Finnish Moving Operation

After a few years located very conveniently right in the centre of Nice, overlooking Place Massena, Mikko (introduced to friends and strangers by Marianne as "le bidule bleu") finally took the dramatic decision to move in with Marianne, who lives in the foothills of Nice. So naturally, he summoned his fellow Finns to help move his furniture and “other stuff” (guitars, sound system, DVD’s and other entertainment equipment – which actually probably takes more space than his furniture ;-). So I got up 7:30 in the morning (on a Saturday, argh!), had my brekkie, and jumped on the train to Nice. In spite of my efforts, I was the last one to arrive, and Marianne’s dad’s van was already half-loaded by the time I arrived.



The move was executed with typical Finnish efficiency and organisation (the moves I’m planning and executing seem to be an exception to this rule though?) – we only took about three hours in the end. I have to say that even though the new place is somewhat less centrally located, I wouldn’t complain… The most charming house is located in the foothills of Nice, with a great view over the sea and Nice. And what’s best, they’re planning to install a proper Finnish sauna and Jacuzzi. Marianne's parents also live next door - and they have a swimming pool... ;-). We were amply awarded for our efforts with a “light lunch”, which consisted of (among other things) pizza, pissaladiere (a local speciality – a kind of anchovies and onion pie), and tasty wine from the Var.



Mathilde later joined me in Nice, where we spent a very nice day indeed, with great weather. After walking around in the old town and hanging out on the beach, we visited the museum of photography. It’s located just a couple of blocks away from where we used live in Nice, so we figured it was about time to pay a visit (especially since it’s free!). It’s a pretty cool museum, located in an old theatre. They had an exhibition on Bernard Plossu – it was pretty interesting. In the evening we went to see a film by Sean Penn called “Into the wild”, which I can thoroughly recommend. Finally we met up with Sami for dinner, followed by a pint of Leffe on Place Magenta.