On to Nice.
So if you read my previous post, I obviously was ready to get out of Paris (oddly enough) and make it to Nice. Yes, after suffering the cold, the French Riviera sounded like a nice change of scenery. Not to mention, Mack had mentioned to me that Johnny Depp lived near Nice. Who knows, maybe he still had some candy from doing Willy Wonka! One could only hope.
After trekking up a gigantic hill past countless presents dogs left behind for us to dodge (seriously Europe, get your act together, pick up after your dogs), we made it to our hostel. Right away we were pleasantly surprised. After such a disappointing hostel in Paris, anything would have been an improvement, but this was so much more. The meeting area was in an old cathedral with stained glass walls and vaulted ceilings. The rooms were great. The beds were like a dream. The bathrooms were large and clean. They served great food right in the hostel for cheap. One of the staff even offered us a cookie from the package he had just received from his mom! We were in utter disbelief.
Dropping off our bags, we headed back down to Nice where we explored the beach and the old town for a little bit. The beach wasn’t what I was expecting. For some reason, I think all beaches are white sand. This had a grey pebble and probably was not too comfortable to lie out on, but it was beautiful none the less. The old part of town was really cute. The architecture and the city as a whole definitely felt much more Mediterranean than French.
We ate in the hostel that night. The food was delicious and the people were great. We ended up playing Asshole with some other Americans, a guy from New Zealand, a Norwegian couple and maybe a few other nationalities mixed in. It was great mixing with so many cultures in such a relaxed environment.
The next day we headed off to Eze. Well, we attempted to head off to Eze. Our ignorance of the bus schedule made it so that we missed our bus by about 5 minutes and the next one was in over an hour. Opting not to wait, we skipped Eze and headed to Monaco, thinking we could hit up Eze on the way back. The ride was beautiful. It was right along the seaside up in the hills and afforded so many great views of the small towns dotting the coast line. On the trip, a fellow traveler and American, Ross, must have heard our own American accents and asked where we were from. We started chatting a little bit, exchanging small snippets of our own trips and eventually decided to see Monaco together. We went to the changing of the guards at the country’s palace. It was decidedly less impressive than the British version, but still interesting to see. Then we went down to the docks. I must admit, this was the major draw for me anyways. To see such opulent yachts docked was enough, but having the owners Ferrari parked outside was just too much. Ross and I drooled over these Italian pieces of art, admiring their engines and perfect styling. On our way out of Monaco we stopped by the casino, an inspiration for many Bond movies. We later heard from our Norwegian acquaintances that the inside was even more remarkable, with great works of art hanging everywhere and just supreme architecture.
While we dawdled by the casino, our bus to Eze made its way out of Monaco. We missed it by like 3 minutes this time! Well, we weren’t going to wait two hours, so we went back to Nice. Once back in Nice, I explored the old city and the Chateaux (I think it was called) which is this great hill overlooking the city, the beach and the port.
The next day we were determined to get to Eze. We made sure we made it to the bus station on time and were off to the small medieval city (well, town) situated on the top of a hill overlooking the sea. We lost ourselves in the narrow, winding stone streets and eventually made it to the top of the town. There was an exotic garden at the top. Apparently exotic means cactus in French. There were agave and prickly pear and aloe and so many other cacti surrounding us as we had amazing views of the surrounding shorelines.
Back in Nice we visited the modern art museum (which is always free by the way, along with apparently most of the museums in Nice) and retreated to the hostel to spend one last night relaxing.
The next day our flight was in the afternoon, so Mack and I split up for a few hours to see what intrigued us. I went to Villefranche, this small fishing village about 10 minutes outside of Nice. I just walked around and read on the beach while small sailboats and dingy bobbed in the water in front of this brightly colored coastline.
Nice was probably one of my favorite stops on the trip, which was entirely surprising. I think the fact that I didn’t have a list of required sites to visit in a short amount of time helped. Also, following Paris, I needed a place to relax and get over my cold (which I did!) to prepare for Rome. Also, they did our laundry for 5 euro! After a week and a half of the same few shirts and pants, access to laundry is like a godsend.
Well, this is the second to last leg of my Euro Trip, with only Rome remaining, but as I am just hours away from departing for my Spain and Italy trip, I must start packing and organizing! Oh, it feels good to finish exams and jet off to the south of Spain. I could definitely get used to this. One looming disappointment though, I may not be able to watch the Packers play in the Superbowl. Apparently Venice is not a popular destination to watch the game, who knew. I think I will find some way to survive though, perhaps drowning myself in pasta and gelato.
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