my heart belongs to the sea ~ Nice & Monaco

(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...

map of old nice

roses at the flower market

colorful streets

laundry hanging

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. 

the wonders of france

promenade d'anglais

sunset on the beaches of nice - with mk!!

& 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! :)

la plage et la mer

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. 

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.

happy birthday (to me)!

blurry picture of picnic-ing, but soak in that view!

<3

spotted - the american yacht!!

view across the port to the palace

casino monte carlo

time to get fancy

hotel de paris

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