Eze

May I begin this post by apologizing for my previous pictures in the last few blog entries. For whatever reason, they are washed out and not "crisp". We fiddled with the camera yesterday and finally reset it to its previous settings. Now I am pleased to say that the photos are bright and "crisp" - at least I think so.

As mentioned previously Brian had hurt his achilles tendon, so after school yesterday Keith and I went to the hilltop village of Eze on our own. We caught the bus and made it there within an hour. It only cost us 1€ each by using our bus pass which is much cheaper than the public bus/tram transport in Edmonton. Not only that, but the views were spectacular en route. We travelled east along the coast and up into the hills overlooking the coastal villages of Saint-Jean-Cap Ferrat, Villefranche-sur-Mer and Beaulieu-sur Mer before arriving at our destination. 

Eze is a charming medieval village with beautiful cobblestone streets and alleys lined with local perfumeries, art galleries, small boutiques and cafés. Once you get off the bus, you walk towards the old city and begin the steep climb upwards to Le Jardin Exotique, also known as the Garden of Eze.The first thing we noticed was the sign for Le Chevre d'Or. This is a 5 star restaurant and the prices for lunch "Menus du Dejeuner" range from 75-135 € and dinner "Menus du Diner" 195-230 €.  It was a bit more than we were willing to spend, but I thought I might at least go in to have a look and take some pictures. I was stopped by a handsome young man at the entrance who told me that I could take a picture, but only from the gate. Here is my photo.

From there, we continued our way up the narrow streets admiring the vibrant colours of the flowers, including bougainvilleas.

As you can see, many of the beautiful old stone buildings are covered with vines and wild roses. We wandered into some of the art galleries and unique boutiques dotted along the way to the top.

There is a modest entrance fee to Le Jardin Exotique, but well worth it. It has been built on what remains of the castle which was demolished in 1706. The garden was designed by Jean Gastaud in 1949. It is home to many species of succulents and cacti alongside beautiful sculptures by an artist named Jean-Philippe Richard. Not only did I find the sculptures pleasing, it was interesting to learn that this renowned sculptor has his studio in Mirabel en Barronies, a village in the Drôme in Provence where we stayed last spring. 

Anaïs is the sculpture on the right. 

This a view of some of the remains of the ruins.

It was from this vantage point that we had panoramic views of the Mediterranean Sea, Eze, hillside homes etc.

The bell tower of the La Chapelle des Penitents Blancs (White Penitents' Chapel) is the oldest building in the village. The Penitents were an order founded in the Middle Ages and were in charge of providing support to plague victims. 

The viaduct of Eze or the Bridge of the Devil, spans 80 metres over the Gaffinel ravine enabling the completion of the middle coastal road.

Yours truly...

L'Église Notre Dame de l'Assomption is a small baroque church in a square below the garden. According to one of the bits I read, Bono from U2 got married there.

After a good look around the garden and taking in some of the breath-taking views below, we began our descent. Keith ahead on one of the narrow streets.

At the bottom, I turned to take a picture of the top of the ruins. 

Eze is also known for its perfume factory, Fragonard L'Usine Labatoire. But by this time, the sun was disappearing. We chose to give it a miss this visit even though they offer a tour and an opportunity to buy their products. Instead, we opted to head back to our apartment for happy hour and homework. Un verre de vin vous aide à faire vos devoirs. 

Our First Day at School - Actilangue in Nice

After another rather long night (both Keith and I didn't sleep well) we were up and out the door to walk to school at 8:20. As mentioned previously, school is only about a 7 minute walk from here so it is very convenient. We were greeted by the director of the school who ushered us into one of the classrooms where we were joined by two other girls. One hails from Cuba, but now lives in Nice. Her husband is an opera singer and performs throughout the country. She and her husband speak Italian. The other is from Singapore and teaches English, but can also speak Malaysian and Chinese. Apparently another gent from Australia was supposed to begin today as well, but failed to appear this morning.

Our first task was to complete a written exam which took us about half an hour. While those were being marked, another professor, Blandine, came into the room to test our comprehension and oral language skills. She asked each of us basic questions about why we wanted to learn French, where we were from, if we had studied French previously etc. In turn, we answered while she took note of our responses. Based on the results of our written test and our oral/comprehension abilities, we were placed in our respective classrooms. Brian and Keith are in the same class with Blandine as their professor. There are only 3 students in their class right now, so they should have ample opportunity for individualized attention.

My professor is Michel, a very kind man with a dry sense of humour. He speaks relatively slowly and clearly which makes it easier for me to comprehend. My class is large in contrast to the boys'.  There are presently 12 students from around the world and as usual, I am the oldest. However, I really liked them all. They seemed to be serious about learning and they spoke well. For once, I felt like I belonged. I could understand the prof and the other students most of the time. Perhaps testing one's abilities in advance is the best way to determine appropriate placement. In addition, we were all given manuals according to our level of learning. I haven't had a chance to read through the manual, but I plan do do so over time. 

For the last 45 minutes of our school day, the three of us chatted with Blandine. This time is meant to be interactive and a chance to improve our oral language and comprehension. She speaks much more quickly than Michel, so consequently it is harder to understand what she is saying. Today we learned about numbers including the use of the telephone, languages spoken in nearby countries etc. She invited us to think about topics we were interested in and share those with her tomorrow. That will be our topic of conversation over dinner this evening. 

I have to admit that today I am much more optimistic about my French learning experience. It felt good to start on a positive note. This school is much smaller than ILA and I feel more comfortable in this milieu. I'll keep you posted on our progress. Now it is time to do some homework. 

Villefranche-sur-Mer

As usual, we want to see and do as much as possible while we are here. Last night over dinner, we decided to take the train to the nearby village Villefranche-sur-Mer. As we were walking to the train station, we passed by this van and I couldn't resist taking a picture. Wouldn't that be a cool job?

Trains run frequently and it cost the 3 of us 7,80 euros for the return trip to Villefranche. It is a pretty port with a steep old town and a great sandy beach. We began our visit with "smoko" at a cafe overlooking the water.

While we were having coffee, we overheard a band so we walked upward to the Citadel where we found some vets, cadets and other miltary personnel including a marching band. Because we arrived after the beginning of the proceedings, we weren't sure about the purpose of the event, but it was serendipitous nonetheless.

I asked this gent if I could take his photo and he kindly obliged.

The Citadel was built in 1557 to defend the town and was restored in 1981. It houses the Town Hall, a conference centre and 4 museums. We went to see the Volti Museum which featured bronze, copper and terracotta female figures. The building itself was a beautiful venue for the sculptures.

... including Keith.

Views from the Citadel overlooking the city, beach and port. 

As luck would have it, we found a wonderful spot to have lunch. Our first restaurant choice was not open so we went to le Bistrot de La Rade around the corner. Once again, everything we ordered was superb. Keith began with  the fish soup  - la soupe de poisson. The flavour was amazing and the wine was pretty good too!

I chose la salade niçoise.

For the main course I ordered le dorade et des legumes. It was ever so good.

Brian chose le plat du jour et le dessert combination. Very flavourful lasagna for his main followed by la tarte citron which he kindly shared with us - yum!

The weather was beautiful and Villefranche-sur-Mer was a lovely spot to spend a Sunday. All of us are still suffering a little from jet-lag, so we took the train home late afternoon to prepare for our first day of school which begins tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes next post.

Exploring Vieux Nice

Yesterday, we began the day at a small, local market "Marche de la Buffa". It is literally seconds away from the apartment. Although small, the produce was very good and we were able to stock our fridges with fruit, vegetables and cheese. One vendor, who was quite a character, cornered us for a lengthy conversation en francais. We were relieved when another customer appeared and he bid us "au revoir". 

After dropping off our purchases, we walked to the old city, Vieux Nice.  En route we stopped at Orange so that I could get a new number for my French telephone. Apparently, if you don't use your phone for 6 mos "le numero est perdu". 

Our destination was the bustling Soleya market filled with vendors selling everything from flowers to spices and all things inbetween. We bought a few items like dried saucisse. 

Our hosts had recommended an excellent French restaurant in the old city called Le Bistrot d'Antoine. It is very popular and normally you need to make reservations in advance. We talked to the hostess before we headed to the market and booked a table for 1 p.m. When we returned, the place was just packed. The meal did not disappoint. We began with an appetizer that we shared - Terrine au Lapin. The caramelized onions and toast points just made the terrine that much better. It really was delicious.

All of us ordered different main dishes, but each of them was superb. Here is a picture of my magret de canard.

For dessert, Keith ordered the Panna Cotta with 3 spoons and all of this was accompanied by a wonderful bottle of white. What an excellent meal! No doubt we'll revisit this establishment.

After lunch we went up to the Parc de la Colline du Chateau which overlooks the Port de Nice and provides panoramic views of the city. There are very few remains of the old chateau, but the views from the top were spectacular, especially on such a lovely day.

Late afternoon, we made our way back to the apartment. We sat on the terrace and enjoyed a beverage before preparing our dinner. I still look jet lagged and so did the others. Another early night is in store for us.

I'm back.... this time in Nice, France.

Until this morning, I was still undecided about whether or not to write a blog this "go round". After much deliberation, I figured it is the best way for me to chronicle my journey to learn French. Indeed the posts may not be as frequent or detailed because I will have less time. Both Keith, my husband and Brian, our good friend are here with me. We also expect visitors including Greg from Canada, my cousins Mick and Linda from England, ILA school pals Maija from Montpellier and Marianne from Finland and last, but definitely not least, Patricia, my previous host and dear friend, from Montpellier. We are only here for 7 weeks, but we hope to make the most of our stay. 

In my last post (April 2014), I mentioned that Keith, Brian and I were considering a trip back to France to study the language. Over the summer, we investigated a number of schools and accommodations and decided upon Actilangue, a French language school in Nice.

We arrived yesterday after an uneventful, tiring, but very pleasant flight. On a side note, we flew over on the new Air Canada 787 from Toronto to Zurich. Here's a picture of Brian and I.

It was very cool flying into Switzerland seeing the Alps above the clouds and then overlooking chalet like homes and green, pristine patches as we approached the airport. I began singing "Valderi-Valdera" to myself. From there, we flew with Swiss Air to Nice. It was only a 45 minute flight, but the scenery was beautiful. Once again, we flew over the Alps including the Matterhorn and then over the Mediterranean with its blue shimmering water and pretty coastal towns before landing in Nice. By the way, service on Swiss Air was exemplary - I would definitely fly with that airline again. 

Once we gathered our bags, we hailed a cab to take us to our apartment. We drove along the Promenade Anglais which is a major route along the Mediterranean coast for cars, cyclists and pedestrians. The beaches were dotted with people and there were several brave souls swimming. According to the cab driver, the water temperauture is about 20 degrees - not bad for October 24.

Our apartments are well situated in a beautiful villa called La Belle Epoch built in 1906. The building managers, delightful folks originally from Chester, England, told us that this building has had an interesting history. It was intially built as a private home and several mayors from Nice have lived here. In the 1950's in was converted into a hotel and then in the 1980's it was transformed into a number of apartments that are owned mostly by Brits and Swedes. One apartment is owned by a Canadian couple and that one will be rented by my cousins when they arrive. Our apartment is called the Garden Terrace and it is a well appointed with a bedroom, two bathrooms (although only 1 toilet), kitchen, dining area and living room. We have a lovely terrace where we can sit and enjoy a coffee or a glass of wine. Brian has the apartment below us and it is absolutely charming. 

After unpacking and a much needed shower, we headed out to explore the area and pick up a few groceries. My initial impressions were very favourable. Our first stop was nearby restaurant because we were all pretty hungry. Lunch was less than memorable, but it filled the void. From there, we found our school which is only about 7 minute walk from the apartment (yahoo, we won't have to get up so early). We then walked along the Promenade Anglais to the old town passing numerous fountains, beautiful buildings, churches, cafes, restaurants, gardens etc. Once again, I was struck by the number of people who find places to sit and just "be". After a few hours, it was time to stop for a rest and a beverage. It was hot and sunny so we found a patio to have a beer to quench our thirst and soak up a few rays. By this time, we were flagging and figured we should get a few provisions and head back to the villa for dinner. After a modest meal of salad, roast chicken and of course wine, we retired early and fell asleep in a matter of minutes. Tomorrow... more exploration around Nice.