Southbound

Right now I am on my reading week, after a full 3 weeks of school I might add. Because I don't have any kind of piles of homework I was trying to figure out how to best use my time. I was hoping to go traveling with my friends but their reading week doesn't start until next week. I was kind of thinking about going to Paris but for whatever reason that didn't really appeal, it just seemed too conventional. Also, going to Paris the day after Valentines might have been a little bit sad for a solo traveller. My original plan was to go to Venice for the Carnaval which is famous, it's where they wear all the masks and stuff. However it was about 100euros for the train one way which seemed a little steep.

Then yesterday, after much back and forth I decided to buy a discount card for the French Railway (SNCF), which gets me between 25-60% off on all trains within France and also on certain trains to Spain, Germany and Switzerland. It has already paid off and I have now booked a round trip ticket to Nice for 80 euros. I know I could have got a better rate if I had booked ahead but I decided there is no time like the present. I leave tomorrow in the early afternoon and will be back in Grenoble by 8pm on Sunday evening. I am getting pretty excited (considering I only booked these tickets 30 mins ago). Though its a bit of a milk run trip I am hoping it will be an excellent way to see the countryside, I go from Grenoble to Valence, Valence to Marseille (on the TGV) and then from Marseille to Nice on a normal train. I was originally considering going to Marseille and Nice but after looking at all the day trips I could do from Nice (this is the article I am going to base my trips on) I decided that just concentrating on one area would be a better idea. The plan is to see Monaco and Monte Carlo one day, Ventimigilia, Italy another day and maybe also see Eze or Grasse if time allows.

This is still kind of a conventional trip but since I am traveling in February I am hoping that the locals will be friendlier toward tourists. Though on Friday, the carnaval de Nice kicks off (which I will be going to) and apparently it attracts over 1 million tourists per year so it might prove to be like my New York trip on easter weekend, incredibly busy. I definitely won't end up with a tan after my trip the south of France, but with highs of 10 degrees I'm sure Nice will feel positively tropical (it's currently -1 and it feels relatively warm). If you want to know more about the carnaval check out their official website.

As far as what I have been doing in my normal, non glamorous life there is not a whole lot to say. I didn't really accomplish anything over the weekend. However, I went to the market on Sunday morning and bought some delicious food. I had the most airy, moist, perfectly crisp on the outside flute (the wider, flatter brother of the baguette). I also bought a pain au raisin for breakfast from the same bakery and it was delicious. It looked like a cinnamon roll, but there was no cinnamon or icing, and it had a thin layer of custard type stuff on the dough. If you have have a chance to try one I would definitely recommend it.

On the other hand steer clear from 'sablé' (translates to sandy, which should have tipped me off). I bought one a couple weeks ago from a different bakery, they are large and look like giant cookies, which I assumed they were. Wrong. It was very crumbly and bland, and even though there were chocolate chips inside it was thoroughly disappointing. Perhaps if I had not been expecting a cookie it would have been o.k., but it is definitely not something I will be jumping to purchase again.

To mitigate the jealousy some of you might be feeling towards me and my (seemingly) glamorous life I am currently without water and a kitchen. Yesterday evening I went to make my dinner and was greeted with a locked door. I assumed the cleaning lady had just got really angry about the odour and locked us out because she assumed it was us making the smell. To preface this, every weekday morning at about 8:30 (which is when I usually wake up when I don`t have class) I can hear her complaining, and when I walk by her on my way to the bathroom she always complains to me about how awful the kitchen smells, and how we aren't allowed to leave garbage in the kitchen. Now, to clarify we are not allowed to leave garbage bags in the kitchen.  The garbage she is complaining about is contained in a plastic bag and not creating any kind of real mess. Since there is no garbage in the kitchen to begin with, this garbage bag is necessary unless you want to throw your garbage on the counter/floor. So to sum up, the cleaning lady always yells at us about the awful sewage type odour when it is not at all our fault. I don`t think we could create the kind of odour that is present, even if we wanted to.

Later on, when I returned after going to someone`s going away party I found a notice under my door. It said that there is a problem with the plumbing (surprised? no) and that they are working to fix it as soon as they can. Until this (undefined) day we are not allowed to use the sinks in our room or the kitchen... Luckily (and unfortunately) this problem only seems to be affecting the 5th and 4th floors, and part of the 3rd and 2nd floor, so I still have access to water, I just have to walk down four flights of stairs and a long hallway to access it. Awesome. Griping aside, it really isn't that bad. Just another good story to tell one day in the future, about how I once lived in a building without real toilets and hot showers. It will probably also mean that any hostel I choose to stay in in Nice will seem super nice by comparison, or at least won`t seem any worse.

Also, Happy Birthday Mom! (and happy valentines to everyone else)