Today started out as a great day. As a surprise for our 3 year anniversary, Charles booked us cooking lessons. The lessons were in English, taught by a Canadian who has lived in France for the last 15 or so years.The guide started the lesson at 9:30 AM with a history lesson of Nice and its cuisine and then provided a tour of the Old Town market, fromagerie (cheese shop), and wine cellar, highlighting local produce and good bargains. Then, the lesson continued in her apartment/cooking studio, as the students worked together to cook Nicoise specialties. The lessons were very informative and the company was great. We really enjoyed the conversation we shared with our guide and the other students in the small group of 7 who came from all across the US, as well as one from South Africa and one from Australia.

By far the highlights were the food and wine, though. We sampled local wine while we prepared/cooked a 5 course meal. We started with an artichoke salad (who knew you could eat artichoke raw?), ricotta-stuffed squash blossoms with sauteed asparagus, arugula, and mint pesto, stewed fish (tastes better than it sounds) with vegetables, a sampling of four local cheeses, and a cherry clafouti (similar to a baked custard or bread pudding). By mid-afternoon when the lesson ended, we were sated and slightly toasted (well, maybe not Charles).

After a quick stop back the apartment, Charles and I decided to head across town to check out the Russian Cathedral. We took the tram a few stops, then walked the rest of the way. While it was not a particularly long walk, we are both still pretty tired and sore from the jet lag and the first few days of the trip and the sun was pretty hot today, so it seemed a lot longer of a walk than it really was. We got there – only to find out that the cathedral is under construction and is closed. 😦

We headed back to the tram stop to wait for the tram back to Old Town. When we got there, we picked a spot to wait in the shade near a young man who was maybe in his late teens. The man seemed to be fidgety and gave me a bad vibe. At one point, he walked past me, passing much closer than was necessary given the space around us. I gave him a stern look and pulled my purse around in front of me and put my hand over the flap – as if to say “I know what you’re about…”

I felt a little bit silly after – like maybe I was overreacting.

It’s a special purse, designed for traveling. Embedded in the strap is metal wire to deter thieves from cutting the strap and running off with the purse. It zips and has an extra latch for the top flap to make it harder for someone to open it without you noticing. When we first arrived in Nice, I was careful to carry my purse in front of me and not let it hang behind. I kept it zipped and latched at all times. Then, I noticed that all of the locals and other tourists carried regular purses and backpacks – with nobody seeming particularly concerned about theft… so I got a bit lax. I even commented to the other tourists during our lesson today that I was very pleased to find out that Nice is not as bad as Paris when it comes to pick-pocketing. The woman from southern California indicated that she’s been to Nice several times before and has never heard of any major problems with theft.

Apparently, non-verbally calling out the man on the tram platform was asking for it. Or maybe it was not a loud enough signal. Or maybe it was a signal aimed at the wrong person. Either way, I left the crowded tram three stops later one wallet lighter. Perhaps someone had already lifted it before I gave my would-be robber the stink eye. Perhaps the teenage girl toeing a soccer ball behind me on the crowded tram who kept “accidentally” brushing my ankle with the ball lifted it. Perhaps it was neither of them. Perhaps it was both of them working together. Whoever it was – I didn’t feel a thing. I blame the wine.

SO we spent the next hour or so calling credit card companies and banks, canceling cards. Fortunately, we were able to cancel my card to our bank account and one of our credit card accounts without having to cancel Charles’ access. I am glad we brought the cards that we brought, although most travel advice warns you against bringing several different cards (I do wish that we didn’t carry all of them with us each day, though). The card we planned to use the most on the trip happened to be one of the accounts where canceling my card access also required that Charles’ access be canceled.

I still feel pretty sick about the cash I was carrying in my wallet. Luckily we never travel with much cash, but I was carrying more than I would have liked (roughly equivalent to my wine budget for the next week). As Charles pointed out, we’ve each learned more expensive lessons throughout our lives. At this point, I’m beginning to move past the anger and the sick feeling and am counting blessings:

1. I had removed my passport from my wallet after arriving at our apartment on our first day here.
2. The thief was either not interested in my phone or didn’t have the chance to lift it.
3. I still have my bus pass. (That one’s for you, Jen)
4. We still have the means to eat, enjoy our trip, and make it back to the US.
5. French wine in France is cheaper than soft drinks.

After a rest and some consolatory wine, we went for a stroll along the waterfront at sunset and had a picnic dinner from McDonalds, since we have to make at least one trip to a McDonalds on every international trip. McDonalds in France is not nearly as exciting as McDonalds in Japan; there was nothing as cool as the McHotdog here. They did have potato wedges and a pasta salad, which I think is unique to France. However, it’s been so long since I’ve eaten a non-breakfast meal from McDonalds that they could be on the US menu for all I know. What I do know is that nobody was going to pick-pocket me during our picnic.

We wrapped up the day with gelato/sorbet (of course) and plan to call it an early night, since we’ll have a fairly early start tomorrow when we head to Monaco to watch Formula 1 practice.