"Its just like riding a bike"

FALSE.

Today was a national union strike across France (for another post) which meant not only that half my teachers were striking, but also public transportation. But, being the dedicated assistant I am, I told Simona that I could walk to school as long as the weather was nice.

Flash forward to a beautiful day and me cursing myself for making this promise. The last thing I want to do is go to school! So, I leave my house a little late and as Im dreading the long walk ahead of me, I see it in the distance... the blue bikes!

Just last year the Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi (pictured trying out the bikes) installed around 50 stations of vélo bleu around Nice, available for public use at a very small fee. It's a great effort to stay green and allows people to use bikes for cheap rather than having to buy their own. Plus, the first 30 mins is free, but I signed up for a month of unlimited service for 10€. Good deal!

But then, as I selected a bike and pulled it out of the station I had an epiphany: First, I don't remember the last time I rode a bike and second: I don't know ANYTHING about riding a bike in the city!!! Do I ride on the sidewalk or on the road if there's no bike lane? I don't know. I managed to make it onto some roads less-traveled, but I was still rather nervous. Not to mention that I am trying to keep my purse on my arm and my schoolbag in the basket. As cute and stylish and French as this sounds, I'm mostly sure I looked like a moron. At one point I even heard sirens behind me and almost thought the police were going to pull me over and yell at me for doing it wrong.

I arrived safe and sound and the first station was full, so I had to find another one. My heart still pounding, I returned my bike to its station, and walked the last few meters to school thinking to myself that I should have planned that more. I will definitely pay more attention to bike lanes and riders before I decide to take one out again. Phew.

Profitez!

Sorry for my recent truancy from blogging; as they say here, "j'en profitais" meaning I've been taking advantage of everything. Although the weather is still leaving a lot to be desired (many Niçois are asking what country they are in) the past 2 weekends have brought about beautiful sunny weather that causes me to gravitate outside.

Saturday the 6th was spent with 3 of my girlfriends taking a hike along a beautiful nature walk path. We headed east and walked all the way to Villefranche. We ate a picnic lunch near the port, and then I discovered my favorite new "downtime game." A game where you start with a celebrity, let's say Meg Ryan, and the next person must then find another celeb whose name starts with R and so on. If I were to say Ryan Reynolds (double letter) then the order of the game would reverse. It sounds pretty banal, but its my type of game, and you find ways to entertain yourself when walking around.


After lunch, we walked on over to the beach which is made of tiny pebbles more resembling sand. We took a nice leisurely siesta on the beach, where I swore to commute to Villefranche more often. Its in this cove and the beach is just lovely. After a quick shower, I headed out to have dinner with some other friends at Festival de la Moule where you can get unlimited mussels and fries for like 14€, delicious!

Sunday had turned grey and colder, but no matter because there was a Chocolate Show in Nice! I have given up chocolate for Lent, but I made my friends wait to go until Sunday because they are "mini-Easters" :) Entry was 4€ but included free tastes and one sample that some chefs were making (it was strange: pop rocks, grapefruit mousse and a chocolate stick inside). There were so many vendors selling yummies: chocolate covered marshmallows, macarons, chocolate spread, chocolate bars, chocolate without sugar, olive oil chocolate, hot chocolate, chocolate sculptures and even sweeeeet wine that pairs with chocolate. At the end, I had no desire to have chocolate for the next week.

Then, the weather stayed cold and grey, so I did not go out as much during the week. Plus, March has been a hard month budget-wise, so I was feeling a little down. Nevertheless, I spent a lot of time cooking, eating and chatting at Kiran's apartment.

Fast forward to this past weekend. It started Friday with some stirfry chez moi, and over to a new French friend's apt for dessert crêpes. In a small intimate group we chatted in French over Michael Jackson, Celine Dion and delicious crêpes. I was thrilled to finally have some friends to speak French with!

Saturday was yet another excursion. This time, my friend Alex loaded up his car and took us to Antibes to walk around. Antibes is a cute little town between Nice and Cannes where many artists have spent time. I would have liked to go to the Picasso museum, but my body would just not let me walk into a museum on such a nice day. Instead we sauntered around the city, enjoying each others company for a few hours, got some pizza at an outdoor cafe, and took the long way home. I managed to get shotgun both ways and relished in my first real carride in months :)

Saturday night was spent cooking a delicious French mac n' cheese at Kiran's (emmental cheese, parmesan on top, bread crumbs and baked) and fresh salsa for an appetizer. And then I went out to listen to some live music with a musician whom we have befriended in Nice. Fun times!

Hopefully having some Irish food and festivities tomorrow. Erin go bragh! and then a birthday and hopefully more good weather this weekend.

Carnaval!

Carnaval is the two week period coinciding with Mardi Gras in which there are many parades, festivals, and plenty of tourists in Nice. Place Masséna was transformed into the bustling center of Carnaval-- bleachers were erected, murals were hung, and this is where the King and Queen of Carnaval resided. So, Carnaval began a few days before Mardi Gras this year, but typically ends that day, since carnaval literally means "farewell to meat" since Lent is a time during which people do not eat meat. I was also told that hundreds of years ago Carnaval was the only time during which people could criticise the King-- thus the crowning of the King every year.

Each year there is a theme of Carnaval and all the floats are centered on this theme. In 2007 when I was here, it was Rugby and the King was a caricature of Jacques Chirac dressed in rugby get-up. (France really enjoys their political caricatures. remember this for later.) This year, the theme was "Roi de la planète bleue" or King of the Blue World and it had a very ecological feel to it. Personally, I found this years floats to be really beautiful and so much better than '07.

Okay, Happenings: Carnaval has three different Corso's or parades, that repeat almost daily during the 2 week festival. The first is the typical Corso Carnavalesque. The King and Queen start the parade, followed by all the other floats which you can only catch at the parade. Then, the Corso Illuminé is the same parade, but at night, which gives it a much more festive atmosphere-- lights and confetti everywhere! This was my personal favorite and I can say that I attended the same parade about 3 times. Then, the last parade is called the Bataille des Fleurs (Flower Battle) and this is completely different. In this parade all the floats are made of flowers, and there are many dancers and bands. This parade you must buy tickets for to gain entry, and the people on the floats throw flowers at you to take home-- mostly mimosas, with the occasional daisy, palm branch, carnation, etc. This year I had spent most of my Feb mad money and did not really wish to pay to see this parade. Sorry, no pics :/

Perhaps the best (or worst, if you're crotchety) part of Carnaval is that it really feels like a party in the streets. Children dress-up for every parade (moreso than Halloween) and confetti and silly string ("bombe serpentine"/ snake bomb) are sold by street vendors. If you escape without being adorned with these things, you weren't having fun! Immediately following the parades the street sweepers are out in number trying to clean up the trash. I found it ironic that this years theme was all about saving the planet and not wasting, but think of how much paper and aerosol was used in the floats, silly string and confetti! Enough yapping, I'll get to the pictures now :)


Le Roi du Carnaval (The King)


La Reine (the Queen)

Oh, like I said, the theme was all about saving the planet, so there was one float with babies depicting the "generation to save the planet", one was the ailing world personnified--complete with pills, thermometer, needles, IV, and a missle in the buttocks; a noah's ark where the animals had tied up Noah, etc. Then, along comes....

Super Obama! Here to save the world! (I swear, he is more of a celebrity here than in the US!)


Caricatures from years past, found on the beach by Dad and I. This is both former president Chirac and current president Nicolas Sarkozy looking a little worse for the wear!


The King all lit up during the Corso Illuminé (He was def my favorite float, with Superbama in a close second)


The mascot of Carnaval as seen on all the posters. Loved this little guy!


Adorable kids at Carnaval, confetti in hand :)


Carnaval brings many many many (too many?) tourists to the area, so there are many street artists trying to earn a few bucks (remind me to tell you the story about the cat guy! ugh) This is Michael Jackson, and he was doing his thing back in '07 when I remember seeing him gyrating on traffic posts on the promenade. Creepy? Yes. But, he was doing it before MJ died, so you gotta admire the dedication.


The last day of Carnaval, in true French Revolutionary form, the King is sent out to sea and burned! I sadly missed this in '07 because I was in London, so I was determined to see it this year and am I ever glad I did! There was a bit of confusion, but around 9 o'clock the announcer at the office du tourisme asked us to turn towards the water and bid farewell to the King. Fireworks shot out of his crown and the bottom of the float, causing him to catch fire, and it was a rapid burn! Soooo cool, but not over yet. Then, there was a few seconds of a lightshow where the Colline du Chateau (hill of the castle) was illuminated with red lights and smoke to look like it, too was burning. Then, the fireworks started! I LOVE fireworks and I can honestly say these were some of the best I've ever seen. My friends and I had picked the perfect spot to stand for the 30 odd minute show, set to music, that included some of the prettiest fireworks-- plus it was over the Mediterranean! It was the perfect ending to Carnaval and made me want to come back in the future, if only for the great fireworks!