I got to touch the Mediterranean Sea! Not even kidding.

Hi! I'm sorry it's been so long, but it has been quite the week. I'll quick go through some of the highlights.

• I had my first creeper experience which the girls and I found completely hilarious. Lauren, Caitlin and I were sitting outside of the Office of Tourism eating ham and cheese crepes and some fluffy, happy guy walked up to us. He looked at me and was like "Are you American or are you English?" I responded that I was from the US and he exclaims "Quelle belle americaine!" Or "What a beautiful American!" We couldn't stop laughing for two minutes straight.
  
• On Friday night, I had the girls over to watch L'Auberge espagnol and eat Nutella. Because that's what we do. I have a feeling it's going to become a weekend tradition. But I'm completely OK with that because it's so much fun and really nice to be able to hang out.
• Today I bought my train ticket to Paris! Jon and I are going to meet up there in two weekends!
  

Now for the really exciting stuff. This past weekend, the program took us on an excursion to Nice, Monaco and Cannes. It was AMAZING. I have fallen in love with the Mediterranean Sea. I never want to leave it.

Nice was incredible and by far my favorite part of the excursion. We walked through the market, climbed up the mountain through the Roman(?) ruins, grabbed lunch from the market and picnicked on the beach for most of the afternoon. It was incredible. The hike up the mountain was quite a doozy, especially in my flats and falling down pants. (I'm sure it was quite the site to watch me.) But it was completely worth it. I'm posting pictures so you'll be able to tell for yourselves. It was really neat because in addition to the ruins, the top of the mountain had a playground and was swarming with families. Afterwards, we grabbed fruit and Sacco, a specialty food of Nice that's essentially a chick pea crepe, from the market and picnicked on the beach. The sea was so blue and the sun felt wonderful. I could have sat there all day without moving once. But eventually, we decided that it would be a good idea to check out the town and grab some gelato before getting back on the bus.




It was still too early to head to the retreat, so we went to Fragonard, a perfume factory, where we got a tour and learned all about how perfume was made. Get this. The person who creates perfumes is called a "nose." They go to school for 3 years learning about different smells and how to distinguish them. Afterwards, they do 7 years of practice, putting their noses to work before actually creating any perfumes. Then they get to work. The only downside of this is that they can't drink, smoke (not that it would bother me), or eat spicy food. Count me out of that job! No spicy food? Poor noses. Oh, and even cooler about this place? It was seated at the bottom of a hill that housed a Medeival city. If we would have had more time, I completely would have climbed that hill.

After the tour, we headed to the "retreat," which I've decided is just a nicer name for a hostel. Because it's precisely what it is. Although, it really was pretty nice-- it was clean, had showers, only five people per room, they fed us, set up a discotheque for us in the evening, and it was staffed by cute German guys with adorable accents. After dinner there, which wasn't all that bad, we headed into Monaco for a little bit. This place is incredible. We saw the casino at Monte Carlo and in the distance we could see the palace. There were video cameras and police everywhere. We walked down a street and there was Chanel, Hermes, Bvlgari, Ferraris, you get the picture. I don't think I've ever felt more out of place in my entire life. Haha. But it was an experience that I'm glad I got. I'm just sad it wasn't light out. I'm sure I would have gotten some incredible photos if it had been. Then we went back to the "retreat" and decided to head to bed while everyone else got drunky drunk and danced at the discotheque. But we were some of the only people who seemed to be in good shape the next morning, so I'm not regretting that choice. I saw a shirt ruined by wine and heard stories about vomitting in top bunks and lost shoes. So I think I made a good choice. Also, the view the following morning was breath-taking. I think you'll agree when you see the photos. We were right on the sea, about two minutes outside of Monaco.




Sunday we headed into Cannes, home of the famous Cannes Film Festival. Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed in the Auditorium. It wasn't glamorous, it wasn't large, and it wasn't even all that clean outside. I mean, it's still awesome that I got to go there and see walk on the same ground as some amazing celebrities, but I wasn't wowed as I had expected to be. (BTW, update: I still haven't run into Johnny Depp yet. But I still have over three months. Also, apparently Brad Pitt and (M)angelina--oh how I despise her-- have a house in or right outside of Aix.) After checking out the Auditorium, we climbed ANOTHER mountain. It was really neat and completely made up for the Auditorium disappointment. On the way up the hill, we stopped by this building that at one point housed the Man in the Iron Mask. You know that movie with Leo DiCaprio about the French king who has his twin imprisoned and forces him to wear an iron mask to conceal his identity? Yeah, I was outside of one of his prisons! Also, if you're into The Count of Monte Cristo, we were able to see the island that inspired Dumas when he wrote the novel. At the top of the hill, there was a museum that had African, Native American, and ancient Egyptian, Roman and Greek art. It was really neat. And there was a tower we climbed up which gave us an amazing view of the city. Afterwards, we grabbed panini for lunch (I swear I have panini at least every other day for lunch-- it's soo good!) and then sat on the beach. It was nice because this beach was more sandy, whereas the beach in Nice was more rocky. After a nice afternoon on the beach, we headed back to Aix and were greeted by sunshine. It was nice considering the fact it's been rainy for the past two weeks straight.




Well, now for the fun part! Pictures! I have three different albums. Clicky: Nice is Nice, Nice is Nice, but Monaco is Exquisite, and Retreat is Just a Nicer Name for Hostel.