LA MER MEDITERRANÉE
Dear Caroline,
The school has placed me in a new host family. It’s so far from the school, like an hour and a half by bus away from the school, which includes a 20 minute hike in the mountains. In normal circumstances I can’t do a hike, but this hike has no sidewalks and is on a highway and there’s no street lights. Honestly it’s just dangerous, even without the crazy high temperatures we are having here in Nice. Just to get to class on time and in one piece I’ve been taking Ubers to and from school which is really expensive and eating into my food budget. I’ve asked the school for another placement but they said it will take another two weeks. I don’t know if I can afford that. Thankfully my dad and Sarvy are visiting for a couple days. It will keep my mind off this disappointing situation.
One thing I really wanted to do in Nice is go to a Beach Club. I was so excited when my dad said they were going to a beach club. We lounged around had lunch and then Sarvy took me shopping for a bathing suit. I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to swim in the Mediterranean with my dad. The sea is a strange one, it’s cold but once you get used to it there’s an undercurrent of cool water that is very refreshing. Also Nice’s beaches are not sand beaches, it’s all stone , little pebbles which is a lot harder to walk on than I thought. Getting into the water is simple enough, if not a little uncomfortable. The challenge comes when you try to get out of the water. Unlike a Sandy beach, a pebble beach is not as stable when the waves pull away. So once you think you have your footing it soon dissolves with the tide and you’re back into the water. That’s what happened to me! My dad had to drag me out, I nearly lost my bathing suit in the process, but I survived. I hope I get another chance to swim in the sea, I really enjoyed it.
After all that swimming we went out for dinner. each night we’ve been picking restaurants on the pedestrian street of Massena. there’s some crazy cool places, there’s even a restaurant that’s Quebec themed and serves all the French Canadian favourites. My dad and Sarvy were really leaning into the french classics. He ordered “moules et frites” and Sarvy ordered “sole Meunière”, the latter being such an old-fashioned dish it was very difficult to find and very expensive. Because we we were by the sea when you order moules, which is mussels, you get a never ending bucket of them, and it’s super cheap. With dinner in our bellies it was time for dessert, Sarvy had already decided on the Strawberry Melba based on the image that was in the menu. I was skeptical about the truth of the image and warned her that she might not get what was advertised, but she stuck to her convictions and ordered it. To our surprise it showed up as advertised and Sarvy was full of joy. My dad and I opted for gelato at one of the parlours on our post dinner walk.
It has been such a wonderful few days with my dad and Sarvy in Nice. It has made up for all the crazy challenges I’ve been having with the school. Hopefully the rest of the trip is this fun!
