Nice was... nice ;) Sorry- couldn't help myself!

Sketchy much?  

On Friday of the same week (this is waaaay back in the 2^nd week of November!) I hopped onto the train to Marseille to meet up with my dear friend Hannah.  We hung out at her place on Friday night with Becca and then took off bright and early Saturday morning to go to Nice!  I’d been to Nice once for a couple of days, five years ago when I was in France with the RLHS French trip and it was Hannah’s first time track-tripping (like road-tripping, but using only trains- hope you approve of my new term!) in France other than a brief daytrip to Aix-en-Provence.  We arrived in Nice without any problems, but realized after looking at the map that we had quite the trek to our hostel.  La Villa Saint-Exupery has been rated France’s top hostel several times, so we had high hopes.  We trekked out into the middle of what seemed like nowhere, turning down streets in hopes that they were the correct ones because we had forgotten to note the number for the free shuttle pickup from the tram stop.  We finally found the hostel- not the front door, but the sketchy back door, which- let’s face it- is way more fun anyway.  One interesting note:  our general experience has been that people working in French businesses prefer dealing with you in French and speak English as little as possible, but the girl at the check-in was definitely a native English speaker and preferred to speak as little French as possible.  We dropped off our bags and… hit up the beach!  The comical contrast: at home, the first snowstorms of the year was hitting, while Hannah and I couldn’t resist taking off shoes and socks/leggings and wading into the Mediterranean. 

I love the water :)

In typical France fashion, we left the beach to hike up a hill to a chateau.  No big deal or anything!  We took some pictures looking down on the gorgeous views (the color of the water was unreal) and were surprised to find a large park at the top of the hill, complete with French guys playing football (no, not soccer, FOOTBALL).  It was a little bit painful to watch, but A for effort!  Hannah and had two thoughts:  Option A= Go show ‘em how it’s done in ‘merica or Option B=Reinforce the football player/ “pom-pom girl” stereotype and improvise some stellar cheers to play the role of cheerleader.  We ended up choosing Option C, pretend to take pictures of something else while actually documenting the action.  We also watched children playing on a large pyramidal rope structure and feared for the lives of all of the kids climbing up high.  Hannah decided that it was the type of thing that you would absolutely forbid with your firstborn, but that by the third or fourth time around, you might let your kids try it out.  We hiked all around the park, witnessing everything from little boys practicing (and succeeding, I should add) the luge on skateboards to the grave of Mercedes (of Mercedes-Benz). 

The view from atop the hill

Back at the hostel, we were surprised to see several other assistants from Marseille!  Apparently great minds think alike, and they wanted to get out of town for the long weekend as well.  We took advantage of the 1 euro beers, 3 euro cocktails, and 2 euro brownies and spent the evening chatting in common room in the hostel.  There were two really nice New Zealand newlyweds that had taken three months off for their honeymoon, which consisted of traveling all over the world, as well as a Dutch? Girl that filled us in on some of the deals of socialized healthcare.  We loved the free wifi and awesome continental breakfast, with unlimited cereal and tasty bread! 

Appetizer?  I think not.

The following day, we headed down to the Nice “flower market” which is made up of much more than flowers.  We were particularly impressed by the rows and rows of spices and teas!  We grabbed lunch at a cute little place right next to the market and I ordered a “pizza géante” (Giant pizza) that we figured had been misnamed, since it was on the entrée (appetizer) menu.  However, they weren’t kidding!  The pizza was HUGE and I didn’t even come close to finishing it.  Good to know for next time!  We caught the tail end of a marathon that took place in Nice and met someone that had raced in the marathon on our train ride back.  We also talked briefly to a guy from Marseille that had lived in New York for awhile and had definitely picked up a New York attitude and a Brooklyn accent!  The 2^nd class “social cars” which have four seats facing four seats seem like a cool way to meet new people.  Moral of the story?  We had a fabulous time and I’m definitely looking forward to more weekend (and maybe even mid-week) daytrips to other areas in France.  It’s so nice to have the trains that connect so many French cities! 

One final note: Nice brought back a ridiculous amount of memories from my previous trip.  Sometimes I wish that I could travel back in time… or at least bring the people from then to come visit the city with me now J  That’s all for now- xoxo