So we went to the bus station the next day, only to find it closed. How wonderful. Turns out that particular station was closed all day on Saturdays. We finally found one that was open, hopped on a bus, and found our ways there. Unfortunately, the bus we were going to take on Monday was full. Again. Our next option was Wednesday. We took it. At this point, we had to yet again go back to our hostel and book 2 more nights in Nice. It was getting complicated. Once we had it all figured out, we walked around a bit more, looked up some places to explore outside of Nice, and headed to our other hostel for the night. Now, due to our stressful situation, we had failed to look up anything about this hostel. We walked there, and found the reception in an odd, kind of creepy restaurant. This little old lady walks up to me saying, "Jessica? Jessica?" I respond in the positive and she starts going off in French. I had no idea what she was saying and I'm pretty sure that was clear by my confused state. We paid our night and I gathered that we weren't staying in a dormitory, but in a studio. She then starts moving towards the door and begins walking towards our studio, still speaking to us in French and kind of laughing every now and then. It was awkward to say the least. She finally made it to our studio, which was kind of old, but pretty cool. We went to a cheap place we saw on the way to our room, called Taco Loco, where I got some long missed Mexican food (don't judge me for eating non-French food in France). It was then off to bed so we could get up in the morning, check out of the sketch hostel, and get some free breakfast back our usual hostel (called home at this point).
Finally, at this point, we had everything squared away and could actually do something besides stare at the beach. We decided to first go check out Monaco. Monaco is actually an entirely different country that is so small, it only really fits one city, Monte Carlo. Only about 35,000 people live there, if that gives a good idea of just how tiny it is. However, it was hosting the Rolex Tennis Masters (or something like that), so the train ride there was packed. We finally got there, walked down the steps from the train station, and instantly felt a bit too undressed just to be walking around outside. There were giant yachts and beautiful sail boats in every spot in the port. Outside the really expensive boats where extremely expensive cars parked like they were no big deal. It was insane. We walked around the port a little bit more, just staring in awe. Eventually we made our way to the beach, which actually had sand on it (Nice is a rock beach). We wondered around a bit more, somehow stumbling across the tennis tournament.
We walked around a little bit more, got a little lost, but finally found our way to the Monte Carlo Casino. Unfortunately it costs 10 Euro just to have the privilege of walking in, but seeing the outside was still pretty cool. Parked outside the casino were some of the most expensive cars I have ever seen. There were Ferrarris, Roy Royce's and Lamborghini's like it was no big deal. I think more people were taking pictures with cars than the actual casino.
Right next to the casino were some fountains and a cute little park. We spent some time strolling through that area, snapping some photos and pretending we were gazillionaires.
We then headed to the Palace. Monaco has a royal family, but instead of calling the heads of these kings or queens, they refer to them as prince and princesses. The palace sits on top of a cliff, so the hike up there was a bit intense. But no worries, because we made a pit-stop at a local grocery store to grab a giant thing of iced tea and some cookies to split. We finally made it to the top, where we had a view of two sides of the city. Along both sides there were loads of old cannons and cannon balls on display. Outside the palace, a guard we patrolling back and forth. We then went in (of course, no pictures allowed), where we saw all the rooms set up in a variety of different styles. Some were bedrooms, others areas where guests are received. I also learned tons about the Monaco government and royal family. It was really interesting.
Afterwards, we headed back to the train to go back to Nice. That night, we enjoyed a wonderful three course meal (courtesy of my wonderful parents) where we got to try some delicious and authentic French food. I had some gnocchi, fish and veggies, and creme brulee. It was all amazingly delicious. During dinner, as we were sitting outside enjoying our food, this African man walks up to us and notes our laughter and how laughter comes from the hear. He then says something about how its Africa week and hands us each an elephant. We take them, still smiling. Suddenly he says, "Pay whatever you want. Whatever you have. Or nothing is fine." Being the kind soles we are, we each hand over a few Euros, but he asks for more. It was crazy, and we are all still really confused how he got the few Euros he did out of us. But now I have an African elephant I got in Nice, France...so that's interesting.
The next morning we went out for another adventure, this time to Cannes. Cannes is a town about the size of Nice, but every year, it hosts one of the most famous film festivals in the world. It also has some sandy beaches and some crazy expensive stores. Now, coming from Monaco to Cannes, the cars weren't quite up to par, but it was still way out of our league. After wondering around a bit, and not really finding anything of too much interest or importance, we hit the beach. It felt wonderful to actually feel sunlight and dig my feet into some sand. I just sat there for a while so my skin could remember what it felt like to have the sun hit it. The beach is quite beautiful. Behind the sandy coast and aqua water, there are these beautiful mountains.
Once we had enough of the beach, we went to find the sites. We first found our way to the theatre where the film festival is held every year. Along the walkway there are a bunch of little stones with handprints and signatures of stars from all over the world. To name a few stars I recognized: Julie Andrews, Michael Douglas, Spike Lee, Pink Panther, Mickey, Jane Fonda and Bruce Willis. We passed by a few famous hotels on the way to the next landmark, a castle on church which overlooks the city. There was a decent view, although some spots had some rather large trees obstructing pieces of the view. After, we headed down the hill in a different direction and stumbled onto some of the coolest streets I've come across. Finally, we made our way back to the train station. Since we were so close, we took another trip to Tacos Locos to buy some cheap, filling food.
Our last full day in Nice was, as Quinn called it, activity day. We each rented some form of wheeled transportation. Quinn rented roller blades, Santiago got a skateboard, and I got a bike (I tried roller blades at first, but after falling three times just crossing the street from the rental place, I quickly swapped). We were then off. We rolled, and rolled, and rolled, all the way until we reached an entirely different town, called Ville De Saint Laurent Du Var. We took a short break at their beach, then headed back to Nice. On our way back, we stopped at a market, picked up a snack and ate it by the beach. Once we had returned our rentals, we stopped by a small grocery store and picked up some food to make pasta at the hostel. It was a lovely and exercise filled day.
Our last part of Nice was a sad one. Although we were excited to be heading to a new and different place, we were a bit sad to be leaving one we had gotten to know so well. At our hostel, there were a group of people who had been there as long as us, along with the receptionists, who we had come to consider friends. Nice is also a lovely and beautiful place. But it we had so much more to see. It was just bittersweet. Before heading out, we walked over to the remains of an old chateau (which, ironically, we had planned to do just about every day since we had been in Nice). The ruins are on top of a large hill, giving you a beautiful view of the entire city. It was remarkable and a lovely way to say goodbye to Nice. On our way back to the hostel to pick our stuff up, I stopped in my last French pastry shop, grabbed and amazing sandwich and pastry.
We left incredibly early to ensure that we were, indeed, on the bus to Barcelona that left at 5. Twelve hours later we finally made it to Barcelona. Unfortunately, we had to wait two more hours for our bus to Valencia, which were not very fun or exciting. By 11:30 we were in Valencia. Tired, but there.
Kind of Missing Nice,
Jessica
