The French Riviera Is Calling My Name!

We didn’t have to load the coaches to depart for Nice until nearly 1pm, so the morning was our own to spend however we chose. I was tempted to sleep in, but agreed to get up at 8am and go out shopping and exploring Avignon a little bit more with the girls. I was able to skype Brad at about 8:15 while I was getting ready for my Tuesday and he was still awake from his Monday (even though it was actually about 1:15am Tuesday morning). The time difference is so strange to wrap your head around, but I’m managing alright.
Let me just say I am so glad I woke up to go out shopping. I saw so much more of Avignon than I even knew existed while we were walking around. I bought something for mom that I think she’ll like, and some clothes for me. A girl just can't resist an H&M store! Laura and I had a quick bite to eat at McDonalds (yes I know, gross. But we had to have quick food!) and headed back to the hotel to pack and check out of our rooms.
On the bus ride, I was able to journal some and work on memorizing my part for the presentation this evening. I was a little nervous, but I know that everyone is in the same boat at some point or another on this trip.
Once we started driving into the town of Nice, we got to see the pristine blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. We were seriously just like little kids at Christmas time, all flocking to one side of the bus to get the best view of the water. Our hotel is the Hotel Westminster, located directly on the Promenade des Anglais which sits on the beach. The beaches here are rocky, not sand like we’re so accustomed to in the States, so that should be interesting tomorrow. As of right now, a group of us are planning on getting up in the morning, buying some tanning lotion, and heading out to the beach to rent chairs for the day. Supposedly its only 14 Euros which might be worth my comfort for the day! Tomorrow is just going to be spent laying out, sleeping, and relaxing on the beach. I seriously cannot wait! After hectic days in London and Paris, Nice is going to be my rest stop on this marathon of a trip.
Before we could go to the beach (or have dinner for that matter), we had to attend our orientation meeting, and hear from our speaker for the evening, Barbara Wilson, an expert on cultural diversity. She spoke to us about ways that French culture is different from that of the U.K. and from America. She pointed out some things to me that I probably would not have picked up on otherwise, like French people value their relationships with people over telling the truth under oath. In America, we’d normally tell the truth to avoid serving jail time.
Then it was time for us to present our presentation. It went really, really well actually!! I was super proud of our group and the skit that we had created. Ben was hilarious wearing his beret and attempting to speak in his fake French accent! After the presentation, Jay and Taylor even said that they thought ours was the best of the trip so far! Wow, what a compliment!  I’m just glad it’s over with now so we don’t have to stress about it anymore.

The meeting seemed to last forever, but when we finally got released at around 8:15pm, we hurried off to dinner to try to beat the rest of the group to the restaurant that was going to be the most popular. It worked! We went to Texas City (so typical, always wanting to go to the Texas place), and I had a taco plate (also, typical me). It was alright, but definitely not like what we get back at home.
After a fun dinner with Caitlin, CJ, Kinsey, Taylor, Jay, and me, I came back to the hotel just to make it an early night. Some of the crew was going out to Old Town where there are a lot of bars and pubs, but I just wasn’t feeling the going-out vibe, and would much rather relax and get some good, hard sleep. Beach day tomorrow!