Greetings from Nice!
Leaving Marseille wasn't much of a disappointment. Although I had certainly enjoyed my stay there, it wasn't exactly my most favorite city in France. But I was headed to Nice, my second-favorite city in France, and by the grace of the traveling gods, I was going to be there for Carnavale!
I've been to Nice twice before: once with Sally, Sarah, and Margaret and once with Jessica, Amelia, and Chantal. I absolutely love the city, and I was so excited to return!
I maneuvered my way out of the train station and to the tram like a pro, already knowing my way around the city. I was staying in the Villa Saint Exupery Gardens, pretty much the coolest hostel ever (literally, they've been voted among the top ten hostels worldwide), but it's on the outskirts of the city.
I stayed at the hostel the first night, enjoying the plat du jour (chicken fajitas... so good!) and chatting with some of the workers and fellow travelers (like a brother/sister pair from Canada who are traveling around Europe for five months).
Sleeping in a dormitory with thirteen other girls is slightly insane, just for the record. It was the cheapest room, which is why I chose it, but I barely slept the entire time I was there. Technically, it wasn't even full the whole time I was there, so it was less than fourteen girls, but between the girls who stumbled in loudly at 2am and the girls who woke up at 5am to catch a train, I might as well have been surrounded by 100 girls.
I very much enjoyed my free breakfast (massive selection of cereal and bread with all my favorite jams, honey, and butter) while I planned out my day. One of the workers who I had met the night before told me about the schedule for Carnavale, and she also looked up some information on Grasse and Saint Paul de Vence for me.
Since it was my first day in Nice, I decided to take it easy. I went to the Marché des Fleurs (famous and totally awesome), wandered around, compared all the prices and qualities of the various produce offerings, FINALLY bought the loose-leaf tea that I had intended to buy both the first and second time I visited Nice, and then decided on lunch. I bought tapanade (a blended olive dip, basically) from one vendor, a flat loaf of cheese bread from another vendor, and 250 grams of strawberries from a third vendor. With paprika chips and Coca-Light already in my bag, lunch was ready! I took my assortment of food and walked to the Mediterranean. Along the Promenade des Anglais, I found an empty bench overlooking the sea. There I enjoyed my lunch immensely (my first strawberries of the season!).
I should mention that the day was cold and gray and drizzly, and I spent most of the day with my rain jacket zipped all the way up, wishing I had packed a sweater. But who wants to dwell on the negative... not this optimist!
While eating lunch I noticed a lone guitar player sitting on the beach (just FYI, the beach in Nice is very rocky, not sandy). Once I had finished, I decided to be random and spontaneous because, hey, you only live once! So I walked down to the beach and sat close enough to the guy so that I could hear the music, but far enough away so that I looked very involved in my own thing. I took out my poetry notebook and started writing, listening to the guy play guitar. I think he was actually composing something because every couple of minutes, he would stop and write in his notebook. Alas, the occasional rain drops become a steady drizzle, and I couldn't handle the chill anymore. I thought about telling him how much I had enjoyed his music, but I can be pretty shy in French. I wish now that I had. Everyone loves a sincere compliment.
I still had an hour or two to kill until the parade, so I went to this cute coffee shop that I had discovered with the au pairs. I treated myself to a cupcake (in France!!! a rare delicacy) and a large mug of tea. I passed the time reading on my kindle until it was time to go to the parade.
Admission cost only ten euros for a standing ticket, and honestly, unless you're physically unable to stand for a long time, it's way cooler to be on the ground where all the action is. You get to interact with the performers and be so close to the floats you can almost touch them. All the children (and quite a few adults) had confetti and silly string which were thrown everywhere. The pockets in my rain jacket still have bits of confetti in them. There was dancing, colorful costumes, borderline inappropriate floats, music (mostly American), and thousands of people. I was in a throng of people that included the very young (probably five years old) and the very old (probably in their 80s).
The parade lasted about two hours, during which the rain slowly started falling faster. I was glad I had a rain jacket instead of an umbrella-I kept getting hit in the head by other umbrellas, and as a small person, I probably would have whacked quite a few others if I'd had my own. A few times I thought about leaving early, but I'm so glad I didn't. The best float was maybe three-quarters into the parade... a dragon whose head loomed over the crowd and blew smoke!
After the parade I warmed up with a pot of hot tea in a café/brasserie/bar (sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between the three) where I wrote a letter to Andrew (which I still haven't mailed to him yet... oops).
I was very happy to return to the hostel... only to realize that I hadn't stopped by an ATM while in town. I noshed on leftover bread and tapanade for dinner, but clearly I was going to need money for drinks at the bar in the common room. I asked the girl at reception if I could take the shuttle back down just to hit up the ATM, and she said that was fine. While I waited for the shuttle to return, she and I were chatting. When I mentioned that I wasn't sure what I was doing that summer, she suggested I apply to work there! And when she found out I spoke French, she became very excited about the possibility of my working there! A tiny part of me kinda wishes that other opportunities hadn't worked out just so that I could spend the summer in Nice.
Two travelers were waiting for the shuttle when the driver and I arrived at the tram stop. I found out that one of them was also a teaching assistant! Tyler and I immediately hit it off, sharing stories about our schools and our students and the expat life. When we got back to the hostel, it was one of those moments “Will we keep talking or go our separate ways?” but luckily, he seemed as interested in our conversation as I was, so we headed to the common room together... where we proceeded to talk for six hours, nonstop.
And no, 'talk' is not a euphemism. We literally talked for six hours. As much as I enjoy meeting travelers who are really different than I am (like Neil and Tiffany), it was refreshing to meet someone with a similar upbringing, with similar values, and with a similar outlook on the world. We actually discussed religion a fair amount, and I was happily surprised to find someone who strongly identifies as Christian, but who also believes that our purpose in life should be to love other people. I see a lot of Christians who are hateful, like those who are homophobic and those who antagonize women, doctors, and volunteers at abortion clinics, and it breaks my heart. Talking with Tyler was just really really good.
The next day I headed to Saint Paul de Vence, the birthplace of Impressionism! Although I waited ages for the bus to leave, it finally did. I explored, lusted after gorgeous artwork, spent way too much on lunch (but it was soooo good! Lasagna, red wine, bread, and hot tea in lieu of dessert), wandered some more, bought pretty little soaps for Orla, Lucas, and Louan, toured the small history museum (highlights? Documents signed by Henri II!... at least, it was one of the Henris, and I think it was Henri II), and splurged on several beautiful postcards. The day was mostly gray again, but the sun showed its head from time to time, and at least it wasn't raining. Something about not really sleeping much the night before left me exhausted pretty early on, so I skipped the Maeght Foundation and seeing the cathedral in Vence. I wish I'd had more energy, but as much as I wish I had visited those places, I was about to pass out by 5pm. I just couldn't do any more that day.
I fell asleep on the bus back, woke up and realized I didn't know what stop to take, and just chose a stop at random. Luckily I have a keen sense of hearing and a decent sense of direction. I started walking towards where I thought the sea was (I was right), listening for the sound of the tram. After about ten minutes I heard its distinctive bell, so I headed in that direction.
Back at the hostel I showered and napped a bit before relishing a pizza for dinner. What I am about to say sounds crazy, but I swear it's true. The made-to-order pizzas at the Villa Saint Exupery Gardens are probably the best I've ever had. Period. I always order it with mushrooms, chicken, and red bell peppers. And it only costs about six euros. So good. Oh. And I had a bottle of red wine that I'd picked up at the grocery store.
I had kept an eye out for Tyler, but I didn't see him, so after I finished my pizza I curled up with my book as I continued to sip on wine. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I don't want to interrupt your book, but I just wanted to say hey.” It was Tyler. Of course I told him that I'd been hoping he'd interrupt. We proceeded to talk for another six hours.
I know for a fact that some of the other people in the common room expected something to happen between us, based on the obnoxious comment from one of the staff members, but it wasn't like that, mainly because Tyler has a girlfriend. I mean, let's be honest, I totally would have flirted more if he'd been single, but I actually really enjoyed hanging out with him without any of the sometimes awkward sexual tension between two single travelers. I love being able to have a strictly platonic relationship with a guy, which is probably why I love my gay friends so much.
I spent my last day in Nice museuming it up. Yes, 'to museum' is a verb. I checked out the Musée des Beaux Arts and the Matisse museum. I loved the former but was kinda meh about the latter. I like Matisse's work, don't get me wrong, but the museum was mostly of his sketches, not his actual paintings.
One last trip to the hostel to grab my bags from the luggage room, and then I was off to the train station to take an overnight train to Paris!