Europe 2010: July 19-21, Nice

Nice was so nice! I took the train midday from Nimes to Nice and, after a quick change of trains in Marsailles, met two Italian cycle tourists in the bike car and chatted all the way to Nice. The scenery changed dramatically as the train went south then east along 'Cotes d'Azur', the French Riviera. The Mediteranean Sea came sparkling into view at the bottom of majestic green hills, terraced with white, yellow and pink houses. The train followed the water's edge for most of trip to Nice, passing Cannes then Antibes. I saw thin strips of sandy beach occupied by countless beach umbrellas and bronzed bodies of all shapes and sizes. I was so ready for a day at the beach! You could smell the heat and saltiness in the air - how wonderful!
Once I arrived at my hostel in Nice, I met a friendly girl from Berlin, Alma, who impressed me with her ability to speak many languages. I felt energetic, so went out on the town with Alma and two girls, Laura and Corina from Switzerland, who were also staying at the hostel. We went to a club called Wayne's, where we met Laura's brother Walther and his friends Elliot and Ryan. A live band started playing American rock covers and everyone climbed on the long wooden tables and danced! The place was hopping & so much fun :) To escape the heat & sweaty bodies, we got some gelato and went to the beach. The moon was out and people were sitting in groups, some playing music and others just chilling. What a great night!

The next morning, I walked with Laura & Corina around the old town and up to the top of Parc de la Colline du Chateau where we saw a beautiful panoramic view of Nice. We then met Walther at his school, grabbed a snack (yum, pear tart!) from a local bakery, & headed to the beach where we met Alma and Elliot. That's when I had my first swim in the Mediterranean on this trip - and it was great! Very salty and refreshing. You could easily float :) After a bit of tanning and rinsing in the freezing fresh water showers on the beach, we headed back to the hostel so Corina & Laura could get ready to head to the airport. Alma and I made some mean pasta at the hostel for dinner, then I treated myself to a night at the Nice Jazz Festival, where I was wowed by none other than Buddy Guy from Chicago!

Alma and I spent the next day in beautiful Monaco. Part of the fun visiting Monaco was the exhilarating 45 minute bus ride (that cost only 1 euro!) along the coast. What views! You could feel a distinct change when we got off the bus - the streets were immaculately clean; ladies walked by dressed in white linen and hair pulled back in sophisticated up-do's; men (even guys that looked like teenagers) walked by in expensive suits and styled hair. We first walked up to the Prince's palace, where we got an amazing view of the city of Monte Carlo. On our way to the famed casino, we walked along the route of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. The road had many curves, next to precipitous drops into the sea... Wouldn't want to crash in this race! The casino was worth visiting - beautiful posh interior where it cost 10 euros just to go inside the room where people played blackjack, poker, etc. The minimum to play one hand was 25 euros!

Later that evening, back at the Nice hostel, I was surprised and delighted to bump into Kim from Toronto, who I had met on my last night at the hostel in Paris. What luck! We ended up having a wonderful evening chilling at the hostel with several other travelers, including Kent from Toronto, and Miguel and his cousin from California. After such a great time, it was going to be hard to leave Nice tomorrow! Goodbye beach!
Since I couldn't buy a regional train ticket from Nice to Milan, I had to cross the France-Italy border to Ventimiglia, Italy, then figure out how to get to Milan with my bike. Should be a full day!

July 19