You're going to be jealous.

August 30^th, 2007

Can anyone say Monaco? Jesus I had no idea Southern France is this beautiful. Annie’s house has the most spectacular view I have ever seen, she is on a hill so you must walk many steps to get down to her house. Elton John and Tina Turner live nearby and it is utterly pristine and European here. No tourists. I hurried as fast as I could to get my swimsuit on and I walked down a whole mountain of steps to get to the beach. The Mediterranean water was easy to get into and I was swimming with an idiot’s grin on my face because I was so god damned happy. The sea is the greatest pick-me-up. I laid on the sand, next to an old topless lady who eventually started talking to me. I have retained a surprising amount of French, and within 10 minutes I had a group of 4 people talking with me saying how nice I am and how much French I understand. They want me to come hang out with them tomorrow at the beach at the same time – a very nice complement.

After turning down a cup of coffee on the beach, I climbed all the steps back up to Annie’s house where we had a small dinner party with her neighbors and friends and Gabi and Ulle. We all got a little tipsy from the wine and were laughing quite a bit. Annie taught me how to make a couple traditional salad dressings and we had such a fantastic time together. I have come to really appreciate company – I think people are absolutely wonderful.