Finally, a "King of the World" Moment

After many false starts, we finally had a real moment on top of the world (or at least France!) Despite the painstakingly vertical climb to the top, we spent the day hiking with good friends enjoying the most amazing views of the French coast.

TGOC - Ep 5

The Tower Still Leans and the David Still Stands

Friday was our first official excused absence from class (this is cause for excitement as the attendance policy is very strict here) and we departed on our Italian adventure early Friday morning with forty other students from the AIFS program. Typically it takes about six hours by coach to get to Florence from Cannes but we made a stop on our way over in the City of Pisa.

Fortunately the weather was nice and we could finally take pictures that didn’t feature our black pea coats, which we have now grown to despise. We were welcomed to the city right after stepping off the bus by a swarm of Italians selling cheap knock-offs and “bling-bling,” as they referred to it, outside the medieval city walls surrounding the tower and the main part of the City of Pisa. Once inside we saw the old cathedral and its bell tower, or as we know it the leaning town of Pisa standing at only a height of 184 ft.

Pisa was probably the best people watching experience of our trip so far. Scattered across the lawn in front of the tower were countless amounts of people sticking their butts out pretending to be pushing the leaning tower but really only holding their hands in the air…. Truly a sight to see.

A few hours later we had arrived at our hotel in Florence, Hotel Pendini, in a perfect location on Via Strozzi directly off the Plaza della Repubblica and within walking distance to all the sights in the city (once again... lots of walking!). Plaza della Repubblica marks the intersection of two main roads forming a cross in the middle of the city. As soon as we checked into our room and dropped off our backpacks we went out to explore the ancient streets of Florence which we quickly found started and stopped without rhyme or reason making finding our way around difficult at first.

Because of a recommendation from a friend who studied here last year we ate one of our favorite meals of the trip that night at a quaint restaurant called Za-Za’s where we enjoyed a fresh caprese salad, ravioli in walnut sauce, rigatoni, and a glass of rosée surrounded by tables of loud and stereotypical Italian men sprinkled with a few American tourists (Thanks Dominique!).

Saturday started early with a guided tour where we learned a lot of the history of the city from a woman extremely passionate and clearly proud to be from this “home of the Renaissance and birthplace of our modern world.” We enjoyed the grandeur of Santa Maria del Fiore, more commonly known as the Duomo, made of three colors of marble each representing a different ideal: white for hope, green for faith, and rose for charity. The cathedral took approximately 200 years to construct with the dome as the final touch as the technology to create the dome they envisioned was not invented until local architect Brunelleschi did. This was the first Renaissance dome and the model for many domes around Europe. When planning St. Peter’s in Rome, Michelangelo said, “I can build its sister—bigger, but not more beautiful” than the dome of Florence.

As we moved on we walked by Dante’s house (or near where they suspect he may have lived in Florence), enjoyed watching some local artisans create a chalk mural on the street, and perused through Mercato Nuovo aka the Straw Market where we touched the nose of Porcellino, a statue of a wild boar, which people rub in order to ensure their return to Florence. Our tour continued across the Ponte Vecchio (Florence’s most famous bridge lined with shops selling gold and silver) and through the Piazza della Signoria with city hall where the David once stood until 1873 and where a copy has stood in its place since then.

Our tour ended at Santa Croce Church which houses wonderful art and the tombs of great Florentines including Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Dante Alighieri, and Niccolo Machiavelli.

After grabbing a quick Margherita con frites (pizza with French fries on top) and some gelato we met back up with the group at Uffizi Gallery where we spent a couple hours looking at untitled art. Not wanting to see one more piece of Italian art we visited more markets and shops on our way back to our hotel.

Dinner that night was at a local family owned restaurant recommended to us by the receptionist at our hotel… another good meal of homemade pheasant ravioli. After a toast by fellow Chapman student Alex to the wonderful trip we had had so far we made our way to a local bar and then onto a discotecca called Twice. Our goal of buying as few drinks as possible while in Europe was accomplished as we invited ourselves into a VIP lounge where three American guys bought all the girls sparkling buckets of champagne and Grey Goose until 4:00 am… Thank you America!

Our Italian adventure ended on Sunday after we visited the Galleria dell’Accademia, home of Michelangelo’s David—our favorite experience in Florence. The fact that the Accademia was built solely to house the famous statue was no surprise as upon entering the museum and turning the corner around the Rape of the Sabines, the David stands on a pedestal at the end of a long corridor under a dome that allowed natural light to shine down on what is one of the greatest works of art known to man. We cannot explain to you the feelings and emotions that rushed through us when we first caught sight of the David. It is truly magnificent. We have no pictures of the David as photography was not allowed, but really that made that moment even more special to each of us as you can only experience the David by being in its presence.

We could not have chosen a better ending to our trip to Florence.

Ciao! - MoffTar

TGOC - Episode 4

Tara
Marissa
Barcelona

Check it out!

Pictures!

Sorry it took so long to get these up.... Photobucket takes a really long time to upload. Not to mention our internet connection here is slow as molasses!

Tara's Monaco and Eze Pictures

Marissa's Monaco and Eze Pictures

Tara's Barcelona Pictures

Marissa's Barcelona Pictures

Enjoy! - MoffTar

People All Over the World

Today was the last day with the Japanese students. They will return to Tokyo on Saturday when we are in Florence. It was so much fun getting to know them, and Marissa's fan club will truly be missed.

Bar-TH-elona

The second largest city in Spain is like a mosaic. A plethora of colors, shapes and sounds provide the background for a place that is truly bursting with life. As this past weekend was the first trip we organized independently of school, we were fortunate to find ourselves in a location with as much excitement as Barcelona (pronounced Bar-TH-elona by locals...and those in the know!)

Friday after class we hastily grabbed our backpacks and booked it to city hall to catch our bus to the Nice airport. (Disclaimer - in this post "we" means a group of 4-8 girls as we went with some of our fellow AIFS students) To our surprise, the plane to Barcelona was slightly larger than a greyhound bus. We joked that it was our own private jet but that was just to cover up the trepidation we felt. Relieved - we landed in Barcelona at 4:30 in the afternoon. From the city center, Plaza de Catalunya, we navigated the unfamiliar streets to find our hostel - Gothic Point. GP is known for being a "backpacker friendly" hostel. This means that A) They have covered the walls with graffiti art to appeal to a younger generation & B) Taking a shower is at each individuals discretion. Despite the odd and unfamiliar smells, we absolutely loved hosteling and can't wait to do it again.

The first night in Barcelona was spend exploring the many shops on La Rambla. We found ourselves at an amazing market, La Boqueria, that had endless stalls of fruits, meats, veggies and candy. It was a colorful and beautiful site. After a few more hours of navigating the architecturally beautiful side streets of Spain, we returned to our hostel to get ready for dinner. Now, in Spain, locals don't eat dinner until really late at night. By this time it was 10:30 and we thought it would be safe to appear at a restaurant, fashionably on time. Even though we had one of the BEST meals ever (tapas and Sangria), we learned that it was still pretty early to be eating dinner. The remainder of Friday was spent finding a hot night club to go to; after all, that's what one does in Spain. Our hot night club ending up being a bar, located in a wax museum, decorated to look like a forest. The wax figures surrounding the bar were a bit creepy, but we just laughed it off and ended up having a good time.

Saturday, we joined a tour group sponsored by our hostel. Our guide led us to some of Gaudi's most famous architectural sites. We saw a house he constructed for a wealthy Spanish family and one of the most expensive apartment complexes in Europe. The highlight of the tour was La Sagrada Familia. A massive church that has been under construction for over 100 years and is still not near completion. The complicated design and sheer size of this structure is completely breathtaking. Having walked for two and a half hours, we were relived to take a bus to Parc Guell. This park was intended to act as a gated community for Barcelona's elite. Instead, tourists come to enjoy some of Gaudi's most outrageous/fabulous designs. The park also houses the longest bench in Europe!



Starving and exhausted we enjoyed another meal of tapas near our hostel. Here we learned that in Spain you ARE NOT supposed to wait for everyone to get their food to start and eating & you HAVE TO ask for the bill at the end of the meal or your waiter will leave you hanging for a very long time. Lesson learned. After lunch we shopped. And shopped. And shopped. Barcelona is famous for having some of the funkiest style at the best prices. It was definitely a relief [from Cannes] to walk into a store that wasn't Chanel or Louis Vuitton. After shopping we siesta'd from 8-9:30. Being Valentine's day we wanted to do something fun for dinner and found ourselves on the candlelit terrace of the Dali museum. Despite the meal being super Americanized, the ambiance was quite enjoyable. Saturday night was spent attempting to dance the night away in a Spanish club. The atmosphere was really fun, but we learned that we are not true locals. As most Spaniards party all night long, we gave up around 4AM and retired to our hostel.

Getting up early the next day to check out, we carried our luggage around the city before it was time to go to the airport. After our excruciating initiation into the backpacker's lifestyle in London, Barcelona was a breeze. Even though we spent 45 minutes in the airport trying to locate our terminal, our newly developed spines of steel, didn't let us down. Our flight home was at 2:30 in the afternoon and to our horror, this plane was even smaller than the first.

Safely back on solid ground we gave thanks for the fun-filled and pick-pocket-free, 43 hours spent in Barcelona. We also took a second to marvel in the idea that we had just left Spain to return home to Cannes, France. It's a crazy concept that we are still getting used to, and the second that we do - we probably don't deserve to be here.

Hope you're all well!

-MoffTar

BA-BA-BA-BARCELONA

Hey All -

Two Girls One Cannes heads to Barcelona for the weekend. So wish us luck & be prepared for lot's of amazing pics, videos and stories upon return!

Love Always,
MoffTar

TGOC - Episode 3

Monaco - City? Country? Prinicipality? Try all three.

Tucked away in a small corner of the French Riviera is the beautiful country of Monaco. Words cannot do this glamorous, little country justice - but we are sure going to try.

Our day began bright and early with morning breakfast at the College. We then boarded a charter bus (one of those awful Star Liners you see inundating the 110!)and were off for an hour drive East. The ride gave us an opportunity to see the outskirts of Cannes and our first view of the French Alps - covered in snow, of course! We arrived in Monaco at mid-morning and were happy to learn that pick-pockets do not operate in this country. What a relief! Seriously (they seem to be just about everywhere else!)

Monaco is comprised of five different areas and our first stop was the Princes Palais. Here we found the church where Princess Grace (Grace Kelly) married Prince Ranier, as well as the famous palace. Here we spotted some gentleman who we found extremely attractive based on the possibility that they may or may not be royalty! (We liked to think they were!) We ate the sack lunches provided by the College staff on a beautiful cliff, overlooking the bay and Monaco's famous yachts. Marissa MARVELED at the applesauce that were in the lunches - they were in Capri Sun-esque packets that you had to squeeze.

The changing of the guard occurred at noon which has slightly less pomp and circumstance than Buckingham Palace, but is fun to watch nonetheless. The real stars of the show were the giant seagulls that paraded through the crowd looking for food. Poor things - Monaco is one of the cleanest cities we've ever seen. The place is immaculate! After the changing of the guard we spent some time in the marvelous Musee Oceanographique. The interior is like being in a palace - but one filled with aquariums, whale teeth (balene) and submarines.

After the museum- our personal favorite, a trip to Monaco's famous Monte Carlo casino. Most of the AIFS students only gawked at the beautiful building from the outside and central lobby, but we brave few paid the 10 euro admission fee to go where the real action is - the casino floor! The experience was totally exhilarating. After some cautious play in the slots room - we went for big money at the roulette table. Big money for traveling college students is about 5 euro, for the other impeccably dressed individuals at our table - their minimum bets were 1,500 euro. C'est la vie!

With souvenir chips in hand we boarded the bus for a short ride to Eze. Eze is a small medieval village perched on the top of a hill. Overlooking the ocean, the climb to the villages ancient ruins is an exhausting one. On the way, up you get to see little arts and crafts boutiques tucked behind the stone walls of this quaint French village. Once at the top of the ville, we were provided another breathtaking view - the sun setting on the Mediterranean.

Back at school we were able to reflect on a truly magnificent day. Neither of us had experienced beauty like we found in Monaco and will cherish the memory forever. On our travels, it would be easy to be overwhelmed by the sights, sounds and experiences that are being presented to us; however, we constantly remember to give thanks for everything that has enabled us to be here. We are truly grateful for all that we have seen so far!


Sending you love from across the globe --
MoffTar

TGOC - Episode 2

Enjoy! - MoffTar

Pics of Cannes!

We just wanted to share our pictures from our rainy day adventures in Cannes including nights at Quay's Pub (we are still in search of a more authentic French bar that will actually let us in... we will keep you posted) and the Musee de la Castre at the top of the hill in the old part of the city which houses a random collection of some paintings of the French Riviera in one room and ancient Egyptian artifacts in the other.

Tara's Cannes Photos

Marissa's Cannes Photos

Enjoy!
-MoffTar

Rainy Days in Cannes

The tunnel we usually take to the beach. Flooded due to rain. Socks currently drying on the furnace.

College International de Cannes

Despite the obvious paradise that we have recently inhabited - yes, we do still attend school here. This post will be dedicated to familiarizing you all with our surroundings. We live and take class at the International College de Cannes. The school is devoted to teaching non-native speakers the French language. For most Californians, this school would remind you of an institute where Spanish speakers learn English as a second language. Get it?


The student population is small, only about 250 students, but extremely diverse. Foreigners come from all parts of the globe to live and study here. Students can stay for a year, a semester (like us), a month or a week. We recently learned that a student from Michigan has been here for four years. Wow. At the moment there is our group from America (AIFS), a group from Japan and a group from Italy. We've also met some Canadians, Brazilians and Spaniards who've been here for a year or more. The Italians are only here for a month so we think another group will most likely move in after them. Students can either live in the dorms, like most of us do, or commute to campus for daily classes.

A typical day starts with morning breakfast from 8:15-8:45. Everyone eats together in the cafe as we're served by the kitchen staff. Food consists of a ton of vegetables and depending on the main dish, one usually has to gorge themselves on bread and butter. Class begins at 9AM. Our classes consist of 10 or 11 students (we are in separate classes in case you were wondering!) Marissa's group is comprised of Japanese and AIFS students, while Tara's class has 7 AIFS students, 1 Japanese student, 1 gentleman from Denmark and a married couple from Norway. We have three hours of class and then it's lunch at 12:05. After lunch we usually do homework in the Foyer with the other students, catch up on our e-mails, walk into town or take a nap. Dinner is served at 7PM and the rest of the night is free. With the location of the College it isn't difficult to occupy our time. Some nights we play card games, while others are spent at the local pub, The Quays (an Irish joint the American students have Christened as their own!)

The College is located on the French Riviera. Our campus faces the Mediterranean Sea (which can be seen from our bedroom window.) To get to the beach we just have to exit the campus, cross under a bridge and voila! - la plage! The campus is a 15 minute walk from the main part of Cannes (La Croisette, Palais de Festivals and La Rue D'Antibes.) This area is full of shops (both high end and generic), fabulous restaurants featuring cuisine from all parts of the globe, grand hotels - the most famous of these being The Carlton - and three casinos. Cannes' famous yachts and sailboats surround this area so you are constantly reminded of the wealth and grandeur of the city.


View Larger Map

And there you have it! That gives you an overview of our life here in France. Since we've only been here a week there is definitely loads more to come, so keep checking in and don't be shy to leave a comment or two.

Be on the look out for the next episode of our video blog as we give you a tour of our accommodations here at the college!

Best wishes,
MoffTar

TGOC - Video Blog Premiere

Cannes You Feel It?!

If you can picture a small beach town, set on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea that appears like a cross between Beverly Hills and the quaintest European village-then you're probably envisioning Cannes. We couldn't completely comprehend any of this until taking our first stroll through this amazing little city early Sunday morning. We began the day enjoying pain au chocolat with brunch at the College. Having had several meals in the cafeteria, we quickly surmised that weekend brunch will be a meal we look forward to all week.

Despite the rain we decided to expand our knowledge of Cannes by doing some good old fashioned exploring. The winding streets of this delicate city took us past shops, hotels and eateries. Being rainy and a Sunday everything was closed and there was hardly anyone in site. We felt like we had been submerged in a fantasyland and were the only ones on the planet to enjoy it. We were so relieved to have our first view of the plage (beach) and saw that there was a place to park our yachts for the spring. Phew! We thought we would have to put them in storage. But seriously - nothing reminds you of your place in the world like standing next to a boat worth several millions.

Feeling a bit more at home, we found ourselves atop the stairs of the famous Palais des Festivals. After completely freaking out for a minute, we took a moment of silence to "feel the magic" as we called it. The view from up there is something we would definitely love to get used to. The pair of us cannot wait to see this area completely transform in May for the film festival.

Our stroll took us through the stores along La Croissette. That's the famous beachfront with posh stores and restaurants. We tried to guess where we think Brad, Angelina, George and Leo will hang out during the festival and plan to set up a tight perimeter in the months to come. We then visited a local street market & purchased some yellow and purple tulips for our room because it seemed like the most romantic, European thing to do at the time. We tested our french with the flower vendor but quickly realized that we have a lot to learn (she was extremely nice about it though!)

Following the beach back towards campus we took a moment to scream unabashedly into the sea. It was the most natural way to express our emotions at the time! The rest of the day was spent in a brief orientation meeting with our AIFS group and enjoying a welcome drink with fellow students.

Today, Monday, started off with a bang - FRENCH LANGUAGE PLACEMENT TESTS. There is no greater experience than taking a test to remind you that you don't comprehend the native tongue of the land you're living in for four months. We receive our test results tomorrow when we meet our teachers to begin 15hrs/week of intensive language study. Wish us luck!

Needing to get some necessities for our room, etc. we visited the local Monoprix-which can only be described as a cross between a Target and a supermarket. We also purchased our French cell phones (so e-mail us if you absolutely need our numbers because we don't have many minutes as of yet!) Also, Tara's camera broke so we located the local equivalent of a Best Buy, called FNAC. More to come on the status of the camera.

Tomorrow begins our classes, which is both a relief and a bit nerve wracking. The sooner we start to learn the language the more interaction we will have with locals; however, no matter where you are in the world - school is school and the thought of 9AM class is never fun.

As always, thanks for tuning in. Lot's more to come - including the debut of our video blog. It's going to be great so you won't want to miss it. Don't forget to comment or write:

twogirls.onecannes@gmail.com

Best wishes,
MoffTar

**This week's shout out is dedicated to our friend Sommer Hogan. Cannes is fabulous and classy - just like you. We eagerly await the day when we encounter this infamous Calvin Klein store and will be sure to fill you in when we do. Ooh La La!

London Calling....

Bonjour from Cannes!

Here are the links to our London pictures - check them out!

Marissa's London Pics

Tara's London Pics

(The password to see these and all future photo albums is "Cannes")