Holidaze and Rivieras

I got a bed in a dorm and before I had time to grab my things to go do some work on the GIFTs project, I made a friend. And then another. And then another. And then another. OY. Needless to say, I got no work done, partied til the wee hours of the morning with my new friends and woke up to my friend calling me to ask when I was coming over.

Ap, who I know from McGill Enviro program, graduated last April and I hadn’t seen her since. We arranged a place to meet and had a much-needed cheesy run and hug moment on the street J I stayed with her and her dad at their apartment, which was in the process of being packed up. Her dad just retired from his job at WFP and they are moving to Florida. Ap just got into a masters program at Columbia! It’s so amazing to see where all my friends from enviro are going and what they are specializing in. Our group of friends from McGill are scattered all over the world now and even if we haven’t spoken in a while, all it takes is a little message and it’s like no time has passed!

It was so wonderful to see her. We spent a lovely few days together and I got the food and shopping tour of Rome that I wanted. The days were filled with lots of sun, laughing, giggling and catching up on the past year. We did a little bit of sightseeing. Ap kept luring me to interesting places with the promise of good food. Sneaky.

I booked a flight to Cannes to come visit my aunt and uncle. My uncle was here working and my aunt came to play! It was so great to see them. We shared a lovely teeny apartment that turned out to be just perfect for the three of us. It was like extreme luxury camping. My first full day here required a change of wardrobe. I had packed for late winter/early spring and the weather has since changed to summer. Hot, sunny, summer. Poor me. I know. But, I get grumpy when I’m hot and sweaty. So, new clothes were needed. The morning consisted of a long walk to find a non-existent public pool with my aunt and her cousin B, also here for work. The afternoon consisted of a very successful shopping mission, during which I purchased the exact items I wanted.

 
Yesterday, we woke up and had a lazy breakfast on our sunny balcony and then headed out for our day of exploring. Our mission was to find a coastal walk on le Cap d’Antibes. My aunt and I took the train down the coast a little and got off the train in Antibes. We navigated our way around and then hopped in a taxi and were dropped at the beginning of the trail. 

The walk was glorious. The trail was beautifully constructed from carved flat stones and laid out perfectly along the edge of the water. We stopped to eat our prepacked lunch at a perfect spot with a chair-like perch on the white rocks of the cliff. Our view while eating lunch was of the pristine blue sea, with little white sailboats bobbing along.

Auntie M and I made our way back to Cannes. An easy bus and train ride later, we were back in town, just in time for me to skype with my GIFTs supervisor. 

After my “work” meeting, I headed back to our cute little apartment and we got ready to go out for dinner with a friend of theirs from the biz. The restaurant was an Armenian place where the menu is set and the food is plentiful. Too plentiful. 

What ended up being the appetizers had filled us all up. Then there was the main course. Then there was the second main course. Then dessert. By the end of it, I thought I was going to pop. Their friend was a riot. He is an Austrian Jew from Uruguay who is constantly mistaken for a Spaniard in his own country. He had a wonderful way with words and kept us entertained throughout the meal. Very intense, funny and interesting. He requested that I make him sound taller than he is. 

I sent the aunt and uncle off on their next adventure to Barcelona and stayed behind to relax in the apartment in Cannes. I spent the last two days catching up on my GIFTs work, reading and lying in the sun on the balcony. Nothing extremely exciting, but exactly what I wanted to do. 

Now, I'm heading back home to Oxford for a few days before I head back to Montreal. My wife is meeting me at the homebase tonight and she is staying for a few days. A is taking us to the country and I can't think of a better way to finish off nearly four months of jumping around than spending some time in the country with loved ones.