Exploring My New Home

This place is perfect. Today, in between my International Business class, instructed in English, and my Ethics class, instructed in French, I walked around Old Antibes and fell in love. Narrow stone streets sprawl out in an artery of connected passageways to the chagrin of the tourist and the delight of the wanderer. The most beautiful and exotic displays of flowers fall over the cobblestone walls; a red scooter parks alongside. Couples and visitors from all over the world sit outside under the shaded coverings of eateries, pizzerias, outdoor bistros, talking in their respective tongues, a lilt of accents everywhere. They walk through the outdoor machés, buying small bags of fruit or admiring the display of corkscrews with wire creatures bent into various sexual positions. I like to call them “cockscrews.” In midday, the sun beats down above us, but with the breeze from the sea so near, it is not so bad.

The whole city screams romance. Even now, I’m sitting here writing from the resting spot of Nikos Kazantzaki, poete et ecrivain, where there is a sign etched in gold acrylic that reads: “Je ne crains rien / Je n’espere rien / Je suis libre” (I fear nothing / I hope for nothing / I am free). An old lady passes with her husband and asked, “Are you Nikos Kazantzaki, monsieur?” “Ah, of course,” I respond. “Oh là là, you are poete. Salut.” It’s hard not to be alléché (allured) by the affect of the place.

And finally, after a long and restless search for accommodation, I can say that I live here. For those of you who don’t know, 4 days before my arrival in France, my landlord dropped me from the agreement. We had been talking since July, and on the day that we were going to finalize the contract, she said that she found someone else to rent to for the complete year. It put me in a bad situation and I had to spend a fortune on a hotel far away from the town center and from my friends. My brother wrote me, “How does it feel to be extending the American homeless population into the South of France?”

Thankfully, my roommate and I have found an small apartment in the most beautiful Vieil Antibes, right in front of the Provincial Market in a quartier filled with bars and restaus. It is very basic, but has some definite charm in a great location. Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction and can allow me to get a little more settled in the weeks to come.