Rewind: To the Sea, From the Sea

A few weeks ago, I headed off to the airport in the middle of the night for the typical pre-dawn departure from Delhi. My flight route was Delhi-Dubai-Nice, out and back.  I caught a glimpse of the world's tallest building from the plane but other than that, my time in Dubai was spent in the airport, wandering from one Duty Free shop to the next.  Still, this was my first stop in the Middle East and while I would not rush back to Dubai for an extended stay, there are other places in that area on the "To Visit" list.

The purpose of this trip was to attend the Council of International Schools (CIS) Forum in Monaco - basically, a conference for about five-hundred college admissions representatives and high school counselors from across the globe.  The sessions were terrific, the networking time was fun, and the food (of course) was divine.

Hmmm...chocolate or plain.....how about both?  

Best of all, I got to spend a fair amount of time looking at the Mediterranean Sea after four months in land-locked Delhi. Here was the view from my hotel room:

And here is the view outside the conference center:

Monaco itself was pretty quiet.  Somehow, I missed the casinos but did see some of the high-end stores and car dealerships.  Being just a few miles down the road from Italy, I took myself out for a killer pizza one night. Afterward, I spent an hour in a grocery store - a real grocery store - with a well stocked meat counter, cheeses galore, Christmas decorations, an aisle or two of wines, and countless baskets of baguettes. I also got to spend many Euros on a Star Wars Lego set to bring home to the boys.

On my last day, I hopped on the "one Euro" bus along the coast to Nice, and even though it was a long ride with a lot of stops and standing room only, it was a beautiful journey.  With just under two hours to explore before I had to catch my flight, I wandered through a market and the old part of town with a former colleague from Bates (who had been at the same conference).  I bought some cheese to bring home and took in all the sights and smells - two hours was not nearly enough time.

While wandering the glorious market, we took a short detour and quickly stumbled upon the doorstep of this poorly named restaurant:

Later that night, I had a very long layover in Dubai.  This was the departure board:

And while I was frolicking in France, Jonah got the call that our sea shipment was scheduled to be delivered.  He took a half day off from school and with assistance from the boys’ nanny, Angeline, our belongings were unpacked and our apartment quickly felt much more like home. The trip from North Yarmouth, Maine to New Delhi, India took exactly eighteen weeks and amazingly, nothing was damaged en route.

The boys are thrilled to have more toys and books - and now everything seems new!  Asa has been on his bike every afternoon and Liam is getting the hang of his three-wheeled scooter.  I am most thrilled to have my fleece slippers.  We no longer have to eat off of plastic plates and Jonah got his Carhartts and supply of Chipotle Tabasco.  Best of all, the bed we had made here back in September finally has a real mattress on it.

Ah, the comforts of home.