My friends who advised me that I may have mixed feelings about my trip on the first few days were definitely right.

The plane travel was less than delightful, due to my attempt at sleeping on the long leg from JFK to Nice (about a 7 hour flight + time change of 6 hours). I decided the best route was an Ambien and a few glasses of complimentary wine (the stewardess actually thought I was underage! Ha!) - I felt woozy until I finally passed out and then I woke up about an hour before landing feeling seasick. I would not advise this route.

I took a taxi to my studio and was greeted by friends of my landlord. My taxi driver spoke excellent English; however, less people here speak English than I was expecting. I haven't really had any trouble getting what I need, but it sure makes me feel like an idiot. I was always praised in French class for having a good accent and now, yeah, I don't know about that.

After sleeping some more, I ventured out to look around, and complete my main task of the day - getting a cell phone. At first I was reserved, kinda wanting to just stay in the safety of my studio, not having to preface every conversation with "parlez-vous anglais?"

But I gathered myself up, made sure I knew how to work all the doors, locks, etc, and I walked down Avenue Jean Medecin to see what I could see and hopefully find a cell phone and some food.

The weather today was very nice, sunny, breezy, not too hot.



I walked all the way down to the ocean through Espace Messena with the fountains. Definitely some prime cafe sitting and people watching to be done there.

I walked through the Old City area, which on first impression seems more dirty than anything, to the shore.
The ocean is a beautiful hue, similar to that of the Caribbean, but more milky? And the beach itself is entirely smooth rocks. It is definitely unlike any of the other beaches I've been to. I am still undecided if I actually plan on doing some actual swimming here, the rocks are pretty intimidating.



After walking around, I went to the Monoprix to pick up some groceries for dinner. It was definitely the highlight of my day. The cheeses and wines took up about half the grocery section, and I was totally overwhelmed. I am still a bit nervous of interacting with the people because it just ends up making me feel silly and embarassed. In the grocery, I picked up essentials and went to check out feeling like things were okay. But of course, I didn't weigh my produce ahead of time and I looked like an idiot in line. No bananas or apples for me today I guess!!

The wine I got was actually cheap than most wines in the US, and definitely more tasty. I am not sure exactly what it was. The cheeses I picked up were awesome; buffalo mozzerella and some other kind of brie-like cheese with an orangeish rind. What a dinner!!

Now I am not sure if I actually want to eat out much here or just go to the grocery and markets!