Climbing Hills and Sitting on Benches...

So I have been in Nice for a few days now and am not sure exactly how to start out sharing how I feel being here.  Leaving London was hard but coming to Nice was exciting.  It is just a much bigger transition then I thought it would be.  I guess I will start with the place I am staying for the moment which is so far the best thing about Nice.  The family has been so great and supportive. The apartment is a typical old french place which I love for all its character and charm.  There are beautiful high ceilings and windows, hardwood floors done in a chevron design and gorgeous multi colored tiled hallways.  Even the keys (which we will talk about the trouble they caused me later) to the apartment are the super old school style that we really only see on really old locking pieces of furniture in the states.  There is a great view of the city out

View from the Apartment Window

the sitting room window.  This is where I spent my first day in Nice just assessing my situation and planning my next few days.  Also the weather was pretty gloomy so I felt ok about being inside.  After doing a bit of research and looking at everything around here to do I felt even more overwhelmed then when I started.  Figuring out England was so much easier for me....I knew what I wanted to do and I wasn't afraid to get lost there.  Here it is very different.  I have no real concept of how to get around and I can't really just ask someone in the street because I don't speak French.  That night after all my research I sat down with Sandrine and her husband and they gave me a brief overview on a map of where we were and how to get to a few easy spots to start with.  Oh yes, I have now changed my option of maps a bit since arriving here... they are no longer for sissies....they are my good friend here because you can get them in english.  I still will not pull one out on the street though for fear of looking like a complete tourist.  That is just asking for more trouble then I want to even think about.  I have taken to just writing down all the streets and directions I need and keeping the big map safely in my bag in case I need to look at it secretly in hiding somewhere of course.  After I had a few directions from these wonderful people I am staying with I felt much better about venturing out into the unknown and exploring a bit.

Park Bench View

 I headed out of the house taking my specific right, left, left, right..then up the hill directions and began my first day out in Nice.  I had small goals for the day... find a park bench with a view to read on, find a bank (needed to exchange my pounds for euros), and don't get completely lost.  I had a super sunny day for this outing...it felt great to be in a tank top and sandals.  As I walked up the hill I couldn't help but notice all the beautiful architecture of all the buildings.  I don't know much about the different types but I know that a lot of Nice dates back to the medieval times and the buildings all are very unique and ornate but not in a gaudy way.  When I reached a crossing at the top of the hill I was struck by this huge old hotel.  Each room had it's own tiny iron  balcony...it just looked quite elegant.  I then turned and looked across the street and it was a similar type building but it was completely run down and over grown.  It reminded me of the house in the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil".  In its time I bet this place was beautiful but it was no longer.  Kinda sad.  I sat on a bench with the view in the photo above for a bit soaking up all the sunshine I had missed while I was in London and reading.  It was nice just to be still for a moment.      

Second Park Bench View

After a bit I decided to head farther up the hill and see what else I could find.  As I rounded another corner a beautiful park came into view.  There were tons of families with blankets out having picnics and kids riding on the carousel that was on one edge of the park.  I picked a bench, sat down and started to read only to get up a few moments later when the 2 drunk old men a few benches down started singing the 1 and only line in a 50's song  they knew over and over and over.  The next bench I chose was quiet and peaceful.  You can see the view in the photo to the right.  I was hear for a bit but then the shade rolled over me and I got too cold so I moved on to another bench.  My final bench was my favorite one.  Across from where I was sitting was about 30 old men and a few token younger guys and women playing what looked like bocce ball.  You could tell these guys were out here everyday and had been doing this together for years.  I loved just listening to them speak as the background to my little life at this moment.  I had no idea what they were saying but the way they all were with each other was so familiar, loving and comfortable...in a way you just don't usually see americans interacting with each other.  I sat on this bench for hours just relaxing, reading and enjoying the beautiful day.  When my shoulders had finally taken all the sun they could (no sunscreen oops) I headed back to the apartment.  Everything was going great...I found a bank on the way home and got some cash and I found the apartment again with out getting lost.  The code to the front door worked perfectly...walked up 2 flights of stairs to the front door and this is where everything fell apart.  I got out the keys and started trying to unlock the doors but it wasn't working.  The key just kept going around and around.  It sounded like it would lock then unlock but the door wouldn't open.  Also these keys are really big so they make a lot of noise in the hallway which has great acoustics to make everything sound even louder.  In my head I was thinking...I gotta get this door open before someone thinks I am trying to break in.  In that moment the door next to me opens and a little old lady comes out speaking to me in French.  Great...now I was really in trouble....She just kept speaking and her voice was getting a bit more angry and concerned and all I could do was try and do the best charades act ever to get her to understand that I couldn't get the key to work but I wasn't a robber.  Finally after a few failed attempts to act it all out I said all the names of the family I am staying with, said american and pointed to myself then tried to make the key work showing her they fit in the door but it kept turning.  She calmed a bit, reached over and turned the key for me to open the door.  I said Merci, walked inside and heard her saying "ah, no Frances"  As funny as this moment is retelling it it also freaked me out.  I am here in a country where I have no real way of communicating.  I couldn't even make this women understand one simple little thing.  All the signs and information are in French.  Everyone around is speaking french and I have no clue what any one is saying or what any sign says.  It kinda feels like you lost one of your major senses and you have to figure out a way to make the other ones work harder to communicate or you better learn French really quickly.  It is a bit of culture shock that I have to deal with.  I know people do this all the time with out being able to speak the language I just don't think I prepared myself enough for the reality of it.  That being said...I am listening to my french CD's and am going to try and take a course while I am here.  Hopefully I will get enough phrases to get by soon....Wish me Luck!