It's Going by Fast

Mon-Sun, February16-22, 2026 -- Villefranche-sur-Mer, France

Typical weekday dinner

Clearly, we're only managing one blog a week at this point. Hey, we're busy! It is crazy that we only have one week left of school. It's gone by quickly. We're doing ok; it just seems slow. Sometimes I get frustrated by the pace, but of course it doesn't really matter (like most things in life!) We're here primarily because this has been a dream of Meg's for years. We also didn't necessarily plan it optimally, which also is completely fine. As soon as we're done next week, we'll be with our family and friends (yay!). I'm guessing we'll be using very little French to communicate, however!

Typical weekday breakfast

Many of the students here have good reason to be learning French. Stephan bought a house in Normandy, which he's renovating as a summer home; Nicole is building a house in the southwest of France with her husband; Christine and Thomas are living in Paris; and Kako and Kai (and a bunch of others) live in Monico (less than ten miles away), which is completely surrounded by France!

Morning news session in the Grand Salon

Lunch time

Because this is a pretty high-end school with a good reputation, it seems to attracts a fairly affluent crowd. Apparently, Lance Armstrong was here four times in his heyday. Interestingly, one woman has a body guard, which explains the friendly guy who's always hanging around in the back garden during the day. (She's also picked up by a black Mercedes with a chauffeur outside the main gate... I didn't ask for details!)

On Monday, the school was closed since we had a full-day excursion, for those that were interested. We were picked up in town by a bus and taken first to the extremely picturesque, tiny town of Saint Paul de Vence. Nowadays, the main, narrow stone walking street is lined mostly with art galleries and such catering to tourists. Although, beyond the main thoroughfare, it does seem like people actually live there.

Saint Paul de Vence

Like something out of Disneyland

The second stop was a big spluge ($100+ a pop) a fancy lunch at a Michelin rated restaurant, Alain Llorca. Of course it was excellent, four courses -- hors-d'oeuvres, champagne, white and red wine, dessert. "Excellent!" (same word in French).

Excursion lunch -- Alain Llorca

Special menu for Institut Francais (IF)

Hors-d'oeuvres

Fish, seafood, and citrus fruit!

Maybe Alain?

Finally, we visited the Maeght Foundation, a small, hilltop art gallery of modern and contemporary art -- not really my thing. We had a guide who whisked us through in about 40 minutes. I have to say, I struggle with understanding a lot of contemporary art under the best of circumstances, so trying to understand it in French definitely did not improve the situation! I've decided that that story and meaning behind a lot of modern art has way more to do with it's appeal that the actual art itself or the skill required to execute it. Miro was one of the featured artists. The three big motifs that he often included in his work were: women, birds, and stars. Usually, I could detect the elements representing the bird or star, but was left bewildered as to where the woman was! Still, the gallery was in a beautiful location.

Our guide

I get the bird and star reference, but the woman..?

Beautiful location

Unfortunately, there's been a cold going around, so a lot of my class has been out at some point -- Bradley, Kelly and Kai missed at least a day, and Bryan missed all of last week; not sure it he's coming back. I didn't feel 100% for a couple of days, but went to bed early and seemed to have licked it. At this point, it should be extremely clear who between Meg and me has the stronger constitution!

Not everyone here signed up for the full, standard, four-week session. Raymond and Brandt left my class after two weeks, Kelley left on Friday, so the class has dwindled to seven, six is Bryan doesn't return. One of Meg's class mates, Dennis, also had his last day on Friday. To say goodbye, we had some drinks at a bar, and then a nice dinner down by the waterfront -- you know, we're roughing it!

Friday drinks (body guard on the left)

Dinner with Mark, Meg, Zoe, Jan, and Penny

Maybe the best restaurant in Villefranche

This weekend, we rode our bikes over to Nice to visit the Matisse Museum, one of Meg's and her mom's favorite artists, and a long-time resident of Nice. I enjoyed it much more than the Maeght Foundation. I practiced French by reading the historical accounts and comparing to the English when available. Afterwards, we dipped our toes in the Mediterranean for the first time and then found a small Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. I successfully ordered lunch without the waitress switching to English (score!). Later, when I asked for a coffee, the guy at the next table jumped in to help, responding "normal" (also a French word). In hindsight, I'm pretty sure she was asking what type of milk I wanted with for my "cafe au lait," but I completely missed it (doh!)

Mattise's early artwork

The Mediterranean

The Nice beach front

Today, Meg has spent the entire day working on an oral presentation she needs to make for class tomorrow. The presentation needs to last about 10 minutes, and then she's asked questions by the class, so it's definitely a challenge. As a "debutant," that's not something I need to do. As a result, I took advantage of the "free day" -- and the morning sun -- to take a ride to the small, mountain-top town of Peille. By the way, there are tons of professional cyclists who live and train here due to the hills.

The road was closed until the peloton and chase vehicles passed

I definitely wasn't going vert fast -- and I attempted to talk to myself in French the entire time-- but it was a super nice ride. The tiny town was cool. To celebrate my arrival, I sat in the small main square, listening to a small group of singers, with an expresso and "pain au chocolat" (croissant with chocolate inside.) Really, what's not to like!