Aloha, Cannes

It's my last day here in beautiful Cannes. I head to the pharmacie as soon as I can move - up all night in PAIN (the back thing, aggravated by carrying a huge box up to the poste yesterday. The pills from the doc back home didn't work; 800 mg. ibuprofen didn't touch it. She gives me Voltaren, and by the time I finish the NYTimes et un café, I'm good. Vive la France!  I went back to pack and clean my Suquet studio, grateful for this sweet home base the last several weeks.

Now I'm back at the Salsamentaria, sun pouring over my shoulders. Brando brings me a lambrusco (I have 2 more free cards). He was the one I met the first time here when they had just opened and I had just arrived...was that July? We practice Italian (buongiorno, tutti bene) and he recommends the pork cheeks with fried polenta (Guancialini di maiale al lambrusco con polenta fritta). OMG! Best meal here yet!! I may have to postpone veganism til my next life :-) I finish with un café and that fab little choc cookie they serve.

This week I catch a beach day, join a friend from Germany for fabulous oysters just down the street at Atoux & Brun, spend a quiet afternoon prepping the next 2 weeks of my trip - Rome, Florence  (just had to do more Italy!), and London (where I get 2 days with family). Yesterday Pablo picks me up for a road trip up mauka - to  the foothills of the Alpes - Valbonne, Opio, Gourdon, Coursegoules. Lovely!

It's been such a (mostly) happy time here. Other than the theft of my iPhone (3 months now without a smartphone - yikes!) and betrayal of a friend, Cannes has outlived my expectations. I'm feeling so happy and so high, grateful to have lived here long enough to taste the sweet experience of living in France.

I'm off to Rome in a couple of hours. Will bid adieu to Yvan and wait for El Hami to drive me to Nice...

bidding a fond aloha to Cannes and the Côte d'Azur.