Day 19 - jeudi

17 fevrier 2011

Up by 7, the rain is still falling lightly, and it is an early day for school. By the time I finish breakfast and make my lunch – a cheese sandwich and homemade applesauce – I must hurry to get to class on time.

The day went quickly with lots of new vocabulary words and an introduction to future tense. We spent some time talking about the things one gets at le papeterie – an office supply store – naming each thing we could pull out of our school bags.

After class I chatted with Melodi as she was just moving in to the apartments above the school – it seems that things were somewhat unpleasant with the host family – I am most grateful for Michele, who is a great host(ess).

I connected with Rose briefly to determine a time to meet in the evening. Michele had told me about an open house at the Hotel Windsor. There was to be a big reception for the artist Ben who recently finished designing the lobby and one of the rooms. Ben (no last name) lives in Nice and is known internationally. I had seen some of his work, an installation, at the Museum of Modern Art just a little over a week ago. Elaina, Rose and I went. It was an artist’s affair. Ben’s room was very “dark” and he used the room for performance art – there was a woman on the bed who greeted everyone with a box of Uncle Ben’s Rice. There was a mannequin on the balcony, and Ben’s nude self was in a video on the television. It was unusual to say the least. I will add pictures for you soon. Please see the link for the Hotel; you can see pictures of all the artist rooms.

After the hotel event, Elaina wanted to walk to the old town. It was a quiet evening all in all. On our way back along the Rue de la France, Elaina was hungry for steamed mussels, and I thought tiramisu would be nice. We moved into one of the many restaurants on the street. When we had finally made our decision – tiramisu and coffee – the waiter told us “this is a restaurant, for a meal.” So we were kicked out. I will have to inquire about this – but I think we experienced a cultural difference.

After this, we did not look for anything to eat, but headed back to the school. The Place Massena was busy with lights and smoke in preparation for the beginning of Carnaval tomorrow evening. We did pop into Le Havana – a bar with live salsa music and dancing – for a few moments, because Rosa knew the place. It might be nice to return here another night, but for now, it was time to get home and put up the feet. It had been an enjoyable evening. I got home about 10:15, ready for sleep.

I hope your day was a good one, Dear Reader.