Full Skies & Smørrebrød

Home Sweet Home. As soon as I got word that the airports were opening up again I took an early morning train to Nice to try to get on stand-by. The gods were smiling on me when an hour before the flight, they issued me a boarding pass. It is really nice to be home. Not to say that my trip was not SUPER FANTASTIC! Southern France is a dream. But when earlier in the week people began to panic about the volcano eruption and lack of mobility around the continent, the mood was quite somber. I was so lucky to be living with the most wonderful host mother who was kind, helpful, comforting and truly a friend. She took me in as her own. She drove me to magical places like Eze and St. Paul to keep my mind off the situation. She spoiled me rotten with her fabulous cooking (crepes, calamari, etc.) and taught me so much about her relaxed approach to life.

Highlights? Being by the ocean, hearing the signing accent of souther french people saying "Au revoir" and living out my dream of studying French in France.

Cannes and Nice are wonderful cities full of life, culture and beauty. But the true gems are the little towns that are scattered on the site of mountains. St. Paul is an artists paradise. Dozens of art galleries filled with the most amazing work - all very accessible to us common people.

Eze is a medieval town on the peak of a mountain. The views from up top are incredible!

On the flight home yesterday I noticed a heck of a lot of air traffic. It seems that the airlines are working double time to get everyone home as quickly as possible. My hats are off to all the ground people working double time to get stranded passengers on flights - the ladies I dealt with at the airport in Nice were working as a team, keeping long lists of people and working creatively to find a solution for everyone. All while providing service with a smile.

On the lunch menu today: smørrebrød and danish pastries. Being in Denmark never felt so good.