A Day in St. Tropez

This past Sunday, me, Kirsten (German assistant), Natalie (English assistant), and Patrick (a Frenchie that we know) went to St. Tropez, refuge for the rich and famous. St. Tropez is a hop, skip, and a jump from Nice (an hour's drive away), but just far enough to forget the hustle, bustle, embouteillages and travaux taking place in Nice and bask in the tranquility and wealth of the city of the upper-crust, virtually a ghost-town in the winter.

My 20 hour trip to Milan, Italy

So 2 Saturday nights ago, at around 7:30, after a hearty dinner of no-name brand hot-dogs and frozen broccoli, I get a call on my cell phone. It turns out to be Joy, my friend and fellow English assistant. After getting the usual "How are you"'s and other niceties/small talk out of the way she asked me what my plans were for the evening. And that's when the unexpected proposition came: a road trip to Milan for a night/day, with departure of 9pm and a prospective return to Nice the next evening, Sunday. Never wanting to miss out on an adventure, I said yes and hurriedly packed and evening back with all the essentials: lipstick, mascara, eyeliner, and a semi-provocative "clubbing" top. After quickly running some necessary errands, I met Joy, her cousin (who was visiting from the US and was in fact the mastermind of the Milan trip), and Hector (our friend the spanish assistant) and we set out for an adventure abroad, moving onward toward the land of pizza, pasta and all kinds of tasty and fattening goodies. After a few directional mishaps (I was in charge of the map-reading after all *wink wink*) we made it to our final destination around 2 am (5 hours of travel when Milan is only about 3.5 hours away). Ever the adventurers (and party animals), me, Joy and Hector ventured out to a Milanese nightclub. The following day we took a good number of the sites that Milan had to offer, including the Duomo cathedral, the renowned La Scala theatre, and the original painting of the Last Supper (you know, the DaVinci masterpiece depicting Jesus, Judas and the other apostles at the moment that Jesus declares that he's been betrayed). All in all, good times!

I nearly forgot... Bonne Année!!!

Happy New Year to one and all, here's hoping that 2006 will be a good one!

I'm back!!!

So I figured that the beginning of 2006 was as good of a time as any to finally update this blog... Whew, it's been a long time since I've updated, unfortunately laziness ( and other sedentary type behaviour) has reared its ugly head (hence the dire lack of posts).... Where do I start??
No better place than where I left off I guess- the trip to Germany was pretty frickin' awesome... Me and Joy had a wonderful time, despite the sub-zero temperatures (it was below zero on most days... quite a switch from the mild weather in Nice), and language barriers (there's nothing worst than not speaking the language of a country you're visiting)! Berlin is a huge, bustling metropolis which is finally succeeding in overcoming its sordid past. We had the opportunity to discover the city's treasures and historical sites through the aid of our Australian tour guide, who took us and about 20 others on a (free!) 4-hour walking tour of Berlin. A visit to the remaining fragments of the Berlin wall was definitely a must, and we were not disappointed... Quite an unforgettable experience, when you recall just what that wall symbolized... Also not to be forgotten, the German nightlife... let's just say that these people know who to party, Berlin proved to be the best time I've have partying since I've gotten to Europe!
Since a picture's worth a thousand words... 1st pic: me partying it up at a nightclub in Berlin.. Why am I in a cage? Don't ask!! lol 2nd pic: me and Joy in aforementioned nightclub 3rd pic: me in front of one of the remaining parts of the Berlin wall.