Et oui, je reviens à Paris

Oh what a wonderful weekend. On the 20th I left (with my fellow CCA friends) for Nice for the weekend to celebrate Carnival and discover the beautiful Cote d'Azur. Wow, it was so beautiful in southern France. I definitely enjoyed everything about Nice- the food (canolis, pizza, gelato, yum!), the beach (there was no sand, just rocks!), the scenery, everything. We took two tours of Nice and took an adventure up along the biggest chateau there. Nice has a very strong Italian influence because it's so close to Italy, but the French there are very affirmative stating that they are French, not Italian in heritage, seeing as how France was a country before Italy was... Oh, and Carnival is this huge masqueraded festival that celebrates (in older times) the freedom that accompanies disguise before Lent/Ash Wednesday. So, yes, we celebrated in wonderful fashion.

Leaving the beautiful beaches of Nice was a bit of a drag, especially when I came back to dreary Paris. Now that's not exactly true, you know, Paris is glamorous, but not when it rains, and the sun doesn't shine here like it does in Nice. After a day or so, though, I found myself just as happy to be here as the first day of my arrival. It's good to be back.

Last night I went out with a friend to a bar to watch the soccer match between Lyon (France) and Barcelona (Spain). I learned who Thierry Henry (a Frenchman who currently plays for Barcelona) was when the entire bar erupted when he scored a goal; apparently he's really good (arguably the best player in the world, to be exact). After the game was over, we went to a cafe in the more residential corners of the Bastille where some musicians were performing a small concert. It was acoustic guitar like I'd never heard before, and something I'll never forgot. This is the sort of thing I can see my dad just loving, and it was nice to be reminded of him though I'm so far away.

On tap this week, I have scheduled another trip to Pere Lachaise Cemetary, a few museum trips (the first Sunday of every month grants free admission to all museums in Paris), some more ultimate frisbee (yay!).

Speaking of which, I didn't give my update of my first practice. (For those of you uninterested in ultimate, I would suggest moving onto the next paragraph, seeing as this will be detailed.) My first practice with Les Phoenix was last Wednesday night, and it was great! Though ultimate is an American game, the French have adopted their own vernacular for conserving the purity of the language (they try to keep English out of their language wherever and however they can). So, I had to learn a whole new set of terms for concepts I'd already understand, but in French. I found it rather difficult to remember what a "foul" (fault) was in French, or how to say "home" (gren...oulie?) versus "away" (horlage). I admit I'm a little out of shape, so after 3 hours of indoor ultimate, I was beat, especially since I had run earlier that day (bad idea maybe, but brilliant to play). But I left with such a big smile on my face. I notice that although there is a small language barrier between the players on my team and myself, no matter where you go, ultimate kids are still ultimate kids. Goofy, weird, happy. I felt at home with them. The ultimate scene in Paris is very active so I'm really looking forward to becoming a part of it. Wish me luck for my upcoming practices this Friday and Sunday!

Alas, I'm getting tired so I'll head off to bed for the night. Bonne nuit et à plus.