Roma

So sorry that I have been out of the loop. I have been preparing for my trip to Rome and dealing with some other things, it has officially turned hot in the south of France.
My new car is giving problems. Since I am without manual, there are little things that I don't know...for instance...the batter will not engage unless you let all the signal lights go off and then start the car....whO would have known.
I'm still fighting the gears, but I left it all behind in the parking lot at Nice airport.
I flew easyJ here. I had been warned, one bag of a certain dimension...I measured it all out...I did not know that you were not allowed any other carry on. I had my camera bag. They made me pay 50 euro and then took my suitcase into the hold. I thought for sure that that would be the last I saw of it as thereis a strike going on...but I did retrieve it in the baggage pick up area.
So now I know.
I sat next to 2 Italian woman that talked the entire 55 minutes , employing every hand  motion they could think of.  Hearing the Italian is comforting to me, so I didn't mind. The announcements on the plane were all kinds of mixed up but I was surprised that there was  no French....huh? We left from Nice and the languages were English and Italian.
I would love to have just one trip stress less for me.
The driver  picked me up outside of customs....I had wanted to take thE metro but no way today. He did not speak french of English so not a peep was said on the way into Roma (45 minutes or so) he had a very nice soft rock English language radio station on ...and I heard the song Roseanna, and a few other pop songs as we drove past dirty decayed modern ruins on the way into the city.
I am reminded as to how different things are in France. Everything is so clean and taken care of.
Here, everything is rotting and all mixed up...ancient with not so new with new...I don't know how I feel about that.
I have an allegiance now to the French. I know that people see them as standoffish and cold, but I think they just have extra layers that you have to  get through.
But I love the Italians. I have very little in the way of language skills here. There are so many tourists with paper maps dragging themselves around trying to get a feel for I here. People taking pictures of people..the crazy frenzy outside the coliseum....
I know for sure, I am happy to be here. There were so many good signs...the best being a lady bug on the windowsill. She flew off with her recessed wings...but she was good luck for me and I intend to hold her to it.

,