What I’m Doing Instead of Wedding Planning

Sorry I haven’t written in a couple weeks. You see, I was just so busy preparing for my trip to the French Riviera, I couldn’t be bothered to write or even do any wedding-related items. It’s very stressful traveling to the Côte d’Azur– making sure I have the right clothes for the famously temperate climate and enough memory cards to capture the Mediterranean’s beauty effectively, not to mention brushing up on essential French phrases like “Je voudrais un autre pichet de vin rouge” and “Ne me touche pas– tu me fais chier!” Life is so hard sometimes.

The obligatory Mediterranean resort photo

Fine, I’ll stop being completely obnoxious, but I seriously got a chance to go to the French Riviera. For free! I think that merits a little insufferable gloating. I’m on a two-week trip in Antibes Juan-les-Pins (between Cannes and Nice) with a program through the French Consulate optimistically called “Jeunes Talents.” There are eight of us young talents going to four different French cities– Antibes, Lyon, Montpellier and Biarritz– to take photographs for an exhibition and some brochures. For some reason, Loyola is one of the schools sending recent grads and, thank the baby Jesus, I take pictures and speak French. It’s been awhile since I’ve been shooting on a regular basis, though, so I’m hoping it’s like riding a bike…

Esther, another Loyola grad who majored in visual arts, is in Antibes as well so I have a partner in crime to help me eat and drink my way through the city. And in an awesome turn of events, my love Kathleen decided to take a spontaneous vacation to France! She found a cheap fare to Paris and is taking the train to Antibes to meet me on Wednesday. We’ll hang out here for a few days, soak up the sun and stuff ourselves with mussels and escargot, then spend our last two days in Paris. Our conversations about the trip mostly consist of us going, “Eeeeee!” over and over and sometimes jumping up and down.

I had wanted to keep up a Flickr account with all my pictures while I’m traveling, but sadly, I don’t think it’s possible this time around. The gallery in L.A. where we’re having the exhibition in March doesn’t want us to publish our images on the Web until after the opening. Understandable, but a bummer nonetheless. I think I’ll be able to send around a Picasa album or two, so let me know if you’re interested in getting in on that action. I’ll also post a few photos to the blog that I don’t plan to submit. In other words, you can see my photographic rejects here! Who’s excited? I already paid for a pro Flickr account, though, so you can be damn sure I’ll use it for something– take a gander every now and then.

I’ll write more later, but here are a few pictures from my first days here… Gros bisous!

Restaurant in Old Antibes

My neverending quest for the perfect pétanque picture (a.k.a. me stalking old men)

Street in Old Antibes

Soccer game with an unexpected player