Holy moly, I’m SOOOO behind on my blog! It’s been a whirlwind of a weekend with lots of fun adventures, so brace yourselves.
Let’s start with Friday. On Friday, I:
- Realized that I forgot my Navigo at home when we were close to the train station. I ran as fast as I could to and from the station because I was supposed to meet Caleb and Toni to do a walk. While sprinting home, I learned that the French frown upon running barefoot and in jeans and a nice shirt. Toni and Caleb were late anyways, so I didn’t have to run at all. Oh well...it was a good workout.
- Did the Invalides/Musée Rodin walk with Amy. It was HOT in Paris and we were dying being in the sun all day. We walked next to this 40ish year old Parisian and talked to him for a while about the city and what not. It wasn’t until afterwards that I realized that the whole conversation was in French! J
- Saw The Thinker and Gates of Hell at Musée Rodin (loved how it was an outdoor museum!) and Napoleon’s tomb at the Invalides (who knew such a small guy needed such a massive coffin?). We didn’t have time to do the war museum though. L
After the walk, I:
- Had lunch with Amy by the Eiffel tower.
- Went home at 6:00pm to grab my Nice stuff and headed back into the city to meet Mckenna and Erin at their place at 9:30pm. The Nice girls were meeting at the Institute building at 11:15pm and I didn’t want to go into the city late and in the dark all by myself.
- Met the girls at the Institute building at 11:15pm and got on the last RER B to Charles de Gaulle airport.
- Arrived at Charles de Gaulle at 12:30pm or so and walked to the outside of the terminal. We slept in the airport to make sure that we caught our 7:00am flight to Nice. Sleeping on a concrete floor at the airport was definitely an adventure! With a little kid screaming bloody murder all night and this obnoxious beeping noise every 15 seconds, no one slept very much. I think I got maybe 2 hours at the most!
Next was Saturday. On Saturday, I:
- Woke up at 5:00am to the smell of the Brioche Dorée pastry shop in the airport opening. I got an apple turnover fresh out of the oven for breakfast!
- Got on the flight for Nice at 7:00am. I also learned that I hate EasyJet. They may be cheap, but they only let you have ONE bag. Period. They made me stuff my purse into my already stuffed backpack or they’d charge me! It was frustrating.
- Crashed on the plane for the entire flight. I don’t remember taking off or landing I was so tired!
- Landed in beautiful Nice at a little after 9:30am. We couldn’t check into the hotel until 2:00pm, so we headed straight for the beach. Paul took the train from Paris and met us there. It was STUNNING! Seriously, the Mediterranean is my favorite thing in the world. The water is clear as crystal, the most beautiful color of blue, there are no fish/sea animals to attack you, there’s no sand, and the water is the perfect temperature for the summer. I could swim in it all day!
- Met some really creepy French dudes (Youcef and his long-haired friend) that loved Kayla. Youcef in particular. They were locals and did push-ups on the beach and swam in their nasty nast boxers to impress us. It was slightly hilarious. They asked Kayla to go on their boat with them and go out for drinks but she said that she was leaving town. Haha. Definitely an adventure!
- Lots of the girls fell asleep on the beach and got really bad sunburns
- Checked into the hotel at 2:00pm. It was right on the beach! Since it was a three-person room (it was cheaper for all of us to do that), we had to take shifts to and from the room so that we didn’t get caught. Eight girls in one room was kind of tight, but we managed! We had a queen sized bed and a twin, so 5 people slept on the beds each night and 3 on the floors. We rotated so that everyone got turns on both. It was like a massive sleepover every night! So much fun! We ate a lot of cookies and surfboard gummies, that’s for sure.
- Saw 4 Lamborghinis racing along the beach. SO COOL!
- Walked along the beach at sunset. We went towards the old part of Nice and it was so beautiful! We played on some rocks and took pictures, but a huge thunderstorm came out of nowhere and drenched us, so we headed home.
- Froze my butt off because the air was on and I had no blanket (we gave it to people on the floor). It was another night with not a lot of sleep!
On to Sunday! On Sunday, I:
- Fell in love with thunderstorms on the beach. It was rainy all day (thunderstorms), but I honestly didn’t mind. I missed the rain! We’ve been blessed with amazing weather in Paris, so it’s been a while since I’d seen rain.
- Took a bus to Monaco for a little while. We were only there for like an hour or so (the rain/wet made everyone miserable), but I got to see Monte Carlo, some huge yachts, Casino Royale, the Grand Prix stands, and some RIDICULOUSLY amazing cars!
Again
Me and Casino Royale from the other side- Came home and showered, put on pajamas, and relaxed with everyone. It was my night to sleep on the floor and it wasn’t horrible. Definitely more comfortable than the airport floors! The floors at the hotel were hardwood I had a blanket under me and on top of me.
- Watched Remember the Titans before going to bed J
The last full day in Nice was Monday. Yesterday, I:
- Woke up around 10:00am to get to the beach by 11:00am. It was a “sit by the beach and swim/lay out all day” day, and it was amazing!
- Went to the grocery store to get stuff for lunch on the beach (baguette, Boursin, yogurt, cookies, and a water).
- Worked on my tan. I was one of the only people who didn’t get sunburned!
- Swam to the buoy a ways out to sea for some exercise with Kayla and Maddi. It wasn’t too bad swimming out to it but the current was pulling us back the entire swim back to shore. It took forever! But the water was gorgeous and it felt good to get some exercise...even if I do hate swimming...
- Made some more creepy French men friends. Pascal and Jacques were in their 40s and were playing paddle ball on the beach together in their lovely Speedos. They also were very interested in Kayla and told us that they were “putting on a show for us.” It was hysterical! Every time Pascal would drop the ball, he’d turn to us and say “Pardon! Pardon!” and try again. They came up to us a few times and tried to talk to us. My favorite quotes were, “You all are very pretty with your little umbrellas (we had umbrellas for shade on the beach). The Japanese do the same thing!” Gotta love being compared to Japanese tourists. Kayla and I also went to swim to cool off and Jacques came up to us and said, “It’s okay! There are no squirrels in the water! Is safe to swim!” I’m pretty sure he meant sharks, but it was an honest mistake...haha.
- Learned the value of YOP (drinkable yogurt). The stuff is magical.
- Came home, showered, and watched the beginning of Twilight with everyone. We didn’t finish it because we forgot how horrible it was and turned it off.
The beaches have super soft rocks instead of sand
Pascal and Jacques 
And then there was today. Today, I:
- Woke up at 6:00am to get to the airport by 7:00am for our 8:55am flight.
- Got stuck in the airport due to flight delays. We didn’t leave Nice until 10:30am!
- Slept (again) for the entire flight to Paris.
- Had an amazing sandwich for lunch at the airport. It was called a Vesuvius and it had goat cheese, tomatoes, mozzarella, and spices. It was toasted like a Panini and it was fabulous!
- Tried to buy train tickets back to Croissy from the airport but the machine only took coins and all I had was 8.20 Euros. The ticket was 11.00 Euros and a ticket to Paris was 8.70 Euros! So...we ran through the gates before they closed after people with tickets went through. A really nice (and attractive) guy asked if I wanted to go through with him and he was really nice. I bummed my first train ride!
- Caught the train from Les Halles to Croissy. It was raining when I got off and I had to hop (or army crawl) the turn stalls to exit the station. It was nice to walk in the rain and enjoy the thunder.
- Came home and did laundry and packed. I have an excursion to Giverny all day tomorrow and I leave Paris on Thursday! So sad!!!!
- Had my last dinner with my host family. Madame set the table with candles and fancy china and it was so cute! We had beef, potatoes, salad, bread and cheese, a fruit tart, and chocolate pudding. Madame and Monsieur were both really sad that it was our last dinner. I’m going to miss them! They’ve been so good to us! Madame took down our e-mail addresses so that she can keep in touch with us after we get home. She wants an update after I run the St. George Marathon in October. J
- Finally, I Skyped my Momma/family! It was good to see their faces and hear their voices. I’m going to really miss Paris but I’m SO excited to go home and see them!
Tomorrow is an excursion day with the BYU art history program that’s here, so it should be great! We’re going to where Monet painted his water lilies, so I’m very excited. It should be beautiful! Until tomorrow! J
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