Another Day of Sunshine

Day 3 and another glorious day of sunshine on the Riviera with not a cloud in the sky.  The weather has been as advertised – not a drop of rain, temperatures hovering between 30-35 Celcius with no humidity and blue skies as far as the eye can see. 

It’s been 3 busy days of running around trying to get all of the administrative aspects of moving abroad out of the way – a royal pain in the butt!!    Initially nervous and unsure what to expect, the kids now seem quite excited about their new schools after a visit yesterday and today.   Maddy will attend Rothschild Public maternelle and premaire school located 100 meters from our apartment and Simona will attend college Roland Garros about a 15 minute walk.   Meetings with the school principals today made them feel far more comfortable and less nervous as each welcomed the girls.   Simona passed a verbal French “test” that allowed her to enter the regular grade 6 class with French children as opposed to the all ages (11-15) class for foreign kids with little to no knowledge of French.   She ably answered mind numbing and puzzling questions such as “comon t’appel tu?  Ou est-ce que tu habite? and avez vous une frere ou une soeur?”  

Our 2 bedroom apartment on rue Pastorelli, is ideally located in ‘centre ville’ just off of Jean Medecin the main shopping street in the city.   It’s a great neighbourhood about an 8-10 minute walk from the Mediterranean sea and no more than a 15 to 20 minute walk from anywhere in the city.  The apartment is located on the fifth floor of a new building and it is very clean.  While a bit on the small side, it should serve us well for the month of September until we move down the street to our larger 3 bedroom apartment on rue Blacas where we will live for the remaining 9 months.   The beauty of our current apartment is the large balcony overlooking a beautiful courtyard with a southern exposure  providing energizing sunshine all day.   Now if only it was overlooking the sea!!   Eating out on the balcony with the warmth of the Mediterranean sunshine adds extra flavour to our meals.

Speaking of which it’s amazing what sunshine does to the taste of fresh fruit and vegetables!!   The tomatoes are unbelievably tasty and with a drizzle of olive oil, basilico and French bagette I can’t think of a better way to start the day.  

While it’s only been a few days, we have made it a daily ritual to walk to the Cours Saleya market to buy our fresh fruit and vegetables.   It’s too bad that the hustle and bustle of daily lives doesn’t afford us the ability to buy our food daily.   The white peaches at this time of year are so syrupy sweet that we simply can’t keep them stocked.   Initially the kids were not overly keen to try the forest/wild strawberries but with just one taste, they now eat them like candy.   They are like no strawberries we’ve ever tasted.   I can’t imagine ever again buying those over-sized, tasteless imported strawberries back home.    With the overflow of nature’s bounty it’s hard not to want to be a celebrity chef walking the market to pick out the ingredients for tonight’s meal!!    Okay I won’t get carried away!! 

Today’s trip to the market was poorly timed (or perhaps not) at 11:30…..just after spending 2 plus hours registering Simona for school.   Famished as we were we couldn’t help but indulge in a tomato focaccia and pissaladiere (cooked onion and anchiovy pizza), a Nicois staple along with a quart of strawberries and quart of raspberries.   We sat along the pedestrian walkway on the “Prom” aka Promenade des Anglais feet hanging over the wall looking out over the emerald blue sea.   The beauty and privilege of sharing such a simple lunch in such a splendid setting was not lost on any of us.  

We’ve managed to squeeze in two half days at the beach and the kids had an absolute blast swimming in the sparkling waters.   Unlike the sandy beaches of the Caribbean the rocky beaches of the Riviera need some getting used to but once splashing in the warm emerald water the rocks become a distant nuisance.   I’m not sure why I’ve often romantacized about living along the ocean and still not sure whether it will live up to what I had in mind but there is certainly something soothing about walking along the Prom looking out into the waters. 

Its 1:15am and tomorrow we have an appointment at the kids school to register them for daily lunch at the school “cantine”.   Another unnecessary expense but one the girls have once again convinced us is a worthwhile expense that will allow them to more easily integrate with the other children.   Somehow daily lunch at the beach seems more appealing than le cantine…. perhaps Nancy and I will have to make it a daily, maybe bi-weekly outing sans kids.

Bon nuite mes amis!!

Sal