Infinite Wanderings

I have an endless amount of words to describe Cannes: inspiring, meaningful, blue, tranquil, lighthearted, s l o w. I am forever in love with this place. It has constantly been offering me life, and I have been receiving it with open arms. 

The beach is my backyard and we swim in it, The Mediterranean, every day.

Le Collège International de Cannes, where I have been studying French the past week, houses students from all over the world. I have had the chance to meet people from all around and learn about their culture, hear about their home, and the most fun, listen to them speak a different tongue

I've been practicing my butchered French with the French nationals who are here to learn English and much of our conversations go a lot like this, "I'll speak to you in French, and you speak back to me in English." 

But this only lasts so long...

The streets in Cannes are hilly and mainly cobblestone. There are men who walk around them playing violins and accordions for you with smiles across their faces. I walk down these streets in awe of their beauty. I've spent most afternoons exploring where they lead. Conveniently, many end with a quaint café on the corner, where you can sit, eat a crêpe, and people-watch for hours. 

And drink some of these.

Cannes' restaurants make it easy for lovers to have a romantic night.

We ventured up a hill with winding stone steps though it was steep and a lot higher up than what we had anticipated, but we continued. We reached the top where there was a lookout tower that allowed you to see a magnificent view of Cannes. There are few tourists in Cannes at this time of the year so we were able to stare out at the ocean and the port from one side and at gawk at the mountains on the other for a long time. 

I have one more week here to explore some more and to feel warmth before a certain city's lights replace the quite moonlit town. 

Port de Cannes

London's Omnipresent Grey

I was up for nearly 24 hours traveling more than 3,000 miles. I had drank very little water, and each bone in my body was frozen from the hotel lobby's perpetual air conditioning while waiting for check-in. I was sleep deprived and around ten other students who were strangers, who were certainly feeling the same way.
I desperately needed to put my nearly 30-pound backpack and very overweight suitcase in a hotel room, put socks on so my toes didn't feel like they were separate from my feet, and a warm, warm bed. 10 hours later I was finally quenched. I slept a short while, rejuvenated myself, and was then willing and able to explore Chelsea.

Sweet little streets in Chelsea

Do they make these in the States?

I spent only two days in London but saw lots of its charm. It was grey and rainy every minute I was there but never dreary. In the middle of a late-night downpour, Piccadilly Circus, an area in London that many compare to Time's Square, was buzzing and colorful. Umbrellas sprung open instantly in the streets and water filled every crevasse in the cobblestones. Rain was never more beautiful.

The city is comprised of a mix of the old and the new. After being on the receiving end of many bombings by Germany during World War II, ancient buildings and monuments remain half living; they are a reminder of the suffering and almost-broken British morale of that time period. 

A one-thousand ton bomb landed on the St. Paul's Cathedral and luckily failed to detonate.

Buckingham Palace

BIG big Ben

Hello! Half of the London Bridge

Peeked into London Fashion Week, what an amazing venue. 

Eclectic

The Shard: the tallest building in the EU. There are few skyscrapers in London, it's nice. 

A last stop to Portobello Road Market, so many gems and so many people!

And many silly entertainers!

A Once Good Idea

Take your so-called vintage bike with rust and its obvious wears of past rides, and spray paint it so you can convince yourself you have a new one.

And so I did.

But after the first set of screws we took off, it was clear it would take many, many more minutes for my bike to become fully dismembered.

It quickly became very much not a good idea; nuts and bolts rolled down the gravel, ultimately disappearing for good. We snipped wires that shouldn’t have been snipped, and we certainly did not know what we were doing.

But we continued. I was set on the paints I’d chosen, and for some reason determined we’d remember where each screw went when putting it back together.

The bike was apart, and I was finally able to start to paint. The handlebars and the bars that hold the tires were painted olive and the body a cream tone. By this point, I was taking up too much room in the garage, and I had invested quite some more time into this presumed ‘little project’ than I had envisioned.

I ended with a box full of metal parts that all looked that same but somehow had different functions.

Two months later, the parts remain in the box within my shed. I was able to link the handlebars with the body, but the rest remains unwontedly unconnected. Ultimately, it all caused me more distress, and one roll-of-the-eyes too many. I simply gave up.

Dear Bike,

I’m truly sorry.

Quick Detour

It would be negligent of me to bypass the things I've documented in past months and instead begin with what's happening now. I was given a camera, a good one, months ago and have since captured some of my favorite people and memorable escapades with it.

We journey, we meet people, and we see things that we want to hold on to for a little while longer than what we get.
Here are only some of the scattered things I was fast enough to make into a still life and store permanently for later purposes.

That later purpose being here and now to show you.

Madrid, Spain 

Jamestown,  Nonno's tree

My Siblings, miss you

Portsmouth, RI

Mochima, Venezuela is magical

we made apple cider in Narragansett, RI

summer eats, yum

à bientôt Paris...