From opera-goer to trash-collector

Last Sunday Zari and I went to see a ballet at the Opéra de Nice, which is about 200 feet away from us. This was Zari's first big cultural event.

We sat in the front row. I imagined what it would have been like to attend an opera a century or two ago.

The next day, all of Nice was closed down. There were police everywhere. They came a few days before the event and searched our apartment (and all the others nearby). A huge line of police cars was on the Promenade des Anglais.

President Sarkozy hosted 50 heads of state from Africa for the 25th sommet Afrique-France. He dedicated a new monument right next to our apartment building. It is really ugly--9 huge beams of rusted iron leaning together. When we were chatting with the police inspectors about the monument, they exclaimed, "quelle horreur!" After the ceremony, Sarkozy and the other African presidents dined on our street, about 2-3 blocks down.

Eric got about 3 feet away from the president.

We walked around the new monument after the ceremony. The kids rolled around on the astroturf and climbed on the platforms. Zari saw all the discarded water bottles and had to remedy the situation.

So she lined them all up, according to the volume of water remaining.

We pretended to be imporant persons.