Adventures in the south of France

Hi everybody!

Holy cats I feel like it has been forever since I have updated you, but life has been pretty chill lately! This past weekend I went to Nice, France for the weekend and enjoyed a lot (a little too much) sun and relaxed for a few days. The weeks before that were pretty slow. Two weeks ago we were at Monroe's, our favorite pub in Galway, because they do Irish dancing on Tuesday nights and we usually go and watch. The atmosphere is so fun and the music is great. We were there early and had dinner, and the little old man who loves to teach American girls to dance came right to our table and told us to get up and dance. He taught us a few group dances before the Regulars came in, and then danced with each of us individually with the "prfessionals" haha, the real Irish people who come every week. It was so so much fun, his name is Michael and he is probably 75ish, and has more energy then anyone I know! It was my goal to dance with him at least once while I was here, and even though I obviously had absolutely no idea what I was doing he was a great teacher and didn't care. It made me remember why I picked Ireland!

Two weekends ago my friend Angie who is studying in London came to visit just for a quick two days. It was great to have a visitor, and even though we didn't do very much except stay around Galway it is always nice to see a friendly face!

Friday I left for Nice and was so excited to see the sun. We got to France about 5:45 and found our way to our hotel. We had found a super cheap hotel which was even cheaper then any of the hostels which was really great, it wasn't anything fancy but it was nice to have clean towels and someone make our beds even just for a few days! It is the little things in life that just make it better haha. After we found our hotel we made our way down to the water, which was about two blocks from our hotel, and walked along the water for a while until we found a restaurant that we liked, which was not difficult. It was a cute little open restaurant right on the water, and eating seafood, drinking wine, and looking out onto the ocean made the night SO perfect. We were exhausted from traveling and didn't really know much about the city yet so we made it an early night and headed back so we could get up early and enjoy the beach fully the next day!

Saturday we woke up and walked along the entire coast just checking things out and found that it was really really quiet. When we got back to our hotel it turns out we walked in the opposite direction of all of the actual city, but oh well it was so nice! We found a famous flower and food market down by the water and bought amazing picnic food, bread, cheese, olives, fruit, absolutely wonderful. We made our way down to the beach and sat and relaxed all afternoon. As much as I love Ireland I was definitely missing the sun, and it was so strong I think my body went into shock! It's like the first day of summer after a long MN winter. After we had our fill of sun for the day we wandered until we found a gelato stand and enjoyed yummy gelato while we walked the city a little bit. It is a super cute town filled with restaurants and shops. The crowd is a bit older then I expected, but it was so much fun. I went to Palm Sunday Mass in French, it is always an experience going to mass in another language but it is also one of my favorite things to do. I love how even though I don't understand all the words, it is such a universal thing that I can respond to in English without knowing any French. They had olive branches instead of palms, but were selling super intricately folded palms outside the church. Holy Week is my absolute favorite time of the year, and I am really going to miss being home for the Triduum and Easter, but I guess I can't complain! After we found a restaurant for dinner where I had FANTASTIC pizza and then we found a few bars and cafes where we sat outside and enjoyed the night life.

Sunday we walked the opposite way on the coast back to the big port where a cruise ship had just come in. There were little celebrations and tours for the cruise members, and we just took in all of the huge boats and beautiful chateaus. The water is so ridiculously blue and clear that I could have just sat and looked at it for hours, which lets face it I did. We made our way back to the market for picnic day two, and found that it had gotten cloudy since the morning. Me, being not so smart, decided that I didn't get that burned the day before so I didn't need to put sunscreen on because it was cloudy. ROOKIE mistake. I FRIED the tops of my feet, my chest, and my back, but oh well I guess I still haven't learned after 21 years of summer! That night we found a great little seafood restaurant and then went in search of some fun. My friend Erin had a heard of a place called Wayne's which was supposed to be super fun so we asked our hotel desk man to look it up. When we got there it was a total tourist bar, but one of the most fun places I have ever been. There were big long tables where everybody just sat intermixed and made friends with whoever was next to them, we had Austrians on one side and a few French boys on our other side. Our waiter was a very attractive Australian man who was totally crazy, and I think the guys next to us where pretty much the only French people in the whole place! It was totally crazy, and then a live band started playing. After a little bit everybody started getting up on the tables and dancing, apparently that is what Wayne's is famous for. Now I am so not a person who gets up on tables and dances, but the atmosphere of this place was so much fun and crazy I had to hop up there! What made it even better is I they served Amaretto sours, my FAVORITE drink which I cannot find in Ireland. I was one happy camper.

Monday we didn't have to leave until late, so we found our last bakery for breakfast then walked to a Russian inspired church a few blocks away from our hotel. It was really cool, it looked like a Russian palace with the striped spires and all. We headed to the beach for our last few hours there. We were all pretty sunburned so it was a short trip out there where we all stayed pretty covered up, unlike a few of the women who were definitely topless, oh the differences in cultures. We found our last gelato and headed to the airport to make our way back to Ireland where there is no sun. To prove this to us it was raining when we landed and all last night. Thanks for throwing that in my face mother nature haha.

This week I am going to Dublin with Alexa's family who is here visiting, it is crazy that I have been here for over 3 months now and haven't been to Dublin yet except the airport! I am very excited to spend time with her family and see the city. Classes ended last week so I now have two papers and two finals at the end of April and then I am done which is so crazy! Time is flying! I am almost ready to come home, but not ready to leave. Crazy mix of emotions!

I love you all so much, sorry this was such a long one! I cannot wait to hear from you, you are all in my thoughts and prayers. Happy Easter!