It's been a little over two weeks now since I've gotten back from France and home no longer seems weird. Although I missed my bed (dearly) I think there are still a lot of things that I definitely won't have while in America. I loved waking up and being able to grab as many fresh chocolate croissants as I wanted or make a baguette with butter and strawberry jam. Another thing: the pharmacies! Everywhere you look there are those green blinking crosses signaling all the best things in life. The amount of exclusively european products that were sold without needing a prescription was always really convenient. You could get anything from all-natural antibiotics to at least 100 different "bio" products. There are so many things that I miss about France, but the experience that I had with the Abbey Road Program will be the most unforgettable. I really enjoyed the fact that the staff was organized and educated fully about all the in's and out's of Nice. Everyone who was looking after the group was exceptionally helpful with anything. The learning experience for the first part of each morning was made by the teachers. My teacher, Julia, always had a well-thought lesson plan and different activities for the day with our class.
Another thing to miss about Nice… the beach! There were so many different opportunities to explore the beaches in Nice and in the surrounding cities. Our day trips to Antibes and Cannes were my two personal favorites. If I were to go anywhere again though it would probably be Italy. The day there was the most relaxing for me, I was able to just sit back and read all day by the ocean. The lunch that my friends and I had was classic Italian with al dente pasta and perfectly cooked sea foods. Besides the day trips, there were also a lot of daily activities that made each day seem different and new. The group took a lot of trips to a near by town called Freegate and where we usually picnicked on the beach there eating Perla's home cooked meals.
Looking back on my four weeks spent in Nice, I realized that the environment in which we were living in was what made the trip so easy, and relaxing. Nice is a great place to experience French culture. The city has everything you could possibly think of when idealizing the perfect southern French town. There's a multitude of specialty shops and different French as well as middle eastern, Japanese, Italian, and even American restaurants. The city of Nice caters to everyone and the living experience is exceptional. Our rooms at the student residence were always cleaned every few days and we had a lot of freedom within the building. The laundry room was easy to use, and only costs about 4 euros for one load of wash and dry. I think because of my time spent in Nice with Abbey Road, I will definitely return to Nice and explore even more of it on my own terms.
