Mysteries and Nerve-Steeling Experiences Keep One Sharp, Right? - Friday, 24 March

(This post from Provence)

First the good news - I didn't get any of my passengers killed or even get my rental car damaged driving in Nice and up into the hills to Julia Child's home!  That might not seem like a big deal to you, but my goodness, what an unnerving experience it was just trying to get from the Nice airport through town a bit and then out into the countryside!  There is street construction everywhere in Nice - lanes are very narrow and then they suddenly end when you least expect it.  Directional signs are confusing and street signs are almost non-existent.  And the locals drive like lunatics.  And narrow country roads with eroded edges and almost no shoulders switch back and forth nerve-wrackingly sharply (which, however, doesn't seem to faze the local drivers on your tail nor the oncoming semi drivers!).  Happily, it was mid-day, and not raining, and one of my friends served as my navigator.  Had that not been the case, I might still be out there trying to figure out where to go!  But we made it, and the experience steeled our nerves.  I will admit, however, that we are changing our sightseeing plans to avoid the sights of Nice in favor of some of the more, well, rural delights!

Earlier in the day, a mystery!  I must have looked shifty or something because when I transferred at Charles de Gaulle from my Minneapolis-Paris flight to my Paris-Nice flight, the lady at the x-ray station decided that she had to take EVERYTHING out of my purse and roller bag, and even open up their contents to look for, um, I'm not sure what.  No contraband in my possessions, really!  But hey, better safe than sorry.

Then mystery #2 - both my iPhone and iPad were almost totally depleted when I got to Paris (even though I wasn't using them much) and none of my multiple methods of charging them worked.  This was more unnerving than you might guess - I have come to rely on them extensively - I still carry some maps, but for communications, research, directions, problem solving,  etc. I am SO dependent on my phone.  I was almost ready to head  over to the Apple store in Nice to buy a new one, but happily, one of my traveling companions loaned me her battery storage device and it worked (why hers worked and mine didn't still mystifies me!), and once I got to the house my charger worked.  Whew!  I hope it keeps working!  I mean, I can handle some mysteries and nerve-wracking experiences, but I really would prefer there to be just one or two a day!