Sorry I haven’t done any blog posts, things got even busier – which I didn’t think was possible. Carl arrived on Thursday around 1:30, jet lagged but wanting to keep on going so that he could turn himself around quickly to the correct sleeping and waking times here in Nice. We went to the apartment and dropped off his luggage, then we headed out so that I could show him around. First we walked to the Hotel Negresco and went in to look around – something I hadn’t done yet. I’ve posted photos with captions so you can get an idea of it. Then we walked along the Promenade Des Anglais to the old city, where we explored all the little narrow streets and alleys. Back to the Promenade Des Anglais, we chose a restaurant on the beach and had a glass of wine while enjoying the sea right there in front of us. This is something I had watched people do for 2 weeks, but decided it would be more fun if I waited for Carl – I was right. After that we found a restaurant and had wonderful, fun meal – see the photos. After a brief walk around Nice all lit up at night, Carl said, “That’s it, I’ve got to go to sleep.” It’s amazing that he lasted as long as he did and was in such a good mood. It was so good to be back together again after our 2 month separation.   The first thing we did on Friday was go find Carl a complete English breakfast. Here in France breakfast is just a croissant and coffee, or, if you want a big meal, you add a roll with butter and jam. This doesn’t work well for someone with low blood sugar, so we needed eggs and bacon and we found it. It wasn’t anything to write home about, nor to take photos of, but it served the purpose. Then we went walking along the Promenade Des Anglais, which turns into Quai des Etats Unis, which turns into Quai Rauba Capeu, looking for the flea market. We hadn’t found it yet, but we had another surprise. We knew that Karen and Gerry had arrived the same day as Carl, but we hadn’t been able to reach them – not by text or email. It was truly amazing that we ran into them on Quai Rauba Capeu! This is a rather large city, about 400,000 people, I think. What are the chances that we would simply run into them? But we did. After locating the flea market (not too interesting), the four of us stopped at a sidewalk cafe and had lunch – a decent salade Nicoise, but no photos – I have been lazy these last couple of days, haven’t I? Then we all went to Nicetoile because I needed to check my email and we didn’t go to Starbucks because it was PACKED!! Instead we had a coffee at a different cafe and I did the business I needed to to and they all chatted. That evening we parted ways and Carl treated me to my long-awaited 60th birthday dinner. The photos tell it all. A great celebration. DID get photos of that!! Saturday we packed up all our stuff and moved out of my dear little apartment and into the Hotel Ibis by the train station, which turned out to be nicer and more comfy than we expected, although still like a hotel chain with their blandness. No problem, all we needed to do is sleep there. Saturday evening we were invited to dinner by S & T and Wes & Justine. We arrived at 7:30 and didn’t leave till midnight. We had a blast. The captions tell you more. I just want to repeat again what a special and memorable evening this was for Carl and I and how much we love these people – S and T who I have gotten to know over a month’s time, but who Carl just met that night, and Wes & Justine who we both had never met before, but who we soon felt we had known for a long time. Keep on cookin’ singin’ and dancin’!!! Today is Sunday, Oct. 20, about 3 p.m. and almost all the students and their partners have arrived and are out shopping for groceries. I am in the lobby of the Ibis Hotel with Carl madly trying to finish this post before they all return. We are taking the 4:45 bus to the villa. So I will end this now. I hope to do some posts this week while I am teaching the workshop, but if you don’t hear from me it means that I was just too busy. But I will take photos and you will hear all about it at some time, I promise.