Commence March Madness

Yesterday I took off my afternoon classes to I could go to the airport in Nice to meet Leigh's and my friend Damian from Buffalo. He had just flown overnight with two stopovers, so I expected him to be totally out of it but he was amazingly alert and chipper from the moment he stepped off the plane. We eventually made our way to Antibes, which took a really long time thanks to the TAM bus schedule and many, many stops along the way, and ran some basic Welcome to France errands like getting euros from the ATM and some groceries. We ate dinner at home, of course, consisting of main dishes from my favorite patisserie near the train station and frites from my freezer with kriek beer and chocolate for dessert- very French, eh? I was pretty proud of myself for successfully hosting and feeding another person, even if I didn't actually cook any of the food!

I normally sleep in on Friday mornings because I dont have to work until 13:00, but I wanted to show Damian around a little bit before leaving him completely on his own for the day. We first went to the train station to buy his tickets for our trip this weekend, which was very quick (no lines!?) and easier than I had imagined it would be. Then I pointed out a few major landmarks, gave him a map of the town and walked him to Vieille Antibes. We strolled through the Marché Provençale to take in the sights and smells of olives, spices, herbs, stinky cheese, and the like. I was pointing out a great touristic shop for him when I remembered the Absinthe Bar is right below it. No, I did not have an absinthe at 10:30 in the morning, but we did go downstairs and have some coffee there. The bartender took our picture and Damian took pictures of the bar, which is very picture-worthy. Close to 12:00 I had to get my bus to work, so we walked back to Place du Gaulle.

I am pretty sleepy now and missing my extra hours of morning laziness, but I must admit that getting up and out of the house by 10:00 on a Friday was very liberating. I had more than enough time to accomplish my goals and I even did something fun before work. What a novel concept! Tomorrow is another early day as we are catching a 6:15 train to Marseille then changing trains there to go to Arles for the day. Our kind hostess, Rebecca, will meet us there for a lovely day of market browsing and wandering around Van Gogh's old stomping grounds. Then Sunday is THE CRANBERRIES in CONCERT... eek!

My only sadness is that Leigh cannot be here this week with us. She and Damian are close friends and this weekend we are doing things I know she would enjoy as well. All we can do is take great pictures and share our stories with her and, maybe one day soon, plan a trip we can all take part in.

Well, that is all for now. More info on our trip this weekend when we return and then I can look forward to my hasard weekend trip to Paris (oh la la).