Starbucks

I spent 2 weeks in Nice. I attended a language school for 30 hours a week. There was a shopping mall  in the centre of town, a few minutes walk from the language school.

Bizarrely, I felt immediately at ease as soon as I walked into the mall. I seemed to be in my comfort zone. There were a large number of shops that took my fancy. In particular, I became a regular at Starbucks. The medium-sized cappuccino became my drug of choice every morning. At Starbucks, they have the whole customer service thing totally sussed. They learn your name and they use it couched in friendly banter as your coffee is being made. I felt like I was valued as a customer and I clocked up a large number of regular customer stamps in the cute little booklet that I was given. The cappuccino was not decorated cleverly as this photo shows; but it definitely tasted like the cappuccino served everywhere in cafés in New Zealand.

The mall sported a divine chandelier!!! It was spotlessly clean, and had a welcoming ambience. It quickly became my favourite refuge. Being a visitor to a city is not easy. I always find myself doing a lot of walking. Sometimes working out tram/bus/train timetables and routes can be hopelessly incomprehensible. 

On this particular day, I used the late afternoon to explore the city on my return route home. The weather had been consistently glorious, (sunny and warm). So, lulled into false security, without an umbrella or warm clothing, I was not prepared for the extremely heavy downpour. Nor was I prepared for the bitter cold. I walked for 45 minutes in the cold and rain. As I suffered the elements, there was no alternative but to just keeping put one foot in front of the other.

By the time I arrived back at the lobby of my apartment building , I was drenched to my skin. 

I couldn't get my wet clothes off fast enough. I changed into warm, snuggly clothes; but still found it difficult to warm up my body temperature.  I reckon that I have a medical condition, where my body thermostat doesn't function too well. I feel the cold, terribly. 

I stayed in an apartment with I. 

Meals were not part of the contract. I was deeply moved when, out of the blue, I. walked into my bedroom with a tray laden with a stunning light evening meal. It was impossible to express the profundity of my heart-felt thanks for such a loving and kind gesture.

Despite the hearty hot soup, and warm, dry clothes, I experienced a terrible, long night of sleeplessness. I shivered all night long.

This was the onset of the most outrageous sore throat .......... chronic head and body aches ....... sneezing .......... outpouring of mucus ....... and then subsequently ........ chest infection.

I was a mess. Everyone was very, very polite as I sneezed and coughed in their personal breathing space.

In class, everyone learnt how to say, "Bless You!" in french. "À tes souhaîtes!"

We learnt the onomatopoeic word for , "Achoooo!" in french. "Atchoum!"

The teacher very, very kindly gave me some Panadol as I experienced a terrible fever in class. (The Panadol seemed to provide no relief at all.)

I enjoyed talking with M.as we both had an i pad. The smile on my face is glee that I was able to provide the solution for a technical problem that M. had.

I always had a tissue clutched in my fist. I loved my purchase of a butter red bag.  My friend chose a stunning pink version of the same bag.

I used up massive amounts of tissues as my nose was streaming. I persevered with social events. Unfortunately, the rest of my stay in Nice was tainted with my dreadful chest infection. I felt weak and pathetic. However, it didn't stop me from going to lunch with the "girls", or doing another challenging mid-week walk with P.