Before I start typing about today, I’d like to expand about yesterday and my glorious five hour bike ride. I honestly can’t believe I made it around that entire like, all 50 kilometers of it, the ups and downs, the narrow climbs and falls. My every muscle may have been sore today, but it was totally worth it. For 15 Euros, I thrust myself into the Alpes and saw some of the most picturesque scenery that the Swiss-French border has to offer. And- I only fell once! On my butt, of course, trekking down a rocky slope from the Cascade d’Angon. Oops. But I’m Sharon, so that was to be expected, and no harm done. Anyway, I will definitely be returning one day to Annecy, the Lac, Talloires and everything in that immediate region. Even the hostel I stayed in was fantastic – amazingly clean, showers in the room, strong WiFi connection – worth the hour-long uphill trek from the train station.

This morning, I did that very same trek – but luckily the downhill version – back to the train station at about 5:30 a.m. I wasn’t the only one awake; there were a few street cleaners sweeping Annecy’s pristine streets and sidewalks, and a couple chefs were preparing for the day ahead. But aside from these few, I was only to breathe that deliciously pure Rhone-Alpes air.

My train rides today, which totaled about 6 hours, were largely uneventful, and I slept pretty much four hours straight on the second one. The passenger next to me had to wake me when we finally arrived in Nice, which was luckily the last stop on this train. Anyone surprised here? Sharon falling asleep on command in random places…no way! But I groggily stumbled out of the train and managed to hold onto all my stuff through the seedier area of Nice, enjoying the suddenly Mediterranean weather.

Nice has been nice so far, though I definitely think Annecy was much more beautiful. After checking into the hotel/hostel, I made my way to the Marc Chagall Museum. Yes, where the Jews go, Sharon goes. But in all seriousness, I was really interested to see his works after seeing the movie Varien’s War with my grandmother, in which Chagall is one of the artists escaping Nazi Germany through the hands of some very righteous gentiles. The museum was beautiful, especially the Biblical paintings, but I was slightly disappointed to see almost no mention of Chagall and the Holocaust. Hopefully I’ll find that in different Jewish places in Paris. This museum was great though, even more so because it was relatively small, so I didn’t even have time to get museum-exhausted!

After that, I walked all around Nice, along the main avenue, down to the beach, on the boardwalk, and through Vieux Nice. Staring at the Mediterranean Sea from above and from its rocky shores was incredible as always, yet I wanted to reach out across the water and pull Israel just a bit closer. Luckily, I reminded myself, I’ll be in Israel in 6 days – God willing. I hope that I remain just as enchanted with Israel this time – my fifth time – as I have always been, even though certain circumstances in my life have drastically changed against my favor. Standing at the foot of an ocean or sea always gives me some sort of vague nostalgia, an ambivalence about whatever is going on in my life and a clearer perspective into my own self.

On that note, I think I’ll sign off and go to sleep for the night. I’m going to try and go with one of my really nice new hostel-mates, Sarah, to go see a medieval village called Saint Paul de Vence tomorrow, as recommended by Ruth at The Jewish Week. It’s only about an hour bus ride from Nice, and bus fare apparently only costs 1 Euro. Leave me your thoughts, comments, criticisms as always!

Bonne nuit and love to all.