bourgoise beheme

boursoise beheme (BOBO): this is what my host mother referred to Americans who are cultured. HAHA. the irony, the contradiction. on urbandictionary.com :

2.	bobo	235 up, 75 down
	Bourgeois Bohême, in French. Yuppies or dinks who live as is they weren't, love to differentiate themselves by visiting foreign countries before the herd of ordinary tourists flock after them (Croatia a few years ago, now the Baltic states), eat alternative/fair trade/organic food such as "bio fair trade Miso soup". They tend to live in mixed neighbourhoods to be near the poor, but they send their children to private schools to avoid too close a contact with the natives and they price all the poor out of the neighbourhoods they gentrify. Of course they concentrate in some parts of Paris and never could live in "la province". They often vote for the Communists or the Greens but take the fullest advantage of the tax gifts offered by right-wing governments. Le "no logo", c'est tellement bobo!

it was interesting to hear this slang coming from a 50 year old french woman. hmm i wonder what she thinks about me., she often talks about other students from various states and their eccentricities. of course there has to be a texan who was completely well, southern american! it's interesting, she realizes there are many faces of Americans.

i am doing quite well. my spirit is being freed and my mind expanded. i am no longer afriad of change and am learning to welcome it. i am trusting God a lot, i am learning a lot. i am living. i am life.

when going to italy:

Melissa:

1 .do not make the same mistake as i did and order a "latte" (just milk) instead of ordering a cappuccino!!! haha. this could be fatal.

2. if you combine french, spanish, and english, you can probably converse with the Italians.

3. italy, like france never has decent bathroom facilities so make sure you use them when they are free and present.

4. when all else fails talk with your hands

5. the fashion is a bit synthetic in italy. i personally did not like it because it was overly primped and plastic. the men were a little too manicured and the women too processed looking... think victoria beckham. not really my idea of beauty. oh and they love fur! i saw many older women with fur coats. (Well just look at Donatella Versace).

In France, at least southern france most people wear all black, the men are very attractive of course and dress well, and the women are beautiful, but most of them seem to dress all the same and have the same types of haircuts. for young women long hair parted down the middle with straight bangs is very popular, also just long hair without bangs is popular. Almost all of the teenagers have black leather bomber jackets. And of course straight jeans with either boots or flats. There are a variety of haircuts for older women, many shortcuts. Although they dress well, they dress a little too synchronized for me. I think I will see more street types of fashion in Paris. :) i hope anyway!

the masquerade

I have returned from Venice. WOW. It's beautiful. St. Marco's square is amazing. There was a little market with antiques and used items on one of the streets so I bought a little painting of gondola in a canal. It is a good little souvenir from my visit. Unfortunately I did not buy a mask because 1. the ones i wanted were really expensive and 2. It would be very difficult to get it home in one piece. But if i decide to have a masquerade wedding one day (which is highly probable) I will have to order one online.

People really get into the Carnival in Venice. Some people work on their costumes all year round. The masks are ridiculous and extravagant! Some of them are so over the top. At times I could not tell if it was the Carnival or Halloween based on people's interesting costumes. Most of the narrow little pedestrian streets were stuffed full of people. At night there were police monitoring pedestrian traffic. ha. Oh also, we took the "boat metro" to and from our hostel because Venice is made up of islands and there is no bridge connecting them and no cars of the islands. Trying to figure out Italian was pretty interesting too.

Getting to and from Venice was pretty close to hell though... our guide was very disorganized (which isn't that surprising because every kind of business and organization in France is half-cocked, really unprofessional and unofficial) and the bus ride was over 9 hours each way, through the night.

It feels good to be back in France though, we were literally walking around all day for two days straight. Chloe and I went off the beaten path a little and discovered some great sights away from the chaos. It was nice, but traveling can be really stressful.

wish you were here! xoxo.

try and catch me now

it's funny. i've left the country, seemingly lost in my own land. and here i jet off to France, now i'm gridding the streets, finding the way, scanning the bus system, knowing no one-- in a way recreating myself.

...and it is here that i find exactly who i knew i always was. and i am so happy to have that veil lifted off of my face. it's very hard to explain but i feel much lighter. before i left i knew i had changed but i felt weighed down by something i could not pinpoint and i was not happy and i wanted to revert back but i did not know how. it was the most horrible feeling... and of course it got worse before it got better.

I am just so relived to be back. truly. now i feel like doing all of these ridiculous things and nothing is holding me back. I was trying before i left but i needed to be liberated by something else and finally i have achieved it. (long drawn out sigh). no more feeling sorry for myself.

VIOLETTE: my new french friend whom i meet for french/english language exchange at least once a week! she's so cute and nice. she talks a lot, and is getting her master's in French literature. each time we meet we have a topic to talk about, cultural differences, favorite books/music. it's so interesting!

VENICE: i'm leaving tomorrow for the weekend. i will be attending the carnival of venice so i am hoping to get an elaborate mask with feathers and pure decadence! ahh i can't believe i'm going! I am taking a bus, staying at a hostel, i'll have to take a boat taxi to the main island because the hostel is not on the island with St. Marco's square and all of the embellishments!

retourner

making myself laugh. i remember. bows and bright lipstick. fun & little games. well it's not over. it's just a stupid little circle and it's coming right back around. isn't it?

edith piaf knows.

don't regret what has happened, be anxious for what is yet to come

wow. it's hard to believe that i've only been here for three weeks. i feel like it's been so long, i have a routine and a little life set up. i've made much progress in assimulating to this new life.

sometimes when i'm walking home from the centre-ville i think to myself-- huh, i'm good at pretending-- being here like this, walking down this french road, residing in this french apartment, talking the french bus, haha. it's strange that you can actually do this at any point of your life, just pick up and change everything. my apartment is a half an hour walk from downtown, it's too long to make it to my 8:00 classes but i want to walk home more, it's in the upper 40s/50s so it's quite enjoyable, especially with my ipod.

tomorrow i meet my french language partner. i found her number on a board at Book & Bar, she sent me a photo of her and she looks miniature, kind of elvish. i'm excited to meet a real french person my age. hopefully we can be friends.

i'm still trying to rewire some of my responses to conditioned stimuli. mostly music...some of my favourite artists, that i can't just never listen to again. so i'm rewiring. it always has to get worse before it gets better. it's empowering at times.

I figure soon I will be like tempered metal... meaning metal that is put under extremely high heat almost to a liquid and then cooled, which in turn makes it indestructible... well no just very strong.

Selah.

je deteste le mistral (winds)

I spent Saturday in Marseille, a large port city on the Mediterranean Sea. It was beautiful! The sky and the sea were vibrant blue, and there were hundreds of boats in the vieux port. We climbed up a a big hill to get a comprehensive view of the city. There was a lot more diversity there, and things were less expensive than in Aix. The streets were overcrowded but Chloe and I managed to find a calmer part of town where there was a market just for old books, a playground for kids, and a little jazz band playing.

We found this very interesting eclectic store; it had vintage clothes/boots, art culture books (& holga cameras, but for 70 euros! ridiculous) and a cafe in back with a projector on mute but with subtitles. +++the lady let me used the washroom! i was searching for a public restroom and i was dying, i even bought something from a patisserie to use the bathroom, just to find it did not have one. catasrophic.

Chloe's mom has friends who live in Aix, and they invited Chloe and on to go to a play with them on this same day, so we met them at a cafe in Marseille. It was Jean Coctea's Infernal Machine (Oedipus) in French. It was pretty amazing--it was in the smallest theater i have ever been in and the actors were very expressive. I think last semester I watched the sequel (movie) to this play and wondered why i didn't understand it.

I saw this French movie "LOL" today. It was a coming of age movie. Although, I've decided that it takes people a long time to "come of age" because we have so long to grow up and so long to be young. I do not particularly like that. I think there are too many options, and with too many options, more to regret and question and change. To someone who knows themself, this could be a nuisance. I'll post the pubescent music video from the movie. hopefully it will entertain you.

my complete[ly] broken heart

Ok... so my life.
i live on the boundary line. I really like it here, my classes are challenging and sometimes i feel like i am missing something in class, and am confused, so you have to ask questions to the teacher in front of the entire class... and i don't know if i have ever told you this but i have always not liked asking questions in class.. i would rather search the entire book than doing so, maybe it's pride, it's not like i've ever been humilitated in class or anything, but i've had this complex. So now, we go around the class with our French homework and if i get an answer wrong, my teacher will explain why and ask me if i understand---of course i can't lie! even if it wanted to. But i am beginning to feel like it's less about what's in my peripherals and my goal is solely understanding, which has really put my pride aside.

And it's not even that other people always understand...it's a comical group, our class--made up of koreans, americans, a brit, a swede, a chinese, a columbian, and an italian. We spend 16 hours a week together, i'm beginning to feel fond of them, although i haven't hung out with any of them outside of class. We do a lot of excercises that ask what certain aspects of our culture is like, so not only am i learning things about France, but all of these other cultures! I really enjoy that.

There are so many times already on this trip that I've been level here, just going along on my day, and important people in my life have done something really great, just really overwhelmingly nice, and in that instand I will start crying, sobbing actually... I've never really been a crier or understood when people are always crying in movies and at little things, but this has been the firsts time in my life I am letting myself be affected by things..... at one moment it will be something that is missing inside of me, and later it will be that I am overwhelmed with love, though I am so far away from the people I care about most.

And i'm not worried about myself. i think this is psychologically the hardest thing i have ever done just because it's not a hurdle you jump over and you're done, but it's a continual displacement that I must work through every day on my own, but it is the best thing i have ever done for myself.

<3.

Qs

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
not after anyone, but for the meaning of my name: logical, truthful, honest

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU cried ?
haha... a couple days ago, but there are deep things that come to mind that put me on the verge of tears every day, i beginning to accept it.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING ?
sure, especially with a black liquidy pen

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT?
cheese!

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
ha. no. not ready for that part of my life.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOURSELF?
if i were the same person no, because i don't get along with people a lot like myself- territorial issues

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
yes, but not in a serious way. usually i think i am funnier than i really am, and more so entertain myself than anyone i'm talking to

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
all of em.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
over my dead body.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
recently: granola with dark chocolate chunks!

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
i don't have any shoes with laces!

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM
coffee/mint choco chip/cookie dough/cake batter

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
the aura they have surrounding them

15. RED OR PINK?
red & pink is one of my favourite colour combinations

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOU?
haha, not telling the real answer. but sometimes i wish i could lie, but my face reveals emotions i want to conceal.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
oh you know.

19. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
jeans and slippers

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
bon iver's newish e.p.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE?
euphoria, luminescence, enigma....some deep shade of purple i suppose

23. FAVOURITE SMELLS
old books, french streets (fresh bakery, coffee, and cigarettes), natural skin oils, saturday mornings at home--mom baking again...

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
melissa

25. Do you know the person who sent this to you?
yes

26. WHAT SPORTS DO YOU LIKE TO WATCH?
armwrestling

27. HAIR COLOUR?
black-brown

28. EYE COLOUR?
green

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
non.

30. FAVOURITE FOOD?
which category!?
fish, bread, fruit...chocolate

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
are these supposed to be opposites?

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Slumdog Millionaire

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING
black

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
summer>winter and fall>summer

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
it depends on many factors involved.

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
tartelette aux framboise

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
adventures of huckleberry finn and all the french magazines/advertising i can see

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
don't have one.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
La Plus Belle Vie

42. FAVORITE SOUNDS?
the cicadas in the big old maple tree at my old house, coffee pot perculating, clicking heals, fixing a bath, deep voices reading me books

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
joe cocker

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
here. now.

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
expecting too much of myself?

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
appleton

c'est bazarre!

1. at my university, there are only co-ed bathroom facilities (i will sometimes wash my hands and be next to a male specimen)
2. you don't need to refrigerate the milk here (it isn't dairy)
3. their butter is slightly sweet
4. you hardly put anything on a real crepe
5. i may be a slight wine expert by the time i return
6. they don't really have coffee shops here... you'll have to go to a cafe, which is not as casual and it does not have free wifi
7. almost 50% of people live in apartments in France
8. everything is smaller and more expensive :) but usually better
9. dessert = yogurt, cheese, or a fruit
10. portions are much smaller
11. even though the French are very dramatic in their speech (their intonation goes up and down a lot) they are pretty quiet interacting with their friends in public areas.
12. French people are not as friendly (My host mother says that the French are general difficult to please, capricious) and they seem always ready to react to something, any slight problem or occurrence in like a whiney, "i'm in middle school and begging my mother to let me go to a party" kind of way... it annoys me mostly.

The food i have been eating is delicious. I am going to have many ideas for meals when I return and just in time for farmer's market season!

I'm going to have to say I miss coffee shops.... Because cafes are more formal it just feels weird sprawling all of my things out on a table, sipping cafe creme and getting down to business. There's a waiter man permanently standing waiting for someone to ask for something, and its just not very cozy ( i have an image of myself staring out an icy window into a blizzard at e.p. and it warms my soul. haha. Actually at book & bar, it's pretty cozy--it's an English book store.. i guess it's pretty close to a coffee shop. Yeah, ok it is. It's a favourite place of mine.

And next week I am going to meet a random French person that i e-mailed there.... !

cannes 09

this is a possibility. only 09 of course! it will be two days before i return to the u.s. though, so i have time to accept it.

oh and luckily because of my free movie association this year, i will know a few of the movies in the competition!

vin

so i've been drinking wine every night with supper, which is great. BUT there's this problem, i've been having horrible dreams and not sleeping well. i will wake up many times in the night and it seems like each time i wake up i remember a different dream, of people, places, that i want to forget or at least not remember those aspects of our times together.

Part of my strategy for survival here is, not to listen to too much music with associations attached to them, so that this can be a fresh existence and i make it my own... i don't want to be remembering things that are history and thousands of miles away. my mind is in the state to burn bridges and that is exactly what i am doing, but i do not like it when remnants of the past creep in and cause me to reminisce a little to long. but that's life, it happened, and memories last forever.

wow, i have intense language classes. Today i had 6 hours of class in a row... all in FRENCH. i'm getting better at comprehension at least. It's interesting that i'm studying french for this semester here in france and when i return to the U.S. i won't be taking it any more, it's just this little segment of my life, tucked away here. i like that.

what's really interesting is that the French want to be American.... yeah. I can hardly find a radio station that plays solely french tunes, they have theaters that only play American movies, and people here seem to be really into American pop culture. I'm just overhearing french TV right now and a french woman is saying (in french) how she likes "sex in the city and deperate house wives". And the other day i turned on the TV and "will and grace" was on with french voice over. haha. ridiculous. some of my bus drivers solely listen to pop american music (beyonce, lady gaga, akon, etc.) Also, their advertisements will have these 50s american songs, and then french talking... it's just really weird how it seems like we've "taken over". i wonder if most other european countries are like that. it's funny that it seems like most european countries don't like us, yet they want to be us. contradiction.

i sometimes don't really even feel bad that we've sort of taken over, because if they did not like our ideals and what we stood for, they wouldn't want what we have, and thus they would not try to be like us. (and when i say we, its not like i'm a postergirl for an American, but I am American, I was born in America).

In fact, at a cafe the other day while i was waiting for Chloe, I wrote a little story in a southern dialect about how i am american... haha?

paris

oh, i forgot to tell you:

it's official. chloe and i are going to PARIS for our first break. we're taking the TGV (high speed train). it will be for a week and our lodging will be free because her mom's friend lives there! this time i will definitely want to see the "deux moulins"-- the cafe amelie worked at, and montmartre/sacre coeur/moulin rouge area! wow.

no one's gonna love you more than i do

it's a casual morning... thinking about my life. trying to understand it.

it's funny how i used to be. i can't tell if this is becoming who i am or if i put at the small, insignificant place so that i can learn humility.

cuz wow, you'd never believe it but i used to ride on clouds and see rainbows through rainclouds. i thought i never needed anyone, and wanted to do things alone and i did.. an i honestly believed i could do anything. but now everday i do things that scare the hell out of me... and i feel like i'm proving it to myself, to show i still can do it. and i can but what if in the process i break. and what if every second by body aches and at the end of the week i desire to see those pleasantly preserved familiar faces?

i think this is all good for me, and could not forgive myself if i gave up, but i never used to cry like this. and sometimes i don't even know why i'm crying. the familiar never used to feel so ideal. and that's why i know this is what i needed-my head was cloudy when i left. but this is the hardest damn thing i ever knew i needed to do.

And of course I will be traveling to Venice and Paris and who knows where else and I am overwhelmed with excitement! But where one thing gives, another takes away. So while I am experiencing the world, i cannot remember the last time I was hugged.

And the people that I meet are nice enough, from various places around the world, but there is a missing connection. They ask me to go out to bars and discotechs and although it sounds innocent enough, it's different when you're here. A lot of people in my program came to party... the hedonoist/pagan idea of partying of course. I have the most in common with Chloe-music tastes, traveling, language, interests, etc. She is my "travel buddy"... and i'm not sure if we will ever get past our instrumental purpose. Hopefully while we are in Paris for the week together we will start to learn more personal things about each other. I really like her, she's interesting.

oh, and last night i found out that instead of housing costing 600 euros. it cost 600 euros/month! ($720/month)=$2800 for housing!!! which means i might have to take out another loan...

Pray for me.

i have unending inspiration for writing

here... it must be why "the Greats" congregated here. I have unlimited opportunities, which I need to keep reminding myself because I have no idea when I will have the world at my fingertips again.

But even with all the opportunities here, what comes with it is an opening up ideas at home and just plentiful ideas of things I would like to do and take part in once I return. Of course I am on my own most of the day so I have exponential amount of time to think about everything possible, so do not be worried dear friends.

My classes are challenging. They are all in French and most things are not directly translated, so my teacher explains French foreign concepts to us in French terms, so sometimes I am not quite sure if I have the exact meaning of what she is explaining. It is interesting though. I need to watch more French tv and listen to more French radio so I can understand French dialogue better.

I booked my excursion to Venice today, it will be in a couple of weeks. I really don't believe I am going, but the ticket is payed for so I guess I must believe it. huh? Chloe is going too. It is during the Carnival of Venice... people will be all dressed in elaborate midieval clothes and intricate masquerade masks! And in Venice~ gondoliers and all!

It's kind of strange... I met this girl, Chloe, and I really like her and truly I really do not feel like meeting anyone else. I feel like this should make me guilty? There's an american staying with us for a week and she invited me to go bowling with her this week and there will be attractive French men there she said, but for some reason I have no motivation to go.

My host mom said French men love American women, but I don't feel overtly American and I feel like both of us will be disappointed in each other... I will find them extremely pompous and seemingly "trying too hard" and they will find me quiet and not fun, as in "party girl", easily pleased American.

But the funny thing is, in high school the popular boys were nice to me and for some reason tried to keep their respectability in tact around me, yet knowlingly we never considered each other. It was as if we ruled different worlds and that was accepted. They thought their charm could buy them something, and I would laugh and respond in a ridiculous matter as if to say "sorry, you're going to have to try harder than that" but there were plenty of girls it worked on, so they didn't have to.

In ending: I did meet this girl named Pony today from Massechusettes and Jenny from Manchester. Pony mentioned a dance party... maybe i'll talk to her next class...

<3

pensive

you know, i don't think anyone was meant to live a life constantly on "the road" or in passing. I love traveling, I enjoy interesting opportunities, I'm learning a lot about myself and it has just been over a week! But I think each person formulates what they like and dislike about each culture they are a part of and the positive things they incorporate into their lifestyle.

You kind of find "where you are supposed to be or where you are not supposed to be" and I really think this is something I need. I know that I could fit in here if I wanted to live here, but really I would rather take some of the things that I have learned here home with me and incorporate them into my lifestyle. But the main point is that I will always have this, it cannot be taken away.

It's really strange how we appreciate things once we are far away from them and know we cannot return. But I think I will like America once I return--not all of it of course but I am learning the good parts of it. Madame told me today that the French are never happy, "capricious" is the word she used and really it's interesting because they have a beautiful stage to act out their life, they don't work that much, and their lives are centered around food and friendship, but it seems they get worked up very easily as if they are just waiting to respond to something that is going wrong, especially the women. This is when I appreciate the American's easy-going attitude and friendliness and kind of brotherhood.

And although Americans are quite consumeristic buying loads of cheap and meaningless things in general, the French also have their own type of consumerism. It's called high end boutiques "I payed over 150 euros for each article of clothing i'm wearing" consumerism. To a woman over 30 in the U.S. to be unfashionable is almost understandable and expected, but to a French woman, if she does not desire to be fashionable, she must feel as though she needs to keep up with the other very attractive, and fit older French women.

I have also noticed that there are less types of people here. Because what's "good" is what's in style everyone wants to be that and I think there are less classes of people (which that is good for economy), whereas in America, there is pluralism and different people do different things to fit into their respective groups. I miss that aspect a little... the vegans in uptown, the african americans bumpin their beats in the streets, the corporates downtown rushin to their business affairs, trashy looking college girls in dinky town, the scene or indie kids outside of first ave. This part of France is more culturally pure, and for good reason they protect their culture, as would I if I had this to protect, but it is almost as if there is no way around the mainstream. Anyway I believe that America too has something to protect- it's melting pot of people--that is our culture! I just got really excited about that just now, as if I personally discovered it. haha.

my so called french life

while i am writing this, Madame Alloucherie is taking a shower and singing to the radio (a french 80s song) it is very cute, especially considering i do not know what she is singing. but soon i will since i'm in a french songs class!

The best thing about not understanding a lot of french dialogue from an observer's point of view is that I can imagine what they are saying due to the universality of emotions, responses, and body language. This is especially obvious on the bus, when people are inquiring whether the driver can make an extra stop somewhere, the person becomes very involved in what the driver is saying as if it's life or death, they stand very close to the driver, anticipating his response, and he usually consents. It's also pretty obvious with children, whining and asking to do something and hearing a clear "Non" and of course then the child gets worked up and upset and you figure it's probably something pretty trivial that they seem to think will make or break them. I remember those days...

My friend and I often make fun of the french people, with little things that they do, such as their concern with fashion over reality of weather "of course they would rather wear a little dress and a short jacket than be warm, and the 3 inch heals when all of their streets are cobblestone" Of course when i lived in the suburbs I could get away with that, driving everywhere and going to a specific destination, but this sometimes is ridiculous!

But moving to Minneapolis, having my only source of transportation being my feet, I became more of a "fashion realist". And I prefer the look of classically being put together, or thrown together in a bohemian sense but a fa way that does not appear as if I take hours to primp every morning, because it has become more of a waste of time recently. The fashion in (uptown) minneapolis is a little more "grunge" that what's in style here. Here they wear a lot of black and many people have little black leather jackets, and everyone has awesome boots. I want a pair more than you know. I may very well come back with a some. This is one of the two times a year there are sales in France, so.... vive la france!

What else? I took my first excursion yesterday, to the Cote d'azure. There are daytrips every Saturday to local places in the region. This week was Monaco, it is independent of France (Princesse Grace Kelly) they have their own government, in Monte Carlo which was very swanky; there was a beautiful casino, many high end fashion boutiques; yves saint laurent, chanel, dior, etc and ridiculously expensive cars driving around. Very rich people definitely retire and decide to live there. And we took a driving tour through Nice, right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. On our way to these places, we drove past Cannes, where the international film festival is held every year!