Copenhagen: From Bikes to Business

Last week I spent a few days in Copenhagen. The last time I was in that city was 1972, when I was 10, travelling through Germany, Denmark and Sweden with my family, visiting various foreign exchange students who had spent time in our home in the US. What I remembered about Denmark was Tivoli Garden and the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, and Legoland, found in Billund, Jutland, on the mainland of Denmark.

Rather than a tourist visit, my shuttle to the island city on the Bering Sea was to spend some time at a business conference, Financial Information Summit 2009, sponsored by Inside Market Data and Inside Reference Data, two industry magazines targeting the financial services industry. It was also an opportunity to meet a member of the European Central Bank, who is presently working on the bank's response to the global financial crisis, and a potential employer for me.

In between conference sessions, I got a chance to take a quick walk downtown to reconnect with the memories of my youth. I put on my hat and gloves (glad I remembered them) and headed out in the biting wind with a map in hand. I found Tivoli Garden quite easily, it is an outdoors amusement garden in the center of town, but, no surprise, it was not open. It opens on April 4 (as Legoland will, according to its website). I took a few pictures, and then followed my map, to see the Town Hall, wander down a pedestrian way filled with the typical tourist stores, and then to the canals, to see the Parliament building, and the Bourse (Stock Market).

I found some churches (Kirke) along the way, and saw plenty of bicyclists on the streets. Despite the biting wind, many riders were gloveless and hatless - it must feel like spring to them! The sun was out, although there were snow squalls later in the afternoon. I found a coffee store along the way to enjoy a latte (spending 36 Danish Krone on it! I don't want to know how much that was.), but didn't see any Starbucks downtown (there was one in the airport - paid 40 DK for that latte). A curiousity for me was the number of hot dog carts downtown; clearly a common take away lunch for the natives. The desk clerk at the hotel told me that a typical Danish dessert was ice cream in a waffle - but we have those in the States too, so I demurred.

As I headed back to the hotel, I got a little lost on a small piece of land surrounded by canals, called Christianshavn, presumably after Hans Christian Anderson, but following my map, I discovered the small park across from the hotel (which would have been a great place to run outside; I had worked out in the hotel fitness center). I never made it to see the Little Mermaid, but having seen it once, figured that it would live on in my memory. Besides, my nephew, Nathan, had visited Copenhagen with my parents on an Elderhostel Grandparents/Grandkids tour several years ago, and had brought me back a souvenir of his visit, the Little Mermaid in a bottle. She lives on.

The conference itself was a wonderful opportunity to get back into the mode of networking and talking business - something I've been a little out of in the past few months. And I put on a suit! It's been a while since I did that too. I met several folks from London with whom I will keep in touch, and hope to continue conversations with the ECB, in hopes of giving them a hand with their project too.

In my previous post, I mused on the fact that it seems my adventure has morphed into my real life. That is certainly true about my move to France, and living and creating a life in Nice. But I have a new adventure, that of deciding what the next chapter of my work life will be. It started in January with writing an article on the financial crisis, and the conference in Copenhagen was an outgrowth of that project. I have other irons in the fire; I'm keeping an eye out for opportunities, and will continue to pursue them. Where will I land? I have no idea at this moment, but this adventure is just beginning.

This Feels Like Home

As many of my readers know, this month marks the fewest number of postings from me since I began my blog last July. There are several reasons for this, but I think the main one is that my adventure has finally become my home. I have settled into my life here, a life that my family and friends in the US would find remarkably similar to the one I lived in Arlington, Virginia. And this month was a good indicator of that change.

Last weekend was a typical "Ari" weekend, representing the things I like to do best. On Saturday, I had a concert with my chorus, the Choeur Gospel from the Eglise Reformee I attend here in Nice. On Sunday, I ran a 10 kilometer race in nearby Monaco. Both events were enough to get me out of my "homesickness" that I'd been experiencing the previous week - and a reminder that I have a home here too in Nice.

Concert - Choeur Gospel

Here's the invitation I sent to my French friends, letting them know about my Saturday concert:

* * *

J’aimerais t’inviter pour le Concert Choral le samedi prochain, le 21 mars, à 15h00, à Sanctuaire du Sacré Coeur, 22 rue de France, Nice (centre ville). Il y sera quatre choeurs qui chanteront dans le concert; je chanterai avec le Choeur Gospel de L’Église Réformée. C’est un petit choeur, pas trés fort, mais trés amiable!

Ce concert est au profit de la recherche médicale en ophtalmologie soutenue par l’association Retina France. Prix de l’entrée: 8€.

J’espère que tu viens voir cette soirée musicale!

* * *

The concert was taken a little blithely by my chorus, as this fundraiser for Retina France was not exactly our idea. It was interesting to watch my group (about which I have blogged a few times) prepare for this public performance. At our rehearsal two weeks before the concert, there was a fairly small group of us, as several members were out of town or on vacation. It was at that rehearsal that two women organizing the concert appeared, apparently to make sure we were going to be OK (at least that was my assessment). I was a little apprehensive about that myself; there were 12 of us at that rehearsal, and the conductor ended up having to sing tenor, because there were no tenors at that rehearsal. We were acceptable, but were not going to win any ovations with our performance, I thought.

One week later, I was amazed as four singers appeared at rehearsal that I had thought were not going to be joining us - three of them men, two of them tenors! The guys had all been singing with us throughout the year, but I had thought would not be around for the concert. Another young woman showed up who hadn't attended rehearsals since December; she lip-synced through the rehearsal and then didn't show up at the concert, no surprise. But this change of events was heartening to me, and I felt better about the upcoming performance. We rehearsed well that night, and planned to reconvene at 2 p.m. before the 3 p.m. concert on Saturday.

I had been alerted by my fellow soprano, Micheline, that the concert had received almost no publicity, although posters for the event had been distributed to us. So it was not too big a surprise on Saturday afternoon to find that the audience in this lovely Catholic church was tiny. The other two choirs were quite large, about 40 singers each (the four choir, a children's choir, had pulled out of the concert at the last minute); one was from a Catholic church in Antibes, the other was from this parish, it seemed. Our group of 14 singers seemed tiny in comparison. But our three choirs easily were double the size of the audience.

But we performed with enthusiasm! Gottfried, our choir's conductor, was in fine form, and my friend in the audience said he was the best of the three. Our concert program (annotated):

Jacob's Ladder (the familiar spiritual)
All Over The World (an unfamiliar spiritual)
Lord, The Light of Your Love (a modern Christian tune)
Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen (soloists, Josh, Gilles and me)
Heaven Is A Wonderful Place (an unfamiliar spiritual)
Little Lamb (an unfamiliar spiritual)
The Blessing of Aaron (a familiar sounding benediction with a seven-fold amen)

It was fun and hopefully my friends who didn't make it will have another opportunity to hear me and the group again!

Monaco International Marathon & 10 KM Race

Sunday morning was the Monaco International Marathon and 10Km race. I had gone to Monaco on Friday afternoon to pick up my race number, and walk through the Racer's Expo in the Stade Louis II - the soccer stadium for Monaco's soccer (aka football) team. I attempted to walk a bit of the course too, but that was not productive, as we were to run on roads through Monaco, and they were all full of traffic that Friday afternoon!

On Sunday morning I walked to the bus station and took a bus to Monaco at 7:30 .am., to get there in plenty of time for the 9:45 a.m. start. There were other racers on the bus with me, but I assumed many of them would be running the marathon, which began at 9 a.m. The marathon course went from Monaco to Italy and back through to France before ending in the Stadium. I had plenty of time when I got off the bus around 8:15, so I walked through the Stadium again, and saw all the preparations on going for the end of the race. The race start was at the harbor, about 1.5 km away - the same location where the Monaco Grand Prix will start at the end of May. It was a somewhat chilly morning, but I could tell that the sun would soon wear off the chill, and I was right. The marathon runners took off at 9 in the full sun; we 10k runners would have the same forty-five minutes later.

I watched the start of the marathon; there were several "elite" racers brought in for the race, as is most often the case with high-profile marathons these days. The Kenyans are the popular recruits, as they are very fast and often set course records; among the women elite racers for this race I saw an Eastern European or two, they also have reputations for running fast.

When the 10Km race set off at 9:45, I was already parched. I had gotten up early and had plenty of water, and also eaten a banana and a granola bar, but I had also made some coffee for myself, and in retrospect, I will not do that again. The caffeine effects were countered by the diuretic effects, unfortunately. My habit of not eating before I exercise had backfired in several races in the past, so in my recent races I have made it a point to eat something - even if only half a granola bar, before the race. It's no fun to race on fumes, which I have done.

The first 1 km of the race wound around the harbor, but then we turned up into the town, and up the hills toward Monte Carlo and its famous casino. We didn't actually run by the Casino, but you could see it from the road we ran on above the famous square. The race course took us by Princess Grace's Japanese Gardens and also by the Monte Carlo Country Club. The race was a little surreal; it was just us runners on the streets - there were very few folks on the streets watching us - and because we were running on the main streets of Monaco, there was virtually no noise around us - no cars could be heard. We ran under tunnels (nice, for their shade), and in the full sun back by the harbor on our way to the finish in the Stadium. About 3 km from the end, we raced past a water station, and I motioned indicating I'd like some water, but apparently the station was for the marathoners coming later - the volunteers at the table just cheered me on, ignoring my water shout and hand motions.

I was feeling pretty good throughout the race though; I enjoy climbing hills, and this course gave me that opportunity. I'm also a pretty good runner down hills, and saw myself making up time over my competitors on some of our downhills. In the last 3 km I was actually running by some guys on the course, which surprised me a little, but it was getting hot, and it is always easy to run too hard at the start of a race and peter out at the end. I had tried to keep at about 80% of my capacity through the race, which means for me, running with a labored breath, but not so labored that it hurts. That's not a good way to run a 10 km race anyway. But my training with weights and speed apparently were good enough to propel me up the ramp into the stadium and around the rubber track to sprint to the finish line in 42:24.

My finish pleased me greatly - especially since I had had no idea of my time throughout the race (note to race organizers, it's nice to see your time at some point during the race!). I got my medal and my lunch bag with its water bottle and wandered out of the stadium, just happy the race was over. I walked back into the stadium a little later, and wondered whether I should stick around and see if I had won anything. But my experience in France is that there are so few races and so many competitive runners that I never win anything (which is typical for me in the US races I run). So I went to find my bag so I could change and find the bus back to Nice.

It occurred to me later that I hadn't seen many women during the race, and that maybe I had done better than I had thought against my competition. So I went to the internet, eager to see what my results had been. The results were posted a little later that night, and I found that I had come in 3rd in my division - V1F - women aged 40-49. That was pretty exciting - but I still didn't win anything, as prizes were only given to the top winners in each division.

My prize to myself that afternoon was to spend some time on the Nice beach, and to plunge into the ocean for the first time in 2009! The water was definitely chilly (62 degrees Fahrenheit), but it felt good on my muscles for the 2 or 3 minutes I stayed in the water. I'll be back in the water again soon And racing again soon too (April 19).

Introducing My Parents to My France - A Travelogue

Friday, February 13

9:40 a.m. Arrival Nice Cote d’Azur airport, Delta Flight 82. I met my mom and dad at the airport shortly after 10 a.m.. They were looking none the worse for wear after leaving home the previous morning. And happily it’s a beautiful sunny day in Nice! We all took the express bus to the downtown train station; then walked the two blocks walk to my apartment in the Musician’s Quarter.

We spent the rest of the morning getting settled in my apartment. I let Mom and Dad have my room for their visit; I moved myself into the living room – which turned out to be a good arrangement for all of us.

Afternoon – I took Mom and Dad down “my walk” to the beach, showing them places and people that I have come to know over my five months here. We walked briefly through the Old Town as well, so that they could see the open air markets, the courthouse, the gelato place, and the St. Répérate Cathedral, which they found quite interesting. I could tell the long day/short night was taking a toll on my folks; we took the tram home.

9 p.m. – Arrival of The King. After a cheese, cracker and hummus dinner, we walked over to Place Massena and enjoyed the first night of Carnaval with the King and Queen. The music was loud, the announcer was uninterpretable, but we enjoyed the festivities. And we experienced our first silly string, one of the traditions, it turns out, of French parades.

Saturday, February 14 – Valentine’s Day

Morning – I had given my folks the option of coming to my gym with me, and Mom took me up on it this morning. After having figured out what she would wear the night before. Mom joined me for the Abdominal (Abdos) and Stretch Class at FitnessLand. On our 15 minute walk over there, Mom spied the bakery with Valentine treats; on the way back, we bought a few fruit tarts for Dad to celebrate the holiday.

2:30 p.m. Flower Parade – Priscilla arrived to join us for a walk to the Promenade. It was chilly, and we came prepared with hats, gloves and a fleece blanket. I carried snacks as well, always a good idea. The parade began late, but once it started, it seemed it would never stop. The floats did a circuit up and down the Promenade in front of the stands at least twice – maybe three times. Part of the reason is that the flower floats (think Rose Bowl Parade on New Year’s Day) distribute their flowers after one full circuit has been completed. There were other floats too, sponsored by different countries, and different regions in France. The sun was out the entire time, so we didn’t get too cold.

6 p.m. My friend Christiane joined us all for dinner in my apartment after the parade. We had ratatouille and German wurst, and celebrated St. Valentines with gifts and chocolate, of course! Our guests leave around 9:30, and my travelers were in bed not long after…

Sunday, February 15

10:15 a.m. Church service. Mom and Dad were pleased to come with me to see my church in Nice, the Église Réformée. On our way into church that morning, they met Odette and Philippe, my choir friends. I tried to do some interpreting for Dad during the service, but he finally indicated that he was happy enough just to sit there. Neither Mom or Dad know French. I gave my Dad some instruction when he arrived that there was a 50% rule. Fifty percent of the time the word in French that looks like an English word is the same as the English word. The other 50% of the time, it is a different word completely. After the service, Odette asked me if we could have dinner over at their home while my parents were visiting. We finally agreed on dinner on Tuesday night; and once they heard we would be in their neighborhood that afternoon, they invited us over for coffee later that day. I was slightly apprehensive about how this would all work out, but I need not have been.

After an omelette lunch (made by Dad), and a few short naps, we headed out on bus to Musée Chagall. Dad had Rick Steeve’s Provence and Cote D’Azur Guide that I had given him for Christmas, which turned out to have a very handy “tour” of the museum, explaining Chagall’s paintings. It gave us a better idea of what we were seeing, for sure! The museum holds only about 20 paintings of Chagall’s, and is one of the few museums in Nice that you have to pay for. But then you can say you’ve been there!

After leaving the museum, we wandered around the Cimiez neighborhood, until it was close enough to 5 o’clock for me to call Odette and let her know we were on our way over for tea. We had a lovely visit with them for about an hour; I learned that the two of them were quite good English speakers, and realized that dinner with them on Tuesday would be quite pleasant. Philippe drove us home afterward, and we had a quiet pasta dinner at home.

Monday, February 16

Mom and Dad are still waking up at odd hours in the night, and sleeping late, so I get up in the morning and go for a run. After breakfast and some puzzling (Dad has started the puzzle Mom brought along for the trip – hmm, that’s a new one, eh?), we head out around noon for our trip to St. Jean, picking up sandwiches on the way to the bus station. We take the 1:15 bus to St.-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and enjoy the walk around the point – with wonderful views of Nice to the west. There’s a strong wind, but the sun is out and it is quite pleasant. I warn Mom and Dad before we set out that it’s a long walk, but they are definitely troopers, and we finish the walk within 2 hours. When we get to the St. Jean harbor, we have a well-earned coffee and croissant before heading back on the bus to Nice around 6 p.m.

Tuesday, February 17

Morning – Trip to Grasse. As arranged with Priscilla over the weekend, this is our day to visit Grasse. I find out before we leave that the newly-open International Museum of Perfume (Musée Internationale de la Parfumerie) is not open on Tuesdays, but there will be other things to do in town. We take 11 a.m. bus to Grasse (about an hour and a half trip, with some lovely views as the bus climbs into the mountains outside Nice) and meet Priscilla in town for lunch. We enjoy pizzas and salads and Provencal rosé wine at a restaurant in the old town. After lunch, the three of us visit the Fragonard Museum (Fragonard is one of the three major perfumeries in Grasse), and luck out with a private tour in English, as there are no other English-speaking visitors. We buy quite a few soaps before heading out to visit the Cathedral and a few shops before heading back to the bus station to catch the 4 p.m. bus. It’s the bus taking all the kids home from school, it appears, so the ride back is noisy, but we get home in time to take short naps before our evening engagement.

7:30 p.m. Philippe arrives to take us to his home for dinner. It turns out when we arrive for dinner that Odette has invited her next door neighbor to join us, as she also speaks English well. This phenomenon of inviting English speakers to help make the English-speaking visitors feel at home is familiar to me. Every time I visit my friend Uli in Germany, he is great about inviting the folks he knows speak English well to join us for dinner (I visit enough now that I know most of these people pretty well too!). Although she is not feeling well, the neighbor stays through dinner, and she and I have an animated conversation. We have champagne for the cocktail hour, along with paté on fruit bread, and salty snacks – and for dinner Odette prepares a scallop/asparagus appetizer, followed by a Provencal stew with rice. Lovely. Dessert is fruit compote with cinnamon ice cream. Philippe pours white and red wine, and after dinner, treats me to a homemade plum brandy (made by Odette’s uncle). It is lovely, and he offers me a bottle to take home – which I accept!

Wednesday, February 18

I wake up and go for a run, instead of the gym visit originally planned, so we can be ready to meet Philippe at 10 a.m. He has offered to take us to La Turbie, a little town on the cliffs above Monaco, to take in the view. We visit the Roman Trophée – Philippe, Dad and I climb up the tower for a fantastic view, and then visit the small museum on the grounds. Then Philippe takes us to another lookout spot (Place of the Dog – referring to the dog in the Nice flag, I believe), for another gorgeous view of the Mediterranean and surrounding coastline.

Philippe then drives us to St. Laurent du Var, to meet up at La Moorea restaurant for lunch with Erick planned for 12:30. Erick has trouble finding parking, but eventually joins us and we enjoy a lovely lunch of seafood appetizers and paté. We share a chocolate moelleux dessert, and then the owner sends over Limoncello for our après lunch drink – Mom is in seventh heaven! It’s her favorite drink since being introduced to it two years ago in Italy, when we stayed in Ravello for Christmas. Erick drives us back to Nice, and we listen to three songs he would like to record as part of our song project. It’s 3 in the afternoon…

We take the afternoon to relax and pack for the trip the next day to Provence.

8:30 p.m. I leave for choir rehearsal at the Église Réformée. Odette is there – and has lovely things to say about mom and dad: “sympa” – very nice (“sympatique”) in colloquial French.

Thursday, February 19

Morning – Dad and I go to Europcar to pick up our rental car at the train station at 8 a.m. Once we’ve packed up the car on Avenue Auber, we head out East toward Provence around 9 a.m. We arrive in Aix-en-Provence around 11 a.m. and park so we can walk around the town. We use Dad’s book, Rick Steeve’s Provence, to take the walk around the Old Town (the book is coming in handy!). We find some open air markets, and mom has a chance to buy some things (she likes to shop). We wander into the town hall square, and find students protesting – or rather, supporting the faculty, which is currently on strike, I believe. We find some lunch in the square, and then head back to the car around 2, so we can head to Oppède, where we will spend two nights.

We find Oppède easily, and since we are there before our announced 4 p.m. arrival time, we wander around the old town, and explore the castle. Mom has some trouble with the steep climb to the castle, but we take our time. It is perched high in the valley, and has some lovely views. It is beginning to darken, and the chill starts to seep into our bones…

After 4, we head into the hotel, and Roger welcomes us and shows us our room. It is on the first floor (second, for Americans) and has two beds and a lovely bathroom. But it is a COLD, even with the small kerosene heater on the floor. We curl up in bed to get warm (I take a bath) before our dinner, scheduled for 7:15, downstairs.

Priscilla arrives just before 7:30 to join us for dinner in the basement (cave) restaurant of Belle de Nuit. The basement used to be used as a bakery, and has a lovely old bread oven, and very low ceilings. The room is decorated with art from local artists, and with lots of candles for illumination. Laurie has cooked up a wonderful dinner: Salad with popcorn shrimp and avocado, duck with regional vegetables, and a apple tart dessert with homemade vanilla ice cream. It’s a bit chilly in the restaurant too, but our conversation warms the room.

Friday, February 20

I wake up early, having had a very warm night under too many blanket, and head out for a run in the chilly morning air. The sun is shining and it looks to be another beautiful day. After a breakfast of pancakes and good coffee, Mom and Dad and I head out for Avignon for day trip. Priscilla is off to do a day hike on her own in the valley. With some good instructions from our host Roger, we find our way into town, and find a parking spot even! It’s about 11 when we get there, and once parked, we just wander for a bit. We try and figure out where we are with the guide book, and are looking for the farmer’s market that is supposed to be in progress on Friday mornings. We aren’t successful in finding the market square until later in the day (too late for the farmers), but we do find the “permanent” market in town, and wander through the cavernous hall (reminded me of Philadelphia’s Terminal Market downtown) with all of its vendors of pasta, olive oils, shellfish, fruits and vegetables, breads and pastries.

From the market we headed toward the Pope’s Palace and then to the Avignon Bridge. Along the way, Mom did some shopping at a Provençal tourist shop - by now we were doing cost comparisons on items, to make sure she was getting a good deal. ;-) We found that you had to pay to cross what was left of the bridge, so instead we walked up a long flight of stairs to the Palace (Mom doing a good job of keeping her heart rate down), and took in the lovely views from above across the river. Up there, we found a garden and sat down on a bench in the sun near a small pond filled with ducks to enjoy our picnic lunch. We had bread and cheese, apples and chocolate. It was really quite pleasant, if not warm.

Afterwards, we walked back down past the Cathedral (a quick walk inside, it was too cold!), and then back through the town, where we found the market square and some other shops, and the Tourist Office, where I picked up a map. We were looking for a place to buy a beignet, which my mom had spied earlier in the day and wanted to get – and then a place for coffee. We found the beignet (chocolate filled) and then found a nice outdoor café in the sun, in a quiet location not far from our car. We enjoyed café crème and the sun before getting in the car for the ride back, around 3 p.m.

When we got back to Belle de Nuit, we all took naps, getting up around 7:30 to head out toward a nearby town, Bonnieux, where we were told we could find a restaurant for dinner. It was a long and windy road, but we finally found the town, and a brasserie-pizzeria, Les Terrasses, perched on the side of the hill, where we enjoyed a hardy dinner. We especially liked the open wood fireplace in the center of the restaurant. I had a local sausage with pommes frites, Mom and Dad both had a cutlet of some sort. It started getting more crowded as we were leaving, around 9:30 p.m. But we were ready for bed.

Saturday, February 21

This morning we sleep in a little, and meet up with Priscilla again for breakfast prepared by our hosts. It’s oatmeal this morning, another good choice for a chilly morning! Over breakfast, we share with Roger and Laurie our plans to visit Marseille, and Roger provides me with ideas for where to park, where to eat, and what to do while we’re in the city. We say our goodbyes and head out for the autoroute to Marseille. Just as we go through the toll booth, Dad pulls his hand out of his pocket and says, “I have the room key!” I stop the car on the other side of the toll booth, and we try to contact Laurie to see if we should turn around. But we finally decide that we don’t think they have any more visitors arriving (that’s what we remember) and that we can mail the key back promptly. Not a crisis, we deem, and I head back down the highway to Marseille.

It’s another beautiful sunny day, and we get to Marseille around noon. We find parking on the street where Roger had suggested, and we get out and wander around the Old Port and into the city. We can see the Notre Dame cathedral on the hill above the port, and we encounter a flower market on the sidewalks as we walk. Mimosas are in full bloom in this season; we saw them in the Carnaval Flower Parade, we saw them proliferating on the hills outside Mandelieu on our drive to the west, and in all the flower markets in the towns we have visited. Beautiful yellow flowers in big bunches. Makes you think of spring.

We find the Tourist Office to pick up city maps, and then I encourage us to the commercial center, where I can find a public bathroom. We wander through a Galeries Lafayette store, and visit a Nature et Découverte store to buy a back pillow for Dad (I have found mine to be extraordinarily helpful on long trips where sitting is involved), and then Mom and Dad share a chocolate gelato before we head back into the downtown melee.

We don’t have to wander too far to find the seafood restaurant that Roger had recommended highly, Toinou. They are busy shucking oysters and preparing shellfish platters on the street; we head into the restaurant and bag an outside table to enjoy our lunch.

After lunch, I race back to the car to make sure we don’t get a parking ticket, and Mom and Dad follow. Soon we are on the road, after driving around the seaside drive around the town (Boulevard John F. Kennedy) for wonderful views of the sea. Once on the autoroute, it doesn’t take us long to get back to the Nice area; so I drop off the A8 in Cannes, and drive from Cannes to Nice along the seaside. It’s Saturday afternoon, and there’s quite a bit of traffic, but Mom and Dad get to see the boats and crowds along the small towns of the Cote d’Azur (Cannes, Juan-le-Pins, Antibes, Villeneuve-Loubet, et Cros-de-Cagnes).

Once back in Nice, I return the car and we all crash. It was an enjoyable but long three days!

Sunday, February 22

Sunday morning, Mom and Dad are game to join me for church (in French) once again. They get to see Odette and Phillipe again, and I get to introduce them to a few more people.

After church, Dad makes omelettes again, and we relax. Dad is still working on the puzzle, and he’s starting to get anxious about finishing it before he has to leave. So Mom and I head out to the beach, to get some sun and catch up on things. We do a little more shopping too. Quiet evening at home.

Monday, February 23

This morning, after my run, I find out that my Dad has been up all night feeling sick….which puts a pall on things for sure. Mom and I do what we can for Dad, but he’s just not a happy camper. We finally leave him alone to do some food shopping, and later spend some more time at the beach. He just needs to sleep, it seems. It’s a good day to have some down time anyway. Nobody complains.

Tuesday, February 24 – Mardi Gras

I head for the gym this morning, and learn that Dad is feeling better, if not well. We take it easy again, and Mom and I plan the evening’s dinner, as Christiane will be joining us in advance of the Parade of Lights later in the evening.

Christiane arrives around 6, with a lovely chocolate cake for our dessert. I have planned for us to Cassoulet, which is a traditional Provencal dish, with goose. I had made Cassoulet for a dinner party at my home in Arlington a year ago, and wanted to see what the real thing was like, so I bought a few cans of the casserole in my local Carrefour. I served it with rice, and Mom made brussel sprouts – it was a good dinner.

Dad didn’t join us for dinner, but he did join us for the Carnavalesque Illuminé. We headed out for the Place Massena around 8:30 for the 9 p.m. start. The lights were strobing, the music was thumping, and there were definitely crowds on this Mardi Gras evening. We had tickets so we could sit in the stands and watch the parade, but it was also possible to stand in the center of the plaza between the stands and watch the parade for free – not something you would see at an American parade of this type! The vendors were selling confetti and silly string – items with which we were now well acquainted. For this event, Mom had bought a yellow-haired wig – her way of getting into the spirit – but there were few others dressed up for the event.

The theme of the Parades this year was “Deception” – and while a few of the floats were recognizable in their message, many were not. A little bit lost in translation, I think. But it was a fascinating evening, and unlike any other parade I had attended – with the light show, the fantastic floats, the milling crowds and the incessant head-throbbing music (oh, that comes with everything these days, doesn’t it?).

The parade ended with a whimper (as do most things French), and we followed the crowds out of the stands and walked home around 10:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 25 – Ash Wednesday

There was only one thing left to do that was on the list that Mom wanted to do – go see the Matisse Museum. And happily, Dad was feeling better enough this day to want to join us for the trip. We took it easy in the morning, but headed out on the bus north to Cimiez around 2 to visit the Musée Matisse. We didn’t have a tour book to walk us through the museum this time, but we enjoyed it anyway. Lots of paintings from every facet of the artist’s oeuvre, and in a lovely old Italian mansion on the top of the hill. No charge for this museum. After wandering around, we walked back down the hill towards Odette’s home. She had called to see if Mom and Dad could come over once more, but hadn’t realized their stay was so (!) short. We had arranged to come by for a last visit after our museuming; and so we arrived around 4 p.m. to spend some time with her (Philippe was at a bridge game). We had a lovely visit with her, and then she drove us back home, so we could be there for Priscilla’s arrival – she had asked to join us for dinner that night.

I have to say, the welcome that all my friends, French, American and German, gave my parents was wonderful, and made their visit here that much more special. They still say, “Tell all our friends hello” when they call me now. And I am happy to return the favor.

Our last dinner together was over ratatouille and cheese and bread and other leftovers, including chocolate cake and ice cream. Priscilla, Mom and I did Amherst catch-ups while Dad worked feverishly to finish the puzzle (which as yet remains unfinished in my living room). Mom and Dad had packed earlier in the day, so there was no final rush needed…

Thursday, February 26

Everyone is up early, although unnecessarily, as we don’t have to leave until 9 a.m. from the train station. But Dad is anxious, and we get there in plenty of time, and are at the airport in plenty of time for their 11:25 flight. We give big hugs, and I am sorry to see them go. It was a good visit.

Checking In

Faithful Readers,

Sorry to have been keeping you in the dark over the past few weeks, but it's been hard to keep track of my own life, much less write about it! Hyperbole, I know. ;-) My next post will be a more detailed update from my parents' visit last month, and I'll also post some more pictures from the closing ceremonies of Carnaval.

My absence was also occasioned by last week's visit to the States, which was a blur of visits and errands. In Washington, I fit in visits with friends Vivien, Becky (and Gabriel and Rueben), Bill, Beth and Reilly, Steve, and my brother in law Kenny, nephew Nathan, and Tim, Mac and his friend. In New York City, I saw my niece Chelsea, and friends Denny, Gail & John, Dennis, David, Andre, Rick and Jeff. Gail, John, Dennis and I had an excellent meal at Aja, on Sixth Avenue at 10th Street (their website only shows the 1st Avenue location). On the errands side, in Washington, I saw Dr. Maser, visited Rose at Hair Cuttery in Vienna, and had photos taken at Mattox Photography. In NYC, I had the opportunity to visit with the new Vice President for Development at Barnard College, Bobbi Mark.

Now back in Nice, I'll be working on my job hunt, preparing for my choral concert next weekend, getting back in shape for a 10K race in Monaco next weekend, and continue working with my friends Bill and Erick on our writing and music projects, respectively. Priscilla and I will be headed off on a hike into the mountains this weekend; it sounds like a great location for picture-taking. Never a dull moment!

Back to watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" with French sub-titles on ARTE TV. Even more funny than I remembered...