Nice is an understatement.

Well, my time is France this summer is drawing to a close. Luckily it ended with one of the most extraordinary weeks I can remember.

Monday May 28:
The group went to Ventimiglia, Italy for lunch and mostly just to say we went to Italy. We ate a delicious meal (caprese salad and calamari for me) at a restaurant right by the water, then spent some time on the beach, got gelato, and walked around the town a bit.

Notice the man in the background that tried to sell us
knock-off sunglasses moments after I took this picture.

The only thing I know in Italian is how to order gelato.

Tuesday May 29:
Started off the day at school, which was ten million times better than in Paris. Afterwards, Sydnie, Ariel, and I ate some amazing margarita pizza on the beach, followed by taking a nap in the sun and going swimming despite the fact that there were thousands of jellyfish eggs in the water. At least that's what we deducted they were after doing some research. I went running, which was magnificent, and then we watched tennis with Colette over dinner: Serena Williams verses some unknown French girl. The French girl won after a long streak of "avantages" and "equalités" and Colette was very pleased.

Running alongside this sea: Perfection.

Wednesday May 30:
After school our group headed a few towns over to the little ville of Eze. It's a town famous for their medieval city and perfume factory. We climbed to the top of the medieval city and ventured into the "jardin exotique", or exotic garden, which turned out to have some of the most gorgeous views.

Who has dreamt me?
Who has created me?
To whom have I said yes?

Sometimes I think the prettiest thing in the world is when
you can't tell where the sea ends and the sky begins.

We made a quick stop at the perfume factory and then headed down a path for what was supposed to be a 45 minute walk to Eze sur mer, the part of the town by the beach. It turned out to be a hike down a huge canyon but it was honestly one of my favorite parts of this whole trip. To be in the mountains and the trees, hiking down to the beach, and every once in a while get a glimpse of views like these... it was surreal. My calves are still knotted and sore (I was in flip flops. Who's surprised?) but I would not have it any other way. When we got to the bottom we found that there weren't any restaurants open, so we hopped on the train and took it one town over to Beaulieu for a three course dinner of escargots, lamb chops, and ice cream. Perfect day in my book.

Thursday May 31:
School in the morning, as usual, and then Sydnie and I made a beeline for the promenade alongside the beach and rented rollerblades. Apparently rollerblading is a favorite activity of the French, so we had to do it at least once. Even though it didn't exactly help our already sore legs and may have resulted in numerous blisters, it was a blast. After an hour of that, we went shopping for a while and then headed to the beach again. It was cloudy so we didn't say long before heading home for dinner. That night we walked down a few pedestrian streets and watched painters and street performers do their thing.

Rollerblading picture fail.

Friday June 1:
Might have skipped out on school two hours early... but it was our last day in France, what do you expect? Sydnie and I went to the marché to finish up our shopping and then spent the afternoon at the beach. There were no jellyfish eggs to be found this time so I swam for a long time, until my limbs started falling asleep because of how cold the water was. I could swim in the ocean forever, though. There is nothing better in the world.

Tonight we went to an opera, or tried to. We were on the very back row and I'm pretty sure that opera house doubles as a sauna. We could barely make it through the first act without passing out so we opted out of the other two thirds and (bet you can't guess) got crepes instead.

It's time to bid a final adieu to the Mediterranean, the Eiffel Tower, the cafés, the baguettes, the Metro, the showers, and the Nutella banana crepes made on the street. It's been one of the most amazing and life changing experiences for me, and I know that even after I leave it will continue to teach me. So, here it is: Au revoir. But I know it's really more like an à bientôt.