In the home stretch...

Wednesday July 29: We may be approaching the end of our stay but that doesn't mean the excitement has slowed any! We started the day with a visit to Saiint Paul de Vence. This is a beautifully preserved medieval village where we enjoyed strolling the narrow streets, visiting the historic sites, and of course the shops and cafés. For lunch we decided to head over to Grasse, "the perfume capital of France". And finally, we drove down to Cannes for the beaches, the shopping, a group dinner on the Suquet and the fireworks show! Fantastic!

The first big goodbyes :(

Tuesday July 28: Today a large part of the Saint Laurent group said "goodbye" to their host family and friends. They left the Côte d'Azur today, but they will spend a few days ini Paris before returning home. In Paris the students will be staying at a hotel in the 8th, not far from the Opéra or the shops on Boulevard Haussman. Those of us stay on the Côte d'Azur accompanied our friends o the airport for a tearful farewell. We then went to Villefranche where will consoled ourselves with strolls and shopping in the old town, as well as with some swimming at the beach ;).

Sports nautiques!

Monday July 27: Today we hit the beaches of Saint Laurent. For many in the group it was for the last time so we went crazy with the beach activities! In addition to the usual sun bathing and swimming students also did wake boarding, the flyfish (remember that inflatable cushion pulled by a speeding boat that I mentioned in an earlier post ;) )and also water skiing. We had a blast!

Hanging out with the homestay families...

Sunday July 26: The students were given several options for today (beach in Beaulieu, free time in Nice, Bowling, etc.), but all preferred to spend the day with their French hosts in hopes of making the most of this last Sunday with their adoptive families.

Party and Pétanque!

Saturday July 25: This evening we continued an annual tradition here in Saint Laurent: the great host family/student/staff end of season party and pétanque competition! It was absolutely fantastic! The students provided the early evening entertainment with poetry readings, a few songs and a comedic sketch. The potluck supper was so delicious it seemed to vanish from the table as fast as it could be put there. Then it was an intense competition of pétanque that lead a few of the visiting parents (yes some of our students parents dropped by for a visit) learned what it means to be "fannied"... :) (I'll let them tell you about ;) ).

Antibes!

Friday July 24: Last day of formal classes for the group in Saint Laurent (most of the group will be heading up to Paris early next week). Afterwards, train ride to the beautiful city of Antibes where we visited the Picasso Museum, the old city, the new city, and of course, the beach ;).

Maybe tomato pesto ice cream isn't such a good idea ;)

Après une petite marche, rien de mieux qu'une petite glace de chez "Fenocchio" dans le Vieux Nice... sauf quand on veut jouer aux aventuriers et tester le parfum TOMATE BASILIC!!!! N'est-ce pas Nic?!!