Day 13- May 31

 (awkward angle, but these are my feet soaking up the sun on the French Riviera!)

 (Keli and I)

 (Hillary and I. NO, I have not embraced the culture of going topless, its just a strapless top!)

        We had our first company visit in Nice this morning.  I woke up early to get ready for the day, ate breakfast in the hotel dining room, then our whole group met for student presentations and Nice orientation.  After our meeting, we loaded the coaches and drove about a mile down the road from our hotel to EDHEC (Ecole de Hautes Etudes Commercials) Business School.  EDHEC is one of the leading business schools in Europe, with several locations in France, London, and Singapore.  While visiting the school we got to hear a lecture on the marketing of luxury goods and fragrances, which was quite interesting since I usually study more take more “numbers” classes than marketing classes.

            After our visit and lecture at the school, the group returned to our hotel and we had the rest of the afternoon free.  I went with a few girls to a nearby grocery store to buy some fruit (very scarce at restaurants so I’ve been craving it) and a few snacks for my hotel room.  After eating a quick lunch, pretty much every single person from our group made a beeline for the beach.

            The beach was wonderful.  Even though rain was forecasted, the temperature was in the 70s and it was partly cloudy, which made for a great afternoon to lounge around.  Getting used to laying on a bunch of rocks was a bit difficult, even with the straw mat I bought for 2 Euros, but if I ignored the rocks digging into my spine, it was great!  The water of the Mediterranean Sea is freezing, but it felt nice to put my feet in after I had been baking in the sun all afternoon.  It was so nice to spend time relaxing and having fun with everyone, and getting to know some people that I had not spent much time with yet.  (Side note: today also proved once and for all that Europeans have no problem with nakedness- in fact, they embrace it.  From statues at the Louvre, to advertisements hanging in the metro stations and department stores, to the things we saw on the beach today…just take my word for it.)

            After spending way too many hours on the beach, I went up to the hotel to change for dinner.  We ended up going to another Mexican food place (we’re all craving it) that turned out to be relatively decent.  There were probably thirty people from our study abroad trip inside that small restaurant- it seems that everyone’s tolerance for French food is wearing a little thin.

            After dinner we stopped to get ice cream from a man who has been a friend of the marketing study abroad trip for many years now.  One thing that all the former students of this trip all mentioned is that we had to get ice cream from him and ask about his kids.  So I got some delicious chocolate ice cream, and found out that his kids-both in their thirties now- are doing great.

            Then we went to sit out on the beach again, but the rain that continues to be in the forecast finally started falling, so our night was cut short as we all went inside.