two days two trips

Two little day trips this week, couldn't have been more different.


The first, on Thursday, to Villefranche-sur-mer, a small town 5 kilometers east of Nice. Just me and my beach towel, looking for a patch of gravel.

I found an old town in yellow and ochre with the medieval rue Obscure running underneath it. I found a deep bay of still, clear water, complete with sail boats and fishies. And yes, I found rocks small enough to be comfortable.

I'm going back.


Friday's day trip was actually a school trip. The Dance Department took us to the atelier of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and an exposition about the Ballets Russes. We visited with costumers and the lady in charge of all the ballet slippers and pointes, poked our noses in empty studios and sat in on a rehearsal for Cinderella, coming soon to a theatre in Shanghai.

I mourned for the prima ballerina I could have been.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in vain search of an open café. The old town was deserted, all the hullabaloo was in the port (something to do with expensive yachts, lest we forget we were in Monaco).



By the end of the afternoon I was hot, bothered, undercaffeinated and exhausted. Too many tall buildings, too many big cars, too many fancy boats. Claustrophobic, really.


I'll be back, but only for the ballet.