A Great Perhaps

Back from London

I am so behind in posts.  I still need to finish the posts for my trip from this April, then I will start writing about my trips to Wales and London.  Scotland this weekend, then I’ll be heading home!

Nice, you’re so nice!

Oh my gosh, Nice is wonderful.  The entire time I was there I felt like I was walking around in a postcard.  And, if you don’t know a lick of French like me, you may not know how to pronounce Nice.  Say it like Neese, rhyming with geese.  :)

When I arrived I walked from the train station down the main road towards the Mediterranean.  I walked through a beautiful garden before emerging on the shore of the sea, where I sat for a bit and read my book (the Omnivore’s Dilemma) until I got a bit too chilly, when I then headed back to the garden to read some more.

They even handle their trash in style here!

The water was SO BLUE.

The beaches in Nice aren’t sandy, instead they have pebbles.  I’d never been to a pebbled beach before but I was still able to get cozy and enjoy the sun for a bit.

My camera started to die after taking all of the pictures on the beach :(  After reading for a little while I decided to head into town where there was a market area.  I found the COOLEST market I have ever seen.  It was huge, with all osrts of vendors selling different produce, fruits and vegetables that I was familiar with along with some that I had never seen or heard of before.  There were also vendors selling spices and tea, along with honey and almost any good you could think of.  I wish I could have taken some pictures but I wanted to conserve my battery!  I bought some of the most delicious clementines I have ever eaten, along with some loose-leaf chai tea. 

After walking through the market I stopped at a cafe and had a lemon crepe and a chai tea latte for lunch.  Then I decided to trek uphill towards the old Chateau, which was in ruins.

Once I got to the top of the hill, there were the most amazing views.

I ran into a few girls from my tour at that point and we all decided to climb a crazy looking spider-web jungle gym at a children’s park near the chateau. 

Looking out over the other side of Nice from the hill we could see a marina full of really expensive yachts.  This is a wealthy person’s paradise haha.

After that we headed back into town and had some tasty gelato. Then we caught a train back to our campsite for the evening’s festivities!  We had dinner and then our tour headed into Monaco.  Sadly, my camera was totally dead at this point so I didn’t get any pictures in Monaco.  We did a small bus tour and stopped to have the groups photo taken atop a hill before heading to a casino for the night.  The casino was ridiculously gorgeous.  I mean, every single room was incredibly ornate and beautiful.  I had a “Cuba Libre” which is basically the fanciest term for  a rum and coke that I’ve ever heard… and they damn well better have used Cuban rum in my drink because I paid enough for it!  I watched people play Blackjack and Roulette for a while, but I didn’t gamble.  It was a great day!

Avignon, a parfumerie and the French Riviera!

After staying in the chateau we left the next day for the French Riviera.  We traveled most of the day in the coach but we stopped for lunch in Avignon, which was really so beautiful.  I wish we had spent more time in Avignon but we were only there for one hour!  I would love to go back and give it a proper visit.

Our guide explained that Avignon was briefly the seat of the pope and the conflict that arose from this led to the western schism, which I remember learning about in my European history class from high school. 

After arriving our tour guide pointed out the bridge that doesn’t actually reach the other side of the river.  The Pont Saint-Bénezet was built in the middle ages and over time was worn down until it was partially washed away in a large flood, never to be completely restored.  It looks very cool though.

Our guide led us through so many twists and turns until we entered a little plaza area with shops and restaurants.  It was lovely.  I had some delicious pizza with a few other girls, and we had just enough time to look at a few of the street vendor’s stalls. 

After stopping in Avignon we kept heading south and stopped in the afternoon at Fragonard, a parfumerie.  I bought myself some wonderful smelling perfume and some gifts for friends back home!  That evening we arrived at our campsite in Antibes and we got to have a little surprise at dinner - frogs legs!  Haha yes, in France I ate snails and frogs.  Yum.  We also got to have a nice cocktail that was sort of like a mimosa, very tasty.  The next day we got to explore Nice, which was absolutely amazing.

Fountainebleau and the Beaujolais Wine Region

After visiting Paris and Montmartre, we traveled down to the Beaujolais wine region!  We stopped in Fountainebleau midday and I had some amazing hot chocolate in a little cafe there.  I also explored the little palace there briefly.

Here I am at the palace!

Driving through the area towards our chateau (which was near Lyon) was breathtaking!

That night we stayed at a beautiful chateau in the Beaujolais region. 

After we arrived, we had a wine tasting and got to sample several very tasty red wines.  I didn’t purchase any because I’m more of a white wine person (Riesling is my favorite!) but I did enjoy sampling the wine, of course. 

Just simulating the effect of the wine ;)

Inside one of the old barrels.

That evening we had a pajama party in “the cave” which was basically the basement of the chateau, but it was a really neat wine-cellar that was set up for a rave.  Very fun!

Montmartre

After exploring Paris by day I went on a short walking tour through Montmartre before having dinner with my tour group. We saw the Moulin Rouge and the cafe from the movie Amelie (which I just finished watching in my French Cinema class).

Montmartre seemed really neat, I loved looking in all of the little shops that we passed on our tour.

After walking for a little while our tour guide pointed out a small vineyard, which happened to be the oldest vineyard in Paris!

We also passed by the entryway to the building that Van Gogh lived in while he stayed in Paris. 

We also saw the oldest windmill in Paris.

After our tour our tour group went on a dinner excursion for a Parisian dinner.  I had a vegetable putin (I’m not sure if that’s what it was called, I can’t remember haha) for an appetizer, and what appeared to me to be beef stroganoff for an entree (I think they told me it had a more french sounding name, but it was beef and noodles.  Good, but not fantastic).  Then I had a rich chocolate cake for dessert. I also had lotsss of wine, mostly red but we started off with Kir, or white wine mixed with blackcurrant liquer, which was fantastic.  After dinner I had to use the restroom and when I came back to the table our group had left!  By this point I was pretty tipsy and I almost panicked, but I knew that the group was heading towards Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, and our tour guide had pointed out which direction it was in earlier on our tour.  So, I gathered up my courage and drunkenly walked in that direction to find my group.  What can I say, I’ve got talent.  Luckily I met up with everyone with no issues and headed back to the hotel shortly afterwards.