In April, I flew out to France to attend the Spring Meeting of the American Geophysical Union. I was to present a poster on our recent work with space weather prediction, namely, predicting the arrival of interplanetary shocks that originate at the Sun. However, in the week I was in France, I had all sorts of other adventures that had nothing to do with posters, research, or the sun.

In fact, the only really sunny day of the week was the day I arrived, exhausted and jet lagged, at 8 a.m. and then had to force myself to walk around to stay awake until a decent evening hour. I went down to the Mediterranean Sea, eyeing the pebbly beach with wonder. There was no sand to be seen, just miles of rocky beach. The locals didn't seem to mind, and they were draped out on the rounded pebbles to enjoy the sunny day. I walked along the beachfront for a while, then discovered the Colline du Chateau, or the Castle Hill.

The Colline du Chateau is a very steep hill right next to the sea that is covered with little winding pathways, gardens, and old buildings. Even when filled with large numbers of people, it gives the illusion of being empty and intimate, since there are so many paths that go their individual ways. To the right is a shot of some of the greenery to be found at the top of the hill.

One of the most breathtaking sights is the waterfall, a graceful fall of water amidst the green.

Near the conference center, I found some fountains and this lovely, huge, silver dragon sculpture.

I then spent almost a week attending cool talks on Mars missions, Venus missions, space weather, and geology. When I wasn't in conference sessions, I spent my time attempting to communicate with locals, in French, to accomplish useful tasks such as buying books or exchanging Traveler's Checks into local currency. I somehow thought that Traveler's Checks were a widely-accepted form of money, but this turns out to be incredibly false. Not only does no one want to take US dollars as Traveler's Checks, none of the ostensible "banks" wanted to take them either. I ended up having to walk a couple of miles in the direction of a "Bureau de Change", which I couldn't find, at which point a "bank" took pity on me and changed the checks into Euros. Euros are cool -- each country mints its own Euros, with a different face to indicate their origin.

I had more success in obtaining food and communicating with shopkeepers, at eating establishments, bookstores, the post office, the hotel front desk, a sidewalk postcard stand, and a random comic book store that looked interesting.

People in France drive really small cars.

This is a shot from the interior of my favorite restaurant in Nice. It is called "La Table Chine", and it is a Vietnamese restaurant on the shore. You can get a huge meal for very few Euros, the service is impeccable, it isn't crowded, and the food is heavenly. The decor alone is worth the trip; they even have a koi pond in the middle of the restaurant with a little bridge across it.

While out walking, I took several pictures of the area. Here is a shot of some colorful bushes and the grounds laid out above the library (it is mostly underground).

Nice has an "Old Town" district, near the sea, which is where La Table Chine is located. The streets in this area are narrow and not suitable for vehicular traffic (this doesn't stop some people, though!). They form a twisty maze area, very difficult to navigate but sure to have a surprise around each corner. I ate at several restaurants, bought postcards, watched capoeira artists, and listened to musicians. They also have a vibrant flower market on Saturday.

On one of my final days in Nice, I took the local bus up to the Observatory, hoping to get a chance to look around. Sadly, it was closed, but I did get a nice shot of the quaint building the observers apparently live in. Yes, the gate appears to be open, but when I went inside, I was confronted by a woman who poked her head out of the cute building and wouldn't let me go further in. This was despite the two guys who had walked in right ahead of me without challenge (you can see them in the distance in this shot).

I spent the rest of the day in a complicated trek across Nice using their unfamiliar bus system and a severely outdated map. Eventually, I made it to the Jardin Botanique (Botanical Garden), on the other side of the city, up on a hill. It was perfect. Although it was overcast and threatening to rain, I delighted in the nearly-empty garden and the ability to walk around in environs that smelled of grasses and blossoms, rather than the smoky confines of the conference center. I took many pictures, and I selected my favorites to include here.

I did successfully deliver my poster and answered questions and talked to strangers for two hours straight. Go me!

I returned home to find that the trees had all blossomed! Spring had sprung! And here's a shot of me with my car.