My terrible sleep continues (honestly, what’s with me and not sleeping in Nice?) I was a bit tired for class but I still managed to learn stuff, so that’s good. I like that this experience is re-wiring my brain a bit. The formal education setting and learning completely new information everyday is reenergizing parts of my brain that had become a bit lazy, I think.

After class, I came home with plans to make lunch and then check out the Matisse museum. I had a big, healthy pasta lunch and a big glass of wine and then… fell asleep. With my lack of sleep the night before, the wine just hit me like a Mac truck and I had an almost two-hour nap. Although it wasn’t the plan, ca m’a plu. When I woke, I decided to go up to the museum anyway, not to actually go in (because I had to be back in town in the early evening and it was almost 4 p.m. at this point) but to check out the large park that my map showed was situated around the museum.

The walk to the museum was about 20-30 minutes through Cimiez, a lovely part of town — very posh, very green and spacious with lots of gated residences. As I listened to my new “summer mix” on my iPod, I soaked in the surroundings and felt in a very good mood. When I arrived at the museum it turned out it is closed on Tuesdays anyway, but the park/grounds were open.

Just inside the entrance to the park grounds were a number of groups of mostly men playing the game Petanque. It’s very popular in France. There is a small ball that is placed somewhere on the ground and then each player has two balls about the size of large oranges that they must throw from a certain distance and try to get as close to the small ball as possible. The throwing balls are made of something like lead — they are quite heavy and durable as they sometimes crack into each other. It’s a game of skill, with a bit of luck, and is very relaxing in a “gentleman’s game” kind of way. The closest North American game I could liken it to is lawn bowling, but it’s played by young and old here.

The gentlemen in the park.

I sat on a park bench next to an older gentleman and watched one of the groups play their games. I started talking to the man, who was waiting for his wife to arrive, and we had a lovely long conversation in French. I understood it all and was able to speak back without constant stammering or moments of blankness! His pace and words were perfect for me and he complimented me on my French when I told him I was an Anglophone Canadian. I felt so proud.

One of the two young players kept eyeing me and when my bench partner’s wife arrived and they left together, the player came over to chat. He kept returning between plays to talk to me. He was an awesome player and had been winning since I arrived. His name was Greg and he was very friendly, and explained things to me in French when I had questions. Soon, the men invited me to play with them. At first I refused and then I thought, “Pourquoi pas?”

I prepare for my throw...

I AM A NATURAL!! My first shot had the men going “oh la la… ” and saying that this wasn’t the first time I played. I insisted it was and that I’d just been watching them carefully. I played for about half an hour and then I had to leave. Greg and I exchanged numbers and made plans to get together again. Everyone invited me back to play again and I hope to go back. I wandered around the park, which isn’t the prettiest French park I’ve ever been in but was a nice place for families, and then I headed back into town.

and release...:)

In the evening, I met up with my classmates and we went to see La Tete en Friche, a film starring Gerard Depardieu. Our teacher suggested it would be a good one for us to see and it’s short so we wouldn’t have to concentrate for too long. Depardieu, who has gained a lot of weight since I last saw him, plays a man who has a hard time reading and learns to love it when he meets an elderly woman in a park. It was a sweet film but I didn’t understand as much as I hoped I would. I got what the film was about and all the major plot turns but a lot of the dialogue was just too fast for me to fully understand. I would love to watch it again (perhaps with English subtitles) if it comes out on video.