate rolling off the tip of your tongue or the fruity, yet peppery aroma of a finely-aged wine accompanied by the perfect blend of creamy cheeses.

In short, a gourmand is one who appreciates the food he experiences on a daily basis. And unlike its English counterpart, to be gourmand is not a sin.

Though after my weekend, maybe it should be! I've been following a successful low-carb/low-sugar diet and am (was before this weekend) almost two kilos lighter to show for it! But that always changes whenever I'm with my dad.

I need to back up just a little here. On Friday I was supposed to leave the Antibes station at 6 p.m. in order to get to Orange near 10. However, upon my arrival I noticed that EVERY SINGLE TRAIN was going to be two-and-a-half to three hours late. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that my train -- the only one going to Orange for the night -- was canceled! And if I were to leave Saturday morning, it would be useless because it'd take nearly half the day to get there.

No, I know what you're thinking. There was not a strike -- for once. Instead there was a fire on some of the rails near Les Arcs. I'll get to that in a second. Anyways, after waiting in line for 20 minutes to see what I could do about my ticket, I found out there was a delayed train going to Paris that made its last stop in Aix-en-Provence, which is only an hour away from Orange. Long story short, I hopped on that train which left literally five minutes after I left the ticket counter and what should have been a two hour train took nearly four hours. There were "unforeseen stops" because we had to wait the fire out. Though in Les Arcs, we kind of drove right over some of the flames, hot flames. And I made it to Orange around the same time I should have been there originally. Thank God for a dad with a car!

Saturday morning started out well, just like the rest of the trip from there on out! We began the morning with a Best Western buffet filled to the brim with delicious yogurt, bread and cheeses that have been adding extra kilos on to my formerly average body! Grrr... After we walked around the city and explored some of the Roman ruins and artsy little boutiques. Now I can proudly say that I own my first Longchamp bag (see below) -- Longchamp is to France what Coach is to California.


Speaking of shopping, the boutiques in Orange are all so artfully set up! My favorite part was just walking into the shops and enjoying the extravagance of all the displays. For my dad; however, I think his highlight was photographing the 100 fountains of Orange.

We next took our trip south to Châteauneuf-du-Pape and sat in a caveau or two for some dégustation du vin (wine tasting!). I'm afraid I haven't yet developed an appreciation for this varietal, as the dry, harsh climate lends to a higher alcohol percentage and a heavy, peppery taste that lingers on the tongue. Though I did enjoy the chocolate factory located on one of the vineyards who proudly displayed a 12 kilo chocolate Easter egg on sale for 180 Euros!!!

After that, we found ourselves with a few more hours to kill until dinner and made our way to Avignon. I officially take back what I said about Lyon being my favorite city in France!

Vieux Avignon has won me over with its antiquated Roman structures and "modern-hippie" quarter tucked right in the heart of an upscale shopping district. It was kind of like a really high-end L.A.-type area meets Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue. I loved it! If you haven't yet been, you must. Better yet, it felt really young because the walled part of the city is right along the border of a university campus. Perhaps in another life I'll study abroad in Avignon.

Today -- Palm Sunday to be exact -- we drove around in search of more relics of the Roman Empire. As we left Orange's city limits, we came across the "Arc de Triomphe" that was built in 20 B.C. Though after a few hours of nothing as impressive, we agreed to return to Châteauneuf-du-Pape for our final lunch at La Mère Germaine. The menu was all fixed price, so I ended up ordering the following:

-Velouté de châtaignes (chestnut cream soup)
-No idea what, but some kind of fish farci (stuffed with risotto and tomatoes)
-Brochette d'ananas au coulis de fruits rouges et perles du Japon (Roasted pineapple skewers with berry sauce and tapioca)

And don't forget a chilled glass of Châteauneuf-du-Pape blanc! Heaven. Even so, I was a little too full to board my train 15 minutes after. Luckily, because of the damage Friday's fires did to the tracks everything heading south was delayed 15 minutes. Peu importe, I still made it back to Marseille on time and ready for my connection back to Antibes.

And now I'm back. Oh yeah, I also consumed two packets of antibiotics, three travel-sized Kleenex and a handful of antisceptic lemon throat losenges. Plus a shot of Nyquil! What an end to a great weekend :)

I leave you with some photos:

Orange

Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Avignon

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 ;-)

Ma vie n'est plus qu'en prose!!

(My life is no longer only in prose.) Nope. I hope you all don't mind, but I'm trying out different mediums to update all my favorite people -- and random passers-by, I guess! -- on my life over here in the South of France.

Elizabeth and I are fortunate enough to work in primary schools and have Wednesdays off, so she took the train from Cannes and met me at the train station in Antibes around 12:40 p.m. We then decided to grab lunch and walk allllll the way around the Cap d'Antibes in search of F. Scott Fitzgerald's residence in Juan-les-Pins. But after going the 5 km around the cape itself and still not being halfway there, we decided around 5:30 p.m. to scratch the idea and try it another day.

Here's a snippet of this lovely, albeit slightly windy, afternoon:



Oh and for clarification's sake... I said Elizabeth TOUCHED a fish today, not had fish (as in for lunch) which we thought may or may not have been poisonous. Like a jellyfish or something... that would be the reason why she'd no longer have a hand tonight. And yes, before you have time to make fun of me for it, I realize it's the Mediterranean SEA, not Ocean. My apologies, Earth.

I leave you with pictures from the adventure. Anyone who's ever lived in/visited Santa Barbara or Isla Vista might get a bit of déjà vu very shortly. Now you can see why this was such an easy transition after spending four years of my life down there!!

The view from our lunch table on the beach! How typical, sitting in the Southern French sun on the Mediterranean, eating fries, reading trashy gossip magazines! Hanging out at the stairwell of death!Tide pools down the cliffs."Naturiste beach for nudist." This tag was to be found scrawled across numerous rocks along our journey.Seriously, you're in denial if you think this DOESN'T look like SB.Waves crashing along the rocks.

...FOUR DAYS UNTIL CALIFORNIA!!

(I don't really feel like I warrant a break so quickly since the last one, but hey, I'll take it!)

Shakespeare Got to Get Paid, Son

If Courtney Randall and Jessica Sanborn read this, the headline's written for them ;)

Point of my story today, boys and girls, IS THAT I FINALLY GOT PAID!!! We're supposedly directly deposited (yeah, that's right I made that a verb) our salaries either on the last day of the month or the last Friday of the month, whichever comes first.

Today actually happens to be neither of those. But since I now have more than 50 Euros in my account, guess where I just went??

I'll give you a hint, it's the biggest grocery store possibly in the world:

Ok, that might have been an exaggeration, but Carrefour certainly puts Costco to shame.

However, the most alarming thing for me today -- while there were many, it's been difficult to pinpoint only one -- was the amount I spent. This junk better last me the next two weeks before I go to California.

Call me crazy if you will, but I just dropped 70 Euros on food. And it only filled two grocery bags... (For those of you not in the know, French grocery bags are like big totes, so it's a bit more than you could fit into two American "paper or plastic" bags.)

I guess I finally let my inhibitions go and picked quality over (monetary) quantity this time. I've always eyed the wines, ripe fruits and veggies and exotic fish every time I go, but instead I tend to squeak by on frozen veggies and chicken or rice/pasta products because they're cheap.

Not today. I guess we're really getting ready for spring, because there was an entire section dedicated just to red berries in the produce aisle! And without even hesitating, I threw THREE cartons of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries into my cart.... mmmm. And in the fish aisle, I tossed in a couple of (de-headed THANK YOU GOD) shrimp and tuna steak! Since I was on a roll, I decided to let myself "splurge" even more and went for some wheat pita shells.

But in my defense, I did buy a couple of other frozen/non-perishable items that could stay on my shelf and freezer for quite awhile. So hopefully this does last me until mid-February.

Another really exciting thing at Carrefour is the ridiculous amount of people there! Usually I go after lunch and the crowds are horrendous. So I figured, hey I'll go at 10 in the morning and avoid the insanity.

Totally wrong.

To make matters worse, I guess today was stocking day, so employees were busy humming about the store on foot, roller-skates (no, not in-lines, actual retro skates), carts, and what I can only manage to describe as mini-buses precariously filled beyond their weight capacity with boxes and crates.

One man was driving a little too recklessly for being indoors, in a zoo nonetheless. He let a few people cross the aisle and I guess got tired of waiting, because as I set foot in the aisle, he zoomed forward completely disregarding me or my life.

He then proceeded to give out this hearty bellow of a laugh (that really freaked me out) and looked me dead in the eye. I kid you not, this is what he said to me:

"Je veux vous écraser."

Translation: I want to CRUSH you. JESUS, who are these people?!?!

...11 DAYS UNTIL CALIFORNIA!!

Mid-week break again!

So I think the weeks during Trimester 2 will be passing quite quickly, because we pretty much have a break every month this time around. In less than three weeks our winter break will be rolling in for two weeks of vacation! Then exactly five weeks after that, we get our spring break in April.

Until then, I feel like I'm settling back into my old routines (plus some new and improved ones) here. Today my mom went back to the United States, so it's back to being just my dad and me in France. However, we're about seven hours apart, so that means that no really big or exciting weekends are coming my way for a while. Well, not until I go back to the United States in less than a month, which I'm suuuuuper excited about!

But back to me settling in: I recently found someone online who lives here in Antibes and needs a babysitter for her five month old daughter once a week. Today was the second time I watched her and it's AMAZING how much new babies change from week to week. She'll be six months at the end of January, and already she's holding a sitting position by herself -- something she could only do with assistance last Tuesday.

And while last time was a bit rough, seeing as how it was my very first baby experience, today went much better. She slept quite a bit, so I had some free time to read (in French of course) and now that she can sit on her own, she relies on me less to occupy her time. Still, she is quite needy, but less so than the last time.

Basically what I'm doing is freeing up her parents' Tuesdays, so her mother runs errands and relaxes around the house to cook a good dinner or something. I suppose she hasn't really done that in over five months. But since she stays in the house for part of the time I'm there, we get to talking quite a bit. And though I'm using English, she's helping me out a great deal with the city and getting around. So much so, that she said the next time they go on a weekend day-trip, they'd like to take me along! Exciting!!

And another exciting prospect is talking more and more to my roommate than ever before. We're getting pretty friendly now, and she wants to go skiing one weekend before the season ends in the Alps, about an hour from here. So hopefully in February when I get my next paycheck I'll be ready to rock.

As for my latest adventure, the teachers at my school in Juan-les-Pins decided on tonight for our big outing together. I guess the tradition is that every year all the teachers go out to celebrate the new year and congratulate themselves on the previous one. This is the first time they've extended the invite to the language assistants, so I will be accompanying them to Cannes, where supposedly we're getting a four-course Moroccan meal complete with belly dancing displays for about 30 Euros.

Pas mal. Pas mal du tout!

Days are getting shorter

As usual, yesterday was mine and Sarah's ritual Wednesday Carrefour run. And it always takes a good two-three hours out of my normally un-busy Wednesdays, so I can't complain there.

I can complain, however, about the lack of argent in my French account! So I think that means all the food I have in my house right now is going to have to last me until my next paycheck (read: seven to 10 days). I'll make it work, if nothing else I'll just be eating cereal for a couple of dinners instead of a big meal... who knows, maybe I'll shrink my stomach back to what it was in the U.S. and not want to eat huge, heaping meals anymore.

Carrefour was also fun because I was able to purchase some necessities beyond just food there. Although this is not a good example of a "necessity" I did get two Christmas stockings for Aimee and me! Hopefully we'll get to decorate those when she comes next month.

And speaking of that, in exactly two weeks my mom and sister will be in France! So this weekend is my last "free," i.e. unplanned weekend until mid-January. Next weekend my dad and I are going to the Galère in Forcalqueiret again -- it's always the second Sunday of the month -- to visit our family friends and see my great-aunt.

So what will I do this weekend? I'm thinking about taking the train to San Remo, Italy for the weekend open-air and flower market. Could be fun. Especially since I now live in the French Riviera and that's considered the Italian Riviera, I'll get to do some more exploring.

Hmm, you may be curious about me entering Italy without my alleged "carte de séjour." Well don't fret! Last week I received the receipt for the long-stay card so that means I can now go in and out of France to any other country as I please!!!!

I am officially a legal resident and employee of France. It's about damn time.

Another interesting thing I discovered today: At least four of my students live in my building! Do you know how I found out??

As I was walking towards my gate today, a car rolls up and the driver motions towards the back seat asking, "Is it true you're her English teacher?"

"Yes," I smile waving to the little girl in the back.

And just like that he tells me not to worry about walking in the cold because he has an empty seat and can take me along if I want! Quelle chance! And as we're leaving the car, he tells me I can come with them every day and they'll wait for me. Oh man that's really exciting news!

Hooray for living in a small, residential community in the outskirts of the city!

...33 More Days Until France BANS Indoor Smoking! :)

My DAD came to visit!!

And I had such a good time! It's been almost two months now since I've seen my family. Usually when I was in college, I'd go a few weeks or something like that. But I never went an entire quarter without at least seeing them once. But basically, I'm going to go that equivalent when my mom and sister fly out in December.

So that was good.

The worst part though -- and by worst I mean best -- was the eating. I have this problem which involves me going out and seeing decently-prices MULTI-course menus. And I order them, then feel obligated to eat it all. Of course at the end I must have my dessert. Yep, whether I can fit it in or not, I need to have it. And right now my stomach hurts so bad from the past three days, haha. But it was good. At least I don't go out to restaurants too often :)

Another neat thing about having my dad and his boss down here was the car! I've been to Antibes, Cannes and Monte-Carlo during this trip by bus and train, but it's been 99% walking for me. So having a car gave us more access to things than I'd have by just foot alone.

So yesterday we got to see Downtown Cannes, the chestnut and horse festival in Cagnes-sur-Mer (although, I didn't see one single horse) and Monte-Carlo in the evening. Maybe Dad will update his side of the story on his blog.... if he can figure it out ;)

I'll post all of the pictures on my PicasaWeb site soon, but until then here are some of my favorites:

November 16th: Dinner at Le Brulot in Old Antibes.

November 17th, The Ritz Carlton in Cannes.

November 17th, Chestnut Festival in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Nougat is probably my favorite candy here!
November 17th, The Casino in Monte-Carlo.

I definitely can't wait until next month (less than one month really!) when the whole family comes out here! It's going to be great :)

But until then, Thursday's Thanksgiving and I'm starting all the preparations for my nine-person dinner party I'm hosting in my little apartment! It's going to be three American girls, one English girl, a Swiss chick (I think), two French men and my French roommate. Come back for pictures and stories about that!

Remember, remember the 5th of November

It's sad that I only know of this holiday because of the movie V for Vendetta -- which was so amazingly great by the way, watch it if you haven't!

November 5 around the British world is Guy Fawkes' Day. Read about it here. Anyways, in my students' English books, there's a huge section for teaching holidays, especially Guy Fawkes' Day. I think I'll pass on that one.

Instead, I taught about Halloween in the United States. However, the way I celebrated it in France was pretty interesting.

Kathy, Natalie and I watched bootleg copies on my computer of The Nightmare Before Christmas and of all films, Hostel. We started off with a cute, kiddie movie after baking a spiderweb cake and caramel apples, which in France were not as up to par as they could have been in the States.

After nearly cracking three teeth and devouring an entire cake, we decided to run off to the cemetery near my house. Pretty spooky, let me tell you. At one point, a crackling noise down one of the dark alleyways scared us so monumentally that we ran as fast as our legs could carry us, screaming at the top of our high-pitched lungs, thus making the guards near the entrance laugh their French behinds off -- or so I imagine.

Walking back home near the marblers, we posed near some fake headstones, still incredibly freaked out and then took a little detour down the side-street by my building called, "Path of the Souls of Purgatory," such an appropriate gesture on an eerie Halloween night. Then came back home and watched a really gory movie. Fabulous night.

Oh and the Loire Valley was amazing! Check my PicasaWeb site for new photo albums, including some updates in the Halloween folder. I'll write about it all once I come to terms with how fat I'm getting on this trip. My heart hates me, I can tell because it's beating differently, so I think I'm going to try my NO SUGAR WHATSOEVER diet in the next two weeks.

DO NOT LET ME PURCHASE ANYTHING WITH SUGAR (or that turns into very high sugar levels in the body -- i.e. starchy breads and veggies).

That is all, thanks.

Say "CHEESE"

Since I've been taking billions of pictures here, I've decided to go with a better online storage site to keep all of my photos.

You can view them all here: http://picasaweb.google.com/mmoyal85

Today I took about a 10-mile trek from my house all the way around the Cap d'Antibes. Well, it wasn't all the way around, I got turned around on one of the side roads, so in reality it was probably closer to eight miles... and I took the bus back home ;)

Next time I'm going to do the whole trail because today I was unsuccessful in finding F. Scott Fitzgerald's house and the famous Eden Roc Hotel where Ernest Hemingway and Madonna have stayed in their lifetimes.

Oh yeah, Brice de Nice is on M6 tonight at 8:50! I've never seen it, but supposedly it's the French version of a cheezy 90s surfer film, so I really can't wait to see how great it's going to be.

Either way, here's some of what I saw:

I drove a car!!!

...for the first time in over a month!

...in France!

...and it was a stick!

Ok, enough of that. But basically, my roommate and I've been having some bonding moments which I've been lacking to say the least since I've been here. Yeah she's like 35 or something and she can be kind of a psycho, but she's really starting to warm up to me! I'm even making jokes in French :) That's a step in the right direction.

But basically she had the be at the train station at 9:45 this morning to catch her train to Lyon. So last night she asked if I had a permis de conduire, and somehow I found myself offering to drop her off at the station this morning. However, I realized I wasn't sure how to get there -- which was totally inaccurate! Taking the bus every day has its perks, because I knew exactly the roads to take to get to the train station.

The next hurdle was parking. Oh yeah, and driving the stick-shift. See, the gears are all different here than what I was used to on my Explorer, so we left a little early so I could give it a test-drive before dropping her off. I'm a little rusty, but the car's still in perfect shape haha. The only slight problem was driving up the hill to get into our apartment's parking lot. I accidentally shifted into a higher gear and stalled the car on the hill, oops. So I let it roll back to a flat area, and tried a second, successful time.

Oh the other "bonding" moment we had was yesterday when she came home for lunch. She just had her hair cut and apparently it was a new girl this time, because she had two clearly different lengths on the right and left sides. It wasn't even a diagonal in the back, it was like two distinct levels. So she had me cut it down to the same, even length. Then she offered to give me the address so I could get a cheap haircut, too! I actually passed on the offer, because I kind of like having my hair straight...

And one thought crossed my mind last night as I was watching t.v. (which, I'm understanding more and more every day!)

Other than the news, these are the shows I watch most often:

-That 70s Show
-Friends
-The Fresh Prince of Bel Air
-The Simpsons
-Sex and the City

All dubbed over in French... hmmm, do we see a trend here? The other two I find myself watching are French-studio filmed episodes of 1 Contre 100 and La Roue de la Fortune (1 vs. 100 and Wheel of Fortune). However, the French versions involve much more talking and noticeably smaller prizes.

And now it's already 11 a.m. and I really, really want to make lunch. But I just ate. I'm trying to restrain myself, but the day seems so long since today was our Daylight Savings time. Karina woke me up at 8 a.m. (which was really 7 a.m.) and freaked out, asking if it was really 7 a.m. or 9 a.m. When I reassured her it was the former, she calmed down. So now my day seems much longer. But if you ever want to Skype me, I'm only 8 hours ahead of you now... until the U.S. catches up in November.

P.S. (UPDATE): During my run today, I happened to notice that 99% of the snow up in the mountains has already melted. Since it's another beautiful day, I'm going to assume that yesterday MORNING was the only time is was cold enough to actually allow for snow. This must be nature's way of saying, "Chill the F out, it's still autumn!"

Snow in the mountains!

That's right, it's 65 degrees in Antibes and snowing in the mountains of Nice!

Now that I'm off the hook from teaching for about two weeks, I can start to do things I haven't had time for here in Antibes! Or things I haven't been adventurous enough to experience over the past month.

So after my usual day-off trip to the médiathèque, I noticed that the mountains in Nice were covered in snow and really wanted to take some pictures. Not long after I realized it was a beautiful day! And the rest is history :) I headed out to Fort Carré and Port Vaubin to read my newest book from the library -- For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, in French of course. Hanging out at the port made me realize that I need to start making some friends down there! Entire groups of French, English and New Zelanders were sitting in their yachts, basking in the sun and eating their lunch. Actually, it was more like they were beginning their apéro just before lunch. I could smell the pastis a mile away! (Or should I put that in metric??)

Speaking of food, I really need to calm down. I've definitely gained some weight again, UGH. But it's so SO hard to restrain oneself with all the brioche, pain au chocolat, bon-bons, Pims, biscuits, tartes aux fruits, etc. I guess I've put the expression, "Like a kid in a candy shop," to shame. My clothes still fit the same, but I noticed that I'm not looking the same as before I left...

However, the one thing I'm really bummed about during this vacation time is that I can't eat in the cantines at my schools anymore, well until I go back to teaching next month. Three-course 2 Euro meals were AWESOME! But maybe taking a break from those will do me some good as well.

So I've made the decision to stop buying cookies and nutella! My new snack of choice is first a large bottle of water, and then some fruit. I've been running a lot lately and doing a bunch of sit-ups, so hopefully I'll get back to what I was before. Pace yourself, Monique.

Wish me luck!!

Forrest Gump was right

In a foreign land every day follows an up-and-down trajectory. "You never know what you're gonna get."

Some days, I can almost express myself in a satisfactory manner. Like the other night, when my roommate's "friend," who is a guy, but spent the night -- interesting story for another day, ask and I'll tell -- was basically hitting on me, saying I speak really good French. When I told him it's a constant struggle because I don't know a lot of really simple colloquial words and I choke them down with a truly American accent, he replied that it's part of my charm.

So I'm a cute foreigner?? I'll take that one.

Or yesterday, I was in the salle des maîtres (teachers' room) when one CE1 teacher asked me how my first few days have been going. I didn't want to complain too much, but I told her classes are very fun, yet simultaneously challenging because none of the younger kids understand my accent. Again, she said that's a good thing, because I'm a real Anglophone teaching them English and it's something they're going to have to appreciate. And then she told me I need to bring a French man home with me when I return back to the States, but again, that's a whole different story.

Or last week at the bank. I understood nearly every single word about the transaction. He only had to translate "transfer funds" to English for me, but other than that I ordered my FREE debit card and checks. He asked me if my family's French -- everyone over here recognizes my French last name and obvious first name -- and if that's the reason why my French is so good.

But then there are other times that make all those prior moments seem worthless and trivial.

Like when my phone was stolen. For two days I had no idea how to describe the incident other than making insane amounts of hand gestures. I guess it was a traumatic moment because I got too worked up to even slightly express myself.

Or when I'm in a class full of 25 French students and I tell them something in French only to have them all have to look at their teacher for clarification.

Or when my roommate makes me repeat words three times before she understands what I'm saying.

Or when the people at the phone store don't understand me, so they speak to me in English -- which I have a hard time understanding in their thick English accents. But I'm the one who's in their country and should be speaking their language clearly.

But then again, I do have exciting moments where I remember to correctly use the subjunctive tense. Like when I let slip a word that seems even shocking and advanced to me. And times when I can speak fairly quickly and not worry too much about minor grammatical errors.

All of this in time will come more naturally, but until then, I'm extremely self-conscious about my up and down intonation, horridly thick American accent, and child-like vocabulary.

As for the being in France part, a really big, exciting holiday vacation is coming up in nine days. And I'm only two decisions away (I still have to pick the train station and times of arrival) from booking both a hotel and a train ticket to Tours in the Loire Valley. My friend Oana and I really want to go and do some châteaux and wine-tasting tours the first weekend of November! I can't wait, it's going to be sooo much fun.

They'll eat you alive!

...is what one of the school directors told me before I began English lessons.

And actually, such was not the case. Here I sit in the salle informatique (computer room) at Ecole La Tournière two days into and complete with my first lesson for both schools.

"What is the date today?" "Where do you come from?" "My name is..." and U.S. geography.

At first it was slightly stressful because none of the teachers here have any clue how English should be taught. Nor did they have anything that resembled a comprehensive schedule for me. So I kind of went from room to room and tried to figure it out. Day 2 went much better. Some teachers are more helpful than others, but I think I've devised a system that will work pretty well.

I'm in charge of teaching the same thing to three different levels, CE2 (third grade), CM1 (fourth) and CM2 (fifth grade).

Of course, the CE2 students have never taken English lessons before, so that's a bit of a struggle. They don't understand my "thick French accent," and when I speak English, the majority of the class is hearing it for the first time. So there's going to be a lot of pictures and songs I feel.

As for the CM classes, they knew everything already! My 45-minute games and plans dissolved after only 20-25. So they had a lot of repetition, but I don't think anyone really seemed to mind. For the second half of the week, I have to plan a lesson with many more, challenging activities for the older students.

As for my schedule it's finally been sorted out and looks something like this:

Monday: 8:30 - 10:00, 1:30 - 4:00

Tuesday: 8:30 - 11:30

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: 8:30 - 10:00, 1:30 - 4:00

Friday: 1:30 - 4:00

Not bad, not bad at all :-)

After lunch at the cantine (cafeteria) in five minutes, I'm making my way back home for some more lesson planning and then some fun! Not sure what that entails exactly, but fun will be had.

POST-LUNCH UPDATE: The food is a completely new experience to me every time. And I thoroughly enjoy it! Today it was fish again, with a tomato-basil salad and chocolate ice cream. Plus tons and tons of bread to clean up the plate with. As for the meal itself, I think I've made a few little friends :-) I think it should be obvious why, but all the little boys in my CM1 class followed me around throughout the lunch period!! So cute. One told me his dad is an English professor and that's why his accent is so good. Another told me he and his dad bought a Mustang in the U.S. and drove from Texas to New York one summer. So all day long he brags about how their car's mileage is just that -- not in metric like everyone else in Europe.

The girls all wanted to grab my hand and show me what games they were playing and then hug me after. My first hugs in France! Adorable :-) Those little moments right there, the ability to be a student's friend and make them excited about learning even if it's just for a minute, make this entire thing worth while.

If I could have a superpower, it'd be teleportation

Enjoying my fabulous day at the beach downtown!

But that's besides the point.

It's finally a huge relief to be able to use MY OWN computer over here. Although I'm still not using it at home, it's the weirdly-placed keys that I remember and the programs I've installed, along with the ability to download whatever my little heart desires. Strangely enough, I keep wanting to hit the Q button in place of the A because -- among many others -- those two are switched on the French keyboards.

And as weird as it feels to sit in a McDo (that's McDonald's to you in the States) on my laptop, I have no objections. There's a specific breed of people walking around town you can pinpoint. Basically we're all walking around the city with backpacks and unloading our hardware in McDonald's. I'm not the only one eating fast food, with headphones, using Skype or what have you on my laptop here. It's kind of a different feeling. At first, I had to muster every single ounce of energy NOT to order a glass of wine here. I feel like that's the most typical thing you could purchas at a French McDo. Instead, I opted for the "McFlurry Crunch," and lesson learned, I'm never ordering food here again.

After being in the bathroom for quite a while (sorry, too much info, I know) I can now enjoy the Internet as long as I want! Well, not entirely, since it closes at 11 p.m.

But my day off was quite productive. I might make a habit of doing this every Wednesday! I started off the morning making a trek-and-a-half out of a trip to find the next grocery store on my list, Carrefour. It's within walking distance of my house, but I swear all my maps are out-of-date. What should have only been a 25/30-minute walk ended up taking me nearly two hours. And I take back my last comment, Monoprix is NOT the Target of France. Carrefour most definitely is. And it's cheap! Now that I've signed up for a carte de fidelité, I'm probably going to do all of my shopping there. AND THEY HAVE SKIPPY -- very, very expensive peanut butter, but a treat nonetheless.

So after making my way home, I got back just in time to throw together a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, cookies, pear, and a bottle of water to make the noon bus downtown. For the third time in my 10 days here I had a nice and quiet little afternoon at the beach.

And now here I am at 5 p.m. sitting in a McDonald's. The whole evening looms in front of me, as I plan to at least take another exploratory run and then make dinner.

I've also been thinking, that despite the NUMBER of people that initially have mistaken me for a local -- living in the hills has its perks -- I feel SO out of place here. For example, the only thing everyone wears here is black! And if you know me at all, you know that I have a thing for very bright colors. So today here I am in my bright blue beach cover walking around the beach, city and hills, passing blacks and browns all along the way... tant pis.

Tomorrow we're back in Nice and I can't wait! Until then...