bonjour cousins!

Hi everyone, and greetings from the French Riviera. I'm sitting in a dark, air-conditioned hotel room in Nice typing on my new Mac, which hooked up to the hotel wireless in half a second. (This makes me happier than you can imagine.) Iain and Xoxo are asleep behind me.

We came here to meet up with Iain's dad and stepmom, who are here in France on a three-week journey to celebrate their 20th anniversary. We're just here for the weekend. So far we've mainly walked up the coast, taking in the amazing turquoise water and the silly people sizzling on the rocky beach. It feels a little like San Diego with a lot more Vespas. We went to the flower/veggie market, drank rosé, ate the local specialty of chick-pea pancake (called socca) and tried a pizzaldiare, which is caramelized onion and anchovy baked on top of puff pastry. We walked some more and stopped for oysters on the half shell, mussels, salad, and more wine. And stopped at a flea market to check out interesting bits of furniture and pretty junk.

After a rest Xoxo and I went to swim in a pool on a hotel rooftop and admire the view, and then dinner...more fish.

I guess it's mainly been about the food – I realized when I walked by a little grocer that something happens here that never happens in England: when I passed the display of produce I could smell the delicious fragrance of ripe fruit. Displays of English produce smell of absolutely nothing. There are lots of beautiful smells, like a basket of lime flowers, the coffee, and the BREAD. I love Cambridge, but I would love to swap the food forever.

Tomorrow we visit the Chagall museum and then I'm hoping Iain and his parents will take Xo for a nice afternoon out while I hang out in bed with a book, all I want from this life for lord's sake.

Hope you are all doing well wherever you are! Lots of love, K