(most of this is taken & copied from the travel journal I keep, much easier to do blog posts later on!)
On the train, TGV – yay! Looking
out at the paysage…rolling, soft, brown hills covered in vines & olive
trees. The occasional village with stone buildings. Bright blue sky, and then
all these soft browns and greens. Neutrals. Not lush like rainy England. Now
going through a more hilly bit, green & rocks & less vineyards. The
hills melt off in the distance. I’m so excited to return to Nice – the sea,
beaches, and mountains in the background.
I can’t believe I live here! Times like these make me wonder why I’d
ever want to leave, or what could persuade me not to take another change on
this program if offered another year. (Ha, and then I get the job offer from a fabulous school in CT...guess I'll depart from a life in France for a little while!)
tidbits of vieux nice...
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| map of old nice |
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| roses at the flower market |
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| colorful streets |
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| laundry hanging |
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| a little heart! |
Having a fabulous day with MK! Woke
up around 9am, out the door by 10 & walked down to the sea. On the way we
stopped at a boulangerie for a pastry breakfast – a brioche Suisse pour moi –
and a baguette for our picnic lunch à la plage. Then a grocery store for some
apples, camembert cheese, chiorzo, and a small bottle of Côtes du Rhone
Villages. Walked along the promenade des anglais, taking in the stunning views
of the Mediterranean. Walked all the way down over to Vieux Nice, and I can
honestly say it’s my absolute favorite part of Nice. Could spend all day there!
We stumbled upon the Flower Market & browsed the selections of cheeses,
spices, meats, fish, soaps, lavender sachets, & of course – endless stalls
of flowers.
We each bought a small watercolor: MK’s was a countryside scene
& mine is of the colorful & tall apartments and charming streets of
Vieux Nice. The market is smaller than that of Les Halles, but certainly had a
bigger selection of flowers and art. Beautiful arrangements – it’s killing me
not having a camera! We then had a café crème in Place Pierre Gautier. Sun on
our faces, good coffee, love hanging out with MK! It was so great to catch up
on how this program is going for us & what’s changed. Oh, yesterday I
noticed postcards of old travel posters at a shop but didn’t stop in at the
time, so explored a bit & rediscovered it! Had a nice chat with the owner
who taught in Toronto for a year so he spoke pretty good English. He was cleaning
the postcard rack so I agreed to come back later. Next, the beach for our late
lunch. Found a great spot on the rocks, split our baguette in half, made a
sandwich & poured two glasses of wine. Perfection. After a couple hours we
went to go find some shade & did some reading & people-watching. Moved
on to Rue Massena to find an SFR store to fix MK’s phone. It’s a cute
pedestrian-only street, but not nearly as appealing as the small maze of Vieux
Nice. Fixed her phone, and quickly went back to View Nice to attempt to meet
Sarah. Confusion followed, but we finally found each other on the promenade. It
was great to be reunited (after only a week apart), and especially lovely to
have a camera again :). We made our way back to the postcard store, wandered so
Sarah could see a bit of the town, and then trekked up the huge hill to Parc du
Chateau (Castle Hill). Passed the waterfall, and arrived at the top where we
proceeded to order a glass of wine to enjoy while the sunset. Yet again,
perfection.
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| the wonders of france |
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| promenade d'anglais |
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| sunset on the beaches of nice - with mk!! |
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| & sarah :) |
Ever since MK told me that the 3 euro bottles of wine we drink here
sell for $60 in the States, I’ve developed an even greater appreciation for the
wine here. We then walked down the hill & met Elisabeth at the beach before
all heading to an Irish pub called Ma Nolan’s for a drink. It was in Vieux
Nice, near the flower market. We had amazing pizzas for dinner at a restaurant
nearby, MK & I split a Quatre Saisons and a Quatre Fromages. YUM.
Accompanied by a dry white Bordeaux & finished with un café. Then proceeded
to have a fun night in Vieux Nice & received a wonderful birthday voicemail
from Liz at midnight (my time). Thanks! :)
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| la plage et la mer |
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| city of nice |
Then…my Birthdaaayyyy!!!! MK and I
met Sarah and Anna at the train station at 11 for our train to Monaco. With us
we had sooo many goodies for a picnic lunch. It’s only a 30 minute train ride
to Monaco, which makes it an incredibly easy day trip. After a rather insane
train ride (diabetic woman in our car, had to call for a nurse/doctor) we were
incredibly relieved to emerge from the train station greeted by sun, a blue
sky, and the cleanest streets I’d seen in ages! Yes, it is true that most
French people don’t pick up after their dogs. Therefore, you always have to
have your eyes glancing ahead of you on the sidewalk or…surprise! So that was one
of the first things we noticed about Monaco ;) The second, everyone was
incredibly well-dressed & good looking! And third, the drivers were polite.
So far, absolutely loved this little country.
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| first impressions |
We walked all the way down to the
port where we found a big stone bench & laid out all of our food. & the
view – wowww. Yachts as far as the eye could see…nearly. For our picnic: bakery
bread, ham, camembert, goat’s cheese, apples, HobNobs, petit dej biscuits, some
salad, strawberries & champagne. Delicious! This is about when the “Happy
Birthday” crown went on – Asia gave me one of hers when I was in Montpellier.
Ha, I wore it all the way to the casino & got some odd looks & some
“happy birthday”s. Went for a glass of vino at Café de Paris right next to the
casino & across from Hôtel de Paris. To cut to the point – the Casino was
stunning. The most beautiful building (that’s still functional aka disregarding
tourist palaces/castles) I’ve ever stepped in. Enormous painted ceilings,
luxurious carpets & décor, stunning bars, and magnificent windows looking
our towards the Med. Seriously – wow.
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| happy birthday (to me)! |
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| blurry picture of picnic-ing, but soak in that view! |
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| <3 |
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| spotted - the american yacht!! |
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| view across the port to the palace |
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| casino monte carlo |
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| time to get fancy |
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| hotel de paris |
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| anna, me & sarah - in front of us is the casino! |
We arrived back in Nice in time to
go back to change and relax a bit before walking back to Vieux Nice for dinner.
We ate at a small Italian restaurant that some of us had passed the night
before. It had been crowded, and the menu looked great so I made a reservation.
Worked out perfectly! I had gnocci with a gorgonzola sauce, and I had a bit of
Sarah’s ravoli to keep with my birthday dinner tradition. White wine, and for
dessert Sarah & Anna had gotten me a huge vanilla macaroon & a
chocolate meringue. Need I say it again? Perfection. What followed was a really
fun night out, so all-in-all…probably the best birthday I’ve had so far! Two
countries, the sea, Italian, French, & new & old friends.
Now I’m exhausted with writing so
suffice it to say the rest of the trip to Nice was in general, spent on the
beach, walking along the promenade, in Vieux Nice, and yes – a morning trip to
McDonald’s. Ya can’t give up everything about America ;)
bisous xo
