The French Riviera

View of the Nice coast from atop a hill

"The French Riviera - Holiday home of the rich, the famous, and the half-naked." --Apples to Apples card 

This past weekend the four undergrads in my lab all took Friday off and went on a "lab retreat" to Nice. (There are 12 Yale undergrads working at CERN in total, 8 under Professor Golling and the remaining 4 of us under Professor Demers. Our Nice trip--partially because we planned it during lab and partially because no one else jumped in on it--was restricted to the Demers crew). The four of us did some late night planning Thursday night, then left a couple hours later at 3:30am to walk to the airport (public transportation isn't quite up and running that early) to catch our early morning flight out of Geneva. We accidentally overshot our walk to the airport by 30 minutes and ended up having to back track to find it. After loads of tension and 30 minutes before our plane was set to take off, we finally made it to the proper security check-in and walked straight through boarding and onto the plane. After a 49 minute flight, we arrived in Nice at 7:15am with the entire day ahead of us. You have to love early flights.

view from the apartment we rented

Becky, Ryan, Vijay and me

Becky, me, Ryan and Vijay at the top of the hill

This weekend was probably the exact opposite of last weekend's trip to Paris: there were no museums or palaces, but instead it was a much more flexibly planned trip of sun, beaches and exploring towns. We started off our trip exploring the Old Town part of Nice--lots of colorful building with side street gardens and markets, shops and cafes lining every inch of space, and the occasional cathedral sprinkled throughout. We climbed up a hill (elevation 92 meters above sea level) that we found; every time we got to the next out look, the view of the city and coast line kept getting inexplicably better. On one side of the hill there was a view of the coast line and all of the Nice beaches a shops, while the other side displayed houses lining a cliff  on the edge of the Mediterranean. At the top of the hill there was a massive waterfall, easily recognized from the beach down below.
For lunch we stopped at one of the cafes lining the street and enjoyed one of Nice's specialties: Socca. Socca is essentially a crêpe made from chickpeas; definitely a fun snack to try. 

Nice boardwalk

Ryan, Vijay and Becky getting ready for the beach

Becky and me soaking up the sun!

After the hike and lunch we made our way to the part of Nice I was most excited for: the beach! I've been craving the beach since I left home; traveling Europe, climbing mountains and museum hopping is incredible, but there is always a part of me that needs my beach fix. The views of the Nice coastline are absolutely breath-taking; however, speaking completely objectively, it's pebble beaches are kind of terrible. There is just something about the soft powder that molds to you as you lay down on a sand beach that the jabbing rocks of Nice do not have.

Still, other than the harsh rocks, the beach was beautiful--perfect sunny weather with few clouds and a the Mediterranean filled with beautiful turquoise water to cool you off when it got to warm. This definitely satisfied (and exceeded) my beach fix.

Becky and me on top of a cliff

We returned to the hill in the evening to picnic and watch the city and coastline transition from daylight to dusk. Little did we know, the park on the hill closed at sunset...and we were locked atop it. After climbing up and down every possible gate, we finally found a side gate to get out off of the hill so that we could make our way to the pier and back to our apartment for some well needed rest.

Nice coast at dawn

Nice coast at night

what a beautiful view...

Moon over the beach at night

 We spent the first half of Saturday touring Monaco where we saw just how much wealth could flood a city. The coast was lined with 200-ft yachts and sailboats and every building looked like a palace. The entirety of the town and it's shrubbery was perfectly planned and manicured.

Monaco coast

Me overlooking the Monaco coast

Our first stop in Monaco was an exotic botanic garden located 100m above sea level, which was essentially filled with lots of varieties of cacti, colorful flowers, and gorgeous views of the coastline and cliffs. There was an observatory cave made of limestone rock that was carved out by acid water high in carbon dioxide. The cave descended all the way down to sea level (a 300 step climb) and was jeweled with stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, and columns. It really was an impressive site of natural beauty.

Monaco: view from the Botanic gardens

Becky and me at the botanic gardens

cave at the botanic gardens

Vijay, me, Becky and Ryan in front of a palace in Monte Carlo, Monaco

After the botanic gardens we walked towards Monte Carlo to look at the ostentatious casinos, houses and yachts.

Vijay, Ryan and Becky in a park in Monaco

Monte Carlo casino

In addition to the beach, Nice had this really amazing gelato restaurant, called Fenocchio, that had restaurants and stands all throughout the city center. Fenocchio carried about 40 different types of gelato, with flavors including violet, rose, mojito, baileys, tiramisu, lavender, tomato basil, olive, speculoos, lychee, mango, salted caramel, dark chocolate, etc. Unfortunately, Fenocchio did not let you try different flavors, which made deciding all the more difficult! Thankfully though, every flavor (from the wackiest to the most basic) was incredible and you really couldn't go wrong. The first day I was in Nice I got a scoop of guava gelato; it was a great reminder of home and made me feel like I was eating guava paste on Cuban crackers at my Bito and Bita's house. The next day I decided I needed to try some of their crazy flavors and decided on 2 scoops: one of cactus and one of avocado. The avocado was a creamy treat that was savory and sweet all in one and the cactus was super refreshing, as if you were eating a cool aloe. Needless to say, I was very pleased with the cold treats.

some of the Fenocchio ice cream flavors: cactus, avocado, tomato basil, olive, lavender, rose, mojito....

My gelato: cactus and avocado

The French Riviera is definitely one of the prettiest coastlines I have seen. It was a relaxing trip of natural beauty contrasting the extremely busy, somewhat stressful, Parisian trip dedicated to man-made artwork from the weekend before. All in all, it was a wonderful visually stunning 2-day trip.

It seems I may have taken the wrong flight and ended up at home...

The Grass is Always Greener

I left Miami Monday night on a plane to Madrid. The few days leading up, I felt  tugged by a mix of emotions--I was extremely excited to for my trip, but also sad that I'd be leaving people and the comfort of home. In the end, excitement seems to have won.

My red eye to Madrid was perfectly fine and I seemed to have plenty of time for my layover; however, when it was time to board for Geneva, well, we didn't start boarding. Eventually, the flight attendants told us that France was on strike, and hence they needed to get clearance in order to fly through. My flight ended up being 2 hours delayed, but I made it safely to Geneva and then (after a few struggles and missed buses) found my way to my apartment. I am staying in a small French town, St. Genis Pouilly, on the Franco-Swiss boarder--it is a mere 10 min bike ride away from CERN and an absolutely beautiful town. It is exactly what you would picture a small French town to be: abundant flowers in fields, pastisseries, fromageries and charcuteries on every corner, cows roaming on fields, mountains in the background.

Pastry shop in St. Genis

Specialty local cheese shop in St. Genis

So far at work I've really just done preliminary things--I had to go through all the registration&security logistics the first day to get my ID, go through security clearance, etc., and have since been doing background research to be more acquainted with my research. Everyone I am working with is very sweet and helpful, and I know that this is going to be a great summer.

CERN's globe--it's identifying feature from above the ground.

Yesterday after work I went on a bike ride to a nearby mall in Val-Thoiry. Biking through the country towns was gorgeous and the mall itself was really fun to explore. I got some incredible buys there including a bikini top for a euro and a bottle of basil infused olive oil for 2. Still, there was something else that struck me about the mall--all of the t-shirts at various clothing stores were advertising distant places, none said France or Switzerland on them. A couple of the stores, in particular, seemed to be devoted to one city: Miami. Every rack I went to had a t-shirt with picture of Miami Beach, Ocean Drive, Biscayne, or Brickell on it. Walking through town this morning I saw a man wearing a Lebron James jersey (go Heat!). It was incredible, I left Miami 4 days ago extremely excited about Europe, yet I arrive here and signs for Miami are everywhere. It seems the grass really is always greener on the other side. (or Miami actually is the best place ever. That's still possible.)

But as for now, things are looking pretty green to me here.

A trail hugging a creak near my apartment in St. Genis.

An impending journey

In six days I will be leaving the States for almost seven months (194 days, to be exact). I have been home in Miami for the past 3.5 weeks now-which is the longest I have been home since I started college-and I can't believe it's already coming to an end. From the beach to boating to cooking with my parents, I really love home. My boyfriend, Glen, just left yesterday after visiting and it was so great to be able to introduce to him to my beloved city, family, and friends. But, my time at home is soon reaching it's end.

Crandon Park: my favorite beach back home

On Monday night I leave Miami for Geneva, where I will be researching particle physics at CERN for 10 weeks. I am extremely excited to live in Switzerland and be able to travel Europe during my stay. And, of course, I am looking forward to the research and in realizing where my interests in physics do or do not lay. After my researching, my parents are meeting me in Geneva and the three of us will spend the next two weeks touring Switzerland and Spain. We will end our trip in Madrid, where I will stay to continue my studies for the fall semester at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.

Today, my leaving finally started to feel real. Up until now I had been excited about this "once in a life-time" trip, but now it is actually coming together. I've started to get stressed about small logistics-I still must pack, call credit card companies, set up phones, etc. But much more, I'm very sad about leaving friends and family. Thankfully, we live in such a technologically savvy world that Skype, emails, phone calls, and facebook make everything much easier. Still, it's not quite the same. I am definitely looking forward to the travel experience and the immersion into new cultures (after all, that is why I decided to study abroad), but am aware that I will be leaving my comfort zone, which is a bit frightening. Ultimately, I know that while it may be a challenge, this trip will be a life changing experience for the better.

I woke up this morning to an email confirming that there will be a bike available for me when I get to CERN. I had sent an email to check the availability during my stay over a week ago and the email was never responded to; however, after a follow up email yesterday, I received a response today that one is indeed available. yay! An hour later I received a phone call from the Spanish Embassy in Miami telling me that my Visa had been approved and that I can pick it up tomorrow. While this may seem insignificant, I cannot even explain the amount of anxiety this visa has put me through. I was initially told by the Spanish consulate that I would have to mail my passport back to the US while I was in Geneva for them to complete the visa (a risky thing to do if caught). Then, I was informed that the system to issue visas was down in Madrid, so I could not schedule an appointment before I left the country. At this point, I was contemplating whether I would even study abroad next semester or not. I had mentally drafted a few emails to my Dean asking to re-enroll in Yale for fall semester. When this was resolved and I managed to get an appointment, the consulate explained that while I could now apply, the visas take at least 4-6 weeks to be approved in Madrid, and then I must pick it up in person or else they would not issue it-a slight problem, seeing as I'd be on another continent. However, today's phone call told me that some how by God's grace the 4-6 week waiting period had been overseen and my visa was ready. I do not have to fly back for a weekend to pick it up this summer; instead, I am able to leave for Geneva knowing that everything is in order. That is enough to calm some (or many) nerves and to remind me that life is not ultimately in my hands.

I am going to take today's events as a great and positive sign for this impending journey.