Day 1 - Friday, Feburary 18, 2011
The day started off very early in order to make my 7:45am high speed train from Paris Gare de Lyon to Nice. Despite some pre-travel jitters, the 6 hour long ride was quite enjoyable as our train made it’s way through the French countryside, stopping in Avignon, Toulon, Antibes, Cannes, and finally Nice. Along the way, I saw dozens of picturesque villages perched on hillsides and nestled in valleys complete with quaint cottages, old churches, and endless fields of olive trees. As we got closer to Nice our train ran along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, giving us beautiful vistas of the brilliantly blue water of the Côte d’Azur and the occasional seaside town. The conductor coming on the intercom to announce the next stop even mistakenly broadcast what was on everyone’s mind stating “C’est joli” (It’s pretty), prompting our entire car to erupt in collective laughter.
When we arrived in Nice we made our way from the train station to the hotel, which was located near the port, which we visited after checking in. In no time we were all caught up in sensory overload by all the breathtaking photographic opportunities. It was truly a feast for the eyes from the azure waters to the multicolored boats and stucco buildings with contrasting shutters, all cast in a warm later afternoon glow.
After grabbing a quick bit to eat for dinner, we proceeded to make our way around the port and along the Quai des Etats-Unis, the main road that stretches along the coast of Nice, turning into the Quai des Anglais in the East. From there we watched the sun set over the mountains and then continued our exploration, during which we happened upon festivities for Carnival. In addition to amusement park rides including a carrousel, a Ferris Wheel an numerous other rides, I was struck by how much more family oriented the festivities were than the typical Carnival in places like New Orleans.
Day 2 - Saturday, February 19, 2011
My second day in Nice was full of more leisurely exploration. After sleeping in we woke up and made our way back to the Port for more photos and then strolled back through the Old Nice, browsing through the little boutiques and flea markets and enjoying some delicious Indian food and gelato, a surprisingly good combination if I do say so myself. Afterwards, we took the bus to the Matisse Museum, which was amazing. I loved seeing the artist’s influences and evolution. Right next to the museum were some interesting Roman ruins, a park, and the Monastery of Cimisez, all of which were fun to walk through. The Monastery in particular boasted beautiful gardens, which combined with the warmth of the sun and breathtaking vistas, made it feel like I was in paradise. I could have stayed there all day, but we began to feel fatigued, so we took the bus back into town to walk along the beach. Upon arrival, however, our way was blocked by the Flower Parade, so decided to watch for a while and then returned back to the hotel to rest up before dinner, After resting, we ventured back out to find dinner, which was quite a process in itself. Apparently everywhere was booked up because of Carnival, however we were able to find a tiny Italian restaurant that I think took pity upon us and made some room. I had a wonderful plate of warm cheese ravioli that was exactly what I needed after a long day.
We woke up to a rainy forecast, but decided to make the best out of the day and preceded to venture out the port. As we walked around, we came across Florian, a high quality confectionary shop, lured in by a window display of candied clementines. After enjoying a few samples and watching an interesting video about the history of the shop, we continued to wander around and then decided to venture up to Castel Hill, which boasted panoramic views of Nice. Next, we walked along the pebbled beach, while I collected some stones and sea glass, before continuing on to warm up and get lunch at a Kosher pizzeria my friend discovered. After lunch it began to rain quite heavily and the tram that would have taken us back to our hotel was out of service because of a Carnival parade, so we decided to wander around some clothing stores in the newer part of Nice and were going to go see a movie, but apparently everyone else had the same idea because everything was sold out. After some investigation into alternative modes of transportation back to the hotel, we noticed that the rain was letting up a little and decided just to walk back before dinner, which comprised of delicious Indian finger foods and mango smoothies.
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