Is this real? Or is it an illusion?
What was I thinking?
I quit my job, applied for early social security benefits and then jumped on the first plane to Nice, France. Is this reality, an illusion, or...am I losing my mind?
Those last 5 words come from the lyrics to Losing My Mind a song featured in the broadway show Follies by Stephen Sondheim. Song lyrics seem to be buzzing in my ears as I wander around Nice. The theme for this blog came to me as I looked at the clouds above Nice and the Meditteranean Sea. But it wasn't the clouds, it was life's illusions that made me think...I really don't know life at all.
So, what was I thinking?
I would come to France and miraculously learn French in a matter of days. Let me tell you about that. I had purchased 5 Levels or Rosetta Stone while in New York. I never found the time to devote to the courses and assumed that once I got here that it would be a piece of cake. Well, I'm still on Level One and I daily have a screaming match with mon ordinateur (computer) on pronunciation. Really? Do I really not know how to say bleu (blue) in French. After 15 repetitions, the machine finally agrees with my pronunciation. But hey, it passed me very quickly on pronouncing... Je porte des chaussures mais je ne portez pas de chausettes. (I wear shoes, but not socks.) This is a critical sentence to learn if you are to survive in France. However, I must admit, I haven't worn socks now for two weeks. It's been liberating.
What have I been doing for two weeks?
- Done a lot of shopping for the apartment even though the euro cost 1.40 in US dollars.
- Study my French as I may, the sales people still respond to me in Anglais.
- Had lunch in Place Rosetti, a square of Vieille Ville (Old Town) and watched and listened to a concert. This was in honor of Sante Reparata, the patron saint of Nice.
- Did I mention there was wine with lunch? Pourquoi pas? (Why not?)
- Every Tuesday night Peter and I walk down the rue de France to a little bar/restaurant name Le Petit Bouchon (the small cap) where we have wine and tapas and listen to Evelyne Nabet sing.
Evelyne and Peter.
- There's a remarkable transportation system here. You can travel around the area for 1 Euro. We have gone to Cannes (1 1/2 hours) and to Villefranche-sur-Mer (1/2 hour) for 1 Euro each way. Of course since everyone in France is striking at the moment...
...we had to stand for a portion of each trip as the trains are not operating. I don't care much for Cannes. J'aime Nice, mais j'aime Villefranche. (I like Nice, but I love Villefranche.) 
I think that is enough free thought and reflections of life through a camera lens for tonight, It is 11:15PM in the evening here and I still have une verre du vin rouge (a glass of ren wine) to finish. Be kind...this was my first and maybe my last blog.
I leave you with these last two photos. Bon nuit!
