French Riviera

It's been a while since I last posted because I spent all last weekend in France and then got back to Florence and got sick. Oh and mid terms start next Monday. And I have three on Tuesday. And my whole family plus Heather get here tonight. Here's a quick run through of my French Riviera trip (March 3-6).

I was supposed to go with an organized tour group, but at the last minute the travel agency cancelled since not enough people signed up. We wanted to go anyway, so I got up early the next morning and bought my train ticket to Nice. I don't particularly do well with last minute arrangements and a lack of plans, so Wednesday night was spent in a stressful fret trying to pack and get everything ready to go.

Thursday immediately after class I headed to the train station. After picking up a delightful McDonald's lunch (a new train station tradition), I hopped on the first of four trains I'd have to take to Nice. The total travel time was about 8 hours. We arrived in Nice around 10 pm and went straight to our hostel to sleep.

I fell down the stairs on our way out of the hotel. 

The next morning a small group of us (I went with 6 other girls) took a train to Antibes, the old summer home of Pablo Picasso and the current summer getaway for lots of rich people with yachts. Picasso's old beach mansion has been turned into a museum dedicated to his work and others influenced by him. It was really interesting to see all of his stuff. He really was a weirdo. A genius nonetheless, but a weirdo.

We saw this on the train to Antibes. The guy told us to
take pictures. 

Yachts in Antibes

With our large group, we went out to a delightful dinner where I had gnocchi (look it up, it's delicious, and also quite Italian). Some of us decided to go out that night, which unfortunately led to a hungover and grumpy Sam the next morning.

The guy who was supposed to lead the organized group (but cancelled on us) took a bunch of us to Monaco. Fun fact: It's its own country and I had no idea. It's also home to the famous Monte Carlo casino (no I did't actually see it because I was preoccupied with the aquarium). Also Grace Kelly married the prince of Monaco and we saw the palace she lived in and the church she's buried in. Also, French aquarium ticket guys are rude. We tried to get the student discount (because, well, we're students) by showing several forms of student ID (LdM, TCU, even my student Visa). He was very offended that we attempted such a scandalous thing, threw our IDs back at us and made us pay the full price. I took lots of cool pictures though. Oh, and the aquarium was also a museum dedicated to Jacque Cousetau. I wish I could tell you more about him, but everything was in French.

A native pigeon of Monaco. 

Monaco

At the aquarium

That night was the big Nice carnival night parade. Silly string and confetti everywhere, we watched these massive (and quite creepy) floats pass by. We also made our way over to the huge ferris wheel and saw the city glow at night.

Most importantly, I have to commend the 24 hour kabob stand around the corner from our hostel. Two nights I ate the most delicious thing ever. It had the meat, french fries, lettuce, tomatoes and onions all wrapped up in a freshly warmed tortilla. They were addicting. It's a good thing there isn't anything like that around the corner from my apartment in Florence.

Three of us headed back to Florence Sunday morning on a more expensive, faster train. It was a unique experience finding relief in seeing Italian signs and hearing Italian after a weekend in France. I still speak very very little Italian, but at least I know which signs mean exit.

Me in Monaco