Attack of the Mosquitoes!

Bonsoir de Cannes!


Two more days have passed since I last updated my blog so here is the latest news from the Cote D'Azur!


In general, things have been going very well in France! I finished my first working week with a nice walk along the seafront in Cannes and a treat from a local Boulangerie during my lunch break :) However, it was very sad saying goodbye to my friend Nina who finished the course yesterday so is therefore leaving France and going home to Norway this weekend. She is one of the people who have made my first week in France very special and has been fantastic company whilst I have been settling in. You will be missed Nina!


The weekend started very nicely as I had my first lie in of the week and enjoyed a leisurely French breakfast with the people that I am living with. As with all of the meals, we had very interesting conversations in French which are really helping me increase my confidence and improve my French. I really can see how the best way to learn a foreign language is to spend a significant amount of time in the country. Ok! So I know I haven't spent much time here yet, but with the progress I have made this week I feel positive that it will continue :)


Anyway, back to the main topic of this post. Ah! I remember! I was going to tell you about what I did today!


You will be pleased to hear that despite my recent difficulties with buses in France, I decided to be brave and spend the day in Nice. However, in order to do this, I had to catch a bus from Cannes city centre. This all went very smoothly today and I was very lucky to have the company of two people who I am living with who also spent the day in Nice. When we arrived, we went our separate ways and I explored the city centre, the old town, Le Promenade des Anglais (Which believe it or not is a road named after the large numbers of English tourists that visit it annually), and some of the beautiful gardens that the city has to offer. I also managed to find a Casino supermarket in which I brought a packet of French sweets which are my absolute favourite in the whole world! It is not possible to buy these particular sweets in England so as you can imagine, I was very happy :)


As with my other outings, I yet again managed to find people to talk to! When I was sitting eating my lunch in one of the gardens in the city centre, I was talking to an elderly woman who told me that she does not often get to speak to foreign people as they usually can't speak her language. I was flattered that we could communicate with each other as I know that she was happy to have a little chat. I also bumped into an American man who was lost in the backstreets of Nice. As it happened, I was also lost so we stayed together and managed to find out how to get to our destinations by asking locals. We then went our separate ways and I visited the old town and was lucky enough to come across a marching band in the town centre who entertained me for a while.


When I got back to the house, I ate dinner with my hosts and am now writing this before I go to bed :)


Oh!! I have one more thing to tell you before I go to bed!! In fact, this is the story that gave this post it's title! Those of you who know all about my trip to Peru last summer will know very well that Mosquitoes seem to like my skin. In fact, for those of you that do not already know, when I was in Peru, I was bitten 58 times on my legs by mosquitoes and ended up having to get them checked out in a hospital in the UK when I got home as my legs had turned blue and the bites had swelled up. As you can imagine, this was a very unpleasant experience and I hoped that it would not happen again. However, I will tell you now that I have yet again been eaten by mosquitoes whilst I have been in France and currently look like I have some kind of disease as my legs are swollen and blotchy. Luckily they are not blue this time though :) I hate mosquitoes!


So the adventures continue as I enter my second week on the Cote D'Azur! Keep watching for further updates and hopefully I will not have to tell you mosquito horror stories in my next post :)


A bientot!