Day 8 - the first Sunday

Day 8  Dimanche, 6 fevrier 2011 (There are pictures linked to the end of this entry.)

This Sunday marks one complete week in Nice. I have found the people to be very kind and understanding. I do hope that I will learn to use and understand more words, phrases and concepts – how could one not? – this next week, but right now it seems like I might be stuck in this state of unknowing for a long time. When I had planned to come, I knew it would take about a month to feel at home with where I live as well as the language. For the most part, where I live is already comfortable. I’ve learned processes for dishes, cooking (heating things up, really), the internet, and laundry. That answers many basic questions regarding life.

Today I was off to Assumption church (Notre Dame de l’Assomption) on Jean Medecin street for Mass. It is about a half hour walk from the apartment. The church was buzzing with activity even half an hour before the start of Mass. The choir was warming up, the children (the future first communion class?) were lining up, and the chairs were filling in with cheerful people. Today the bishop was making his annual visit. (Lucky me! No matter.) I found the guide for the day with readings and song texts – also a copy of the readings in English.

The music was good. The organist was quite good. The bishop’s homily was not too long. There was plenty of incense. I was able to sing along a bit. The woman next to me was singing, too. The whole mass took about 1½  hours. The only slightly uncomfortable moment was when I had to refuse to shake people’s hands at the sign of peace – they understood when I pointed to my nose and shook my head. Afterwards, I used my best French to introduce myself to the woman next to me.

Her name is Vesna, and she is a medical doctor who works at a hospital outside of Nice. She spoke a little English and inquired about my health. She apologized that she could not write a prescription, but she found a few samples of pills in her purse. I don’t think I will take them unless I have a fever, however, or if the sinuses would not clear up. I think I’m doing much better today anyhow.

Vesna and I walked together to her house. We exchanged emails and she gave me her phone number. We definitely hope to see each other again next week at Mass. This was a very nice encounter for the first day at a church.

After we parted, I walked the rest of the way home. It was a beautiful day for anything outside. Once home, Michele had done a load of laundry for me. Now I had to hang it out on the line. There is a laundromat not too far down the street if I need things to dry faster, but this is fine for now. I put in one more load – 4 to 5 kilos max – the machine is very tiny – and washed out two blouses by hand in the bathroom sink.

About 2:20 I headed out to meet M.D. (from New York) for an outing. We met at the McDonald’s (the only one I’ve seen, but you should see the menu) on the Promenade, near all the BIG hotels, at 3:00. Many people were out with their kids and dogs today. It was pleasant as long as one was not in a hurry. Since she did not have to meet anyone else today, we took our time.

I expressed my hope to get an ice cream treat somewhere today. Yesterday Michele had pointed out the best ice cream place near St. Repartate church. We headed in that direction. That particular shop will not be open until next week. The stand on the corner was quite busy, though. I had 2 scoops – tirimasu and vanilla – in a cup. She had the tiniest cup of coffee. We had a great time chatting about things to see in Nice and the surrounding area. M.D. likes the opera and art. I think I may have found a companion for these things in Nice. She has a friend who is a musician who may be able to connect me to a place to practice. She herself is a professor of English.

We walked to the Museum of Modern Art (Musée d’Art moderne et d’Art contemporain). The museums are free, except for the Chagall museum, so we went in. There were many, many art installations. For those interested in a little research, these 3 artists were featured: Assan Smati, Vincent Ganivet, and Sarah Sze. I only took pictures of a few things because a picture does NOT say a thousand words when it comes to these. I will include a few in my photo album for you.

The coolest thing at the museum was that the roof was a work of art, too, and a garden, and the view from there was amazing. There are a few pictures from there in the album.

As we came out, M.D. and I both decided that our feet had had it for the day. She knows the tram and bus system pretty well having lived in Nice already for 9 months, so we took that way back home. She lives a few short blocks beyond my stop, so I hopped off, so very happy that I had less than 200 steps to my door.

That’s where today ends, Dear Reader. It’s time to make a little something for supper and maybe study for a bit. And I’ll just add this – because I’ll be sleeping when the big game is played – Go, Packers!

 Pictures from the Art museum, et al.

Day 7

Samedi, 5 fevrier 2011   Pictures from the day are first, and text below them.

It felt good to sleep in this morning until 8:30. By then the sun was shining brightly, ensuring that the day would be pleasantly warm. After breakfast and a shower, Michele walked with me down Gambetta street to the promenade along the bay. The stretches of beach are sometimes private, but for a fee of about 15 Euros anyone can spend the day there. There are open air restaurants below the promenade at the beach level, too.

There were lots of people out today. I expected to hear tourists speaking English occasionally, but I only heard it once at the Flower Market. Since Michele had work to do at home, we parted ways a little before noon. I headed back towards the market.

Along the way I found the Dominican abbey church, St. François de Paule, because the church bells were ringing and I saw a few people going in. I decided to stay for the mass. The chapel was small; maybe it could hold 150 people seated. On the altar were 8 Dominican priests, one older than the next. Most of them looked quite tired considering the hour. The youngest of them looked to be in his late 40s or so. He was the leader of song. It is the feast of St. Agnes, so it was explained why the priest was in a red vestment. In addition, a family had gathered to commemorate the passing of its father. It seems it may have been a year ago now that he died. It was extra nice to have the music for this occasion. Quite a number of people had gathered and the homily was emphatically given. The responsorial psalm was Gelineau’s “My Shepherd is the Lord, nothing indeed shall I want,” the melody of which I recognized, of course, but the words were French, as Gelineau intended. All in all, it was nice to go to mass, even though I was a stranger.

After Mass, I moved toward the Market. The flower arrangements are amazing, and about the price of going to HyVee for a bouquet. This morning Michele had introduced me to the yellow showers of small brush-like flowers on the mimosa tree in her garden. There were many bouquets of mimosa here, as well as roses and irises.

At the far end of the market the farm fresh foods were for sale. The vendors usually seem to have someone who can manage a little English, but I did not expect it. Before approaching a stand, I get myself all revved up with how I need to say what I need/want. Today I bought fresh vegetables (eggplant, scallions, asparagus, green beans, zucchini) and fruit (apples and strawberries). 

On the way down, Michele had pointed out several good restaurants for regional dishes, i.e. nicoise cooking. So I stopped at one along the marketplace called “Le Saleya.” The place was very busy. I was seated inside. The owner took my order – I had the “plat du jour” – filet du Merou au citron, riz et legumes frais – i.e. fish with a lemon sauce, rice, fresh vegetables, and a salad with pesto sauce. It was excellent. I saw many beautiful dishes being served, but I would not even know where to find them on the menu. My goal was to find something that was not too expensive, yet comprehensive. The dessert menu looked fabulous, too, but that will have to wait for another day. I was too full. In a French restaurant, I determined, one should never be in a rush. It takes time to get the bill 

Day 6 C'est vendredi!

Friday’s are always special. This day, our “beginner” class said goodbye to the three women from “la Russe”, i.e. Russia, and its nearby states.  They were at Azurlingua only a week, but I think it was part of their vacation. They were always dressed to the nines. They were with another woman who knew more French, so I think they were fulfilling her desire to learn the language better.

Please note: My professor Miguel said that next week all our classes will be held in the afternoon. This just means that I will be online a little later in the day - more like 10:30 AM Iowa time - after classes here.

After school today, and after checking email and Skype, I took a walking tour of the nearby city in search of real restaurants and the church where Michele thought there was a Mass in English on Sundays. I found the church – it is Anglican – but there is no English language Mass. Ah, well.

On my walk home, I stopped at a bakery to buy a croissant sandwich with cheese and ham. This would be the basis for my supper. Once home, I found that Michele was still out, so I decided to go back to the little grocery store just a short walk away to get some things to eat and drink for lunches and suppers.

I found that anything there with meat is very expensive, so I did not buy any. The fruits and vegetables I will get this weekend at a little produce stand – there are many of them in the area. The one across the street from here might be OK, but one will have to look through the produce carefully – from what I’ve seen, much of it should be made into sauce or soup.  For today, I tried to find crackers, but there is nothing like that here. The “biscuits” are like dried toast. So instead I purchased a loaf of sliced wheat bread and cheese for sandwiches for lunches, a box of rice for suppers and a liter of Coke – just for variety from water ad without drinking all the milk that Michele has purchased for me.

Michele was home when I got back this time. She was in the process of reconstituting the dried tomatoes that she bought in Italy yesterday by boiling them, then putting them in a jar with oil. Then she made an Arabic salad with couscous, onion, mint, olive oil and fresh tomatoes. It was delicious! It went well with my ham and cheese croissant.

Online I looked for a church to attend on Sunday morning. From what I can tell, there is a Jesuit pastor at L’Eglise (church) de Notre-Dame de l’Assomption. The website said the pastor was known for his preaching. It seems like a good place to start. Hopefully the music will be good, too.

There was no indication in anything I read online that there is a Mass in English anywhere in Nice. At school, my friend M-D (from New York) said she is attending an English Mass at an Anglican church near the beach. This will be a good alternative if the French proves too daunting.

That’s all for today, friends. Have a good night.

Neighborhood pictures

Up and down the street pictures - I believe I have repaired the link to these pictures.

Day 5 - around the neighborhood

The cold is progressing nicely – I think I had a fever last night, but I was fine during the day. There is a pharmacie around the corner if I need anything more than what I brought – cough syrup is the only thing I might look for there. For now, comme si come ça (?)

Michele was going to Italy with friends today – it is just a short drive past Monaco. She said that the farmers of this French region are being driven out for the sake of developments. That is why the vegetables are expensive and not so good here, because they are imported. Italy is still has lots of local farmers and markets to buy the freshest foods.

School was a rather ordinary day. The morning classes again were rather slow in the second half, but the afternoon intensive course is more engaging because there are only two of us in the class. I stayed for a bit afterwards to look at Facebook and Skype – Matt, I hope you were able to figure out the problem.

On my way home, a woman tried to get money out of me by feigning to have found a gold wedding band. She wanted to sell it to me so that she could buy food. There are lots of panhandlers here since the climate is moderate.

Nice is a very Italianate city. There is much pizza and pasta to be had. Though this weekend, maybe I can convince Michele to go out with me for a real meal, i.e. with hot meat.  (Can’t believe I said that. Anyway…) After getting home, I went around the block to take pictures of the neighborhood. It is a mix of old and new, but generally it is a very nice area. Apartment living is not my thing, but because my building is well-constructed, I’m guessing 1920s or earlier, there are few sounds from the neighbors next door and none from above. I’ve included pictures of the inside of the apartment for you, dear readers.

Across the street from my house is the Russian Orthodox church built by Nicholas II. It seems that Nice was a summer home-away-from-home. Besides their home, there is a mausoleum of his 21-yr-old son and the church. (See pictures.)

That’s really all I have to share today. I love hearing from you all no matter the format. In Nice, the double cheek [air] kiss is used for those who are dear – (smack, smack). Love ya!

Day 4 - a regular day

This morning I woke up with a dry and heavy cough. I may have a cold, I think. It’s hard to be sure with all the smoking and cats that are part of my days here. But it seems more like a cold. Otherwise, today went well. I got up in plenty of time to shower and eat leisurely, and I had plenty of time to get to school.

Our teacher was too sick to come in today, so Miguel, the acting director of the school, filled in. For lunch I made my way to a boulangerie where they had salads. I really needed this since I’ve not had any vegetables or fruit since I’ve come – only orange juice. While waiting, in came 3 students from Azurlingua. So we walked back to school together.

Of this group, Erika is most interesting. She is an Hungarian who calls Hamburg (Germany) home, but she has moved to Nice with her boyfriend, who works in the shipyards as an engineer. She, if I understand correctly, is a child psychiatrist.

Another woman at the school (“M.D.” is what she calls herself)is from New York. She and her husband have moved to Nice to live. She is only in the morning school. They live not far from where I live, so we hope to hook up for lunch from time to time, too.

In the afternoon, for part of the time Antoine worked with us on numbers and being able to write them down as we listen. (French numbering is kooky, by the way.) He occasionally resorts to English, but he usually gets his point across in French. It’s only the third day of class, but it is getting easier to distinguish words and ideas.

Yesterday I had signed up to go to the art museum after class, but I missed the departure time altogether. Nonetheless, it was for the best, as I was tired and should take care of my cold. I was glad to get home and rest.

Michele was out when I arrived home. I think the cats were ready to defend their space if I had moved into the living room, but I was happy to go to my room. I heard Michele come in about 4 pm, so I got up. Then the doorbell rang – friends were visiting – so I stayed put and studied for tomorrow. Only to find out that Michele was disappointed that she did not know that I was home. She wanted to introduce me. Next time I will not be so shy.

Because of my cold, soup sounded good, so Michele gave me directions to a nearby grocery store. It is less than 3 blocks away and packs many good things, though I suspect it is a little expensive. I found the soups – all were packed in cardboard boxes (like chicken stock would be). But chicken soup or something that was no pureed was not on the shelf. I chose carrot/potato/cauliflower soup was very good, and there’s more for other evenings ahead, also I picked up 2 potatoes for future suppers and some yogurt for my lunches. I will have to visit here again so that I can pack my lunches occasionally.