You Aren’t In Kansas Anymore, Dorothy . . . Okay, Wait I Take That Back . . .

Here is another cross-posting but the Côte d’Azur had a very mild automn but we are finally feeling the winter chill this week.  (My nose has made the season clear with its sniffles.)  Winter made a grand entry with a truly bizarre entrance . . . tornados.  There were no sirens nor did the city go into panic.  I was actually walking downtown with a friend Sunday afternoon when the tornado happened.  I saw out of the corner of my eye an Air France flight coming in for a landing to the airport but it appeared much closer to the city than the typical flight patterns.  I pointed it out to my friend but then we continued on our walk.  Not till the next day did I read in the newspaper that explained why we saw that plane so close to the city center (avoiding the tornado out at sea).  The abnormal weather also explained why I was woken up Sunday morning by the tapping noise of little chunks of ice . . .  or the beginnings of hail? . . . hitting my window.

Check out the photos linked on this English blog that follows our local newspaper, Nice Matin.

What Does It Really Take?

My colleague and friend Michael Barrett captures a good BBC article worth reading on what it really takes to be an expat these days.