Here I am again! This time I’ll be talking about my lovely stay in the French Riviera.
We stayed in a hostel called Villa Saint Exupery in Nice and we traveled to Cannes, Monaco, Antibes and a little town called Eze–it was BEAUTIFUL! (By we I mean me, Kelly, Caitlin, Will, Abbie, and Amber) We went with Bus 2 Alps again, like we did for our trip to Capri, and it worked out so nicely because our fee covered transportation to the hostel and back to Florence on a bus, some transportation between the towns, the hostel itself, and two guides or leaders who were knowledgeable about the area. We arrived Thursday night around 11 pm at the hostel and just passed out, but the next morning we left at 10 am to go to Eze and Monaco. It was a beautiful, warm day and I took the best pictures while I was there!
We only stayed at Eze for a little while we waited for the bus to Monaco, but the town was beautiful! It’s very small and we had to climb up a hill to get there (much like EVERY place in Europe–you want to get somewhere? 95% chance it’s uphill), but the views were worth it. Kelly and I took our time and window shopped as we passed the tiny shops that seemed to be carved into the walls of the medieval town, and by the time we reached the top we had spectacular views of the Mediterranean.
After an hour we hopped on the bus to Monaco and I think that was my favorite place, besides Nice, that we went to on the entire trip. There were pictures of Princess Grace all over the place there and you could tell the people really loved her. Also, we saw Monte Carlo and just the architecture on that building was beautiful! I didn’t gamble but some of our group did, and Abbie gambled with 70 euro cents 
. That’s about our budget over here, ha-ha. We walked down to the harbor and had quiche for lunch (delicious!) before walking uphill (surprise) through botanical gardens to see the royal palace.
That was so neat! By the time we got to the top we got some beautiful pictures of the harbor below and the Mediterranean. Also, we walked around the small streets and stopped in some tourist shops to do souvenir shopping. It was a very nice experience to see a place I never would have thought to go to on my own. Like I said, Monaco was my favorite place besides Nice, and it might have been because the weather was good or because it was the first day and we weren’t all tired and angry yet (ha-ha), but it really was beautiful.
On Saturday we woke up and hopped on the bus to go to Antibes and Cannes. I liked Antibes better than Cannes I think because Antibes seemed less touristy. There were so many palm trees around and I think I got some of my best pictures in Antibes by the water.
We walked around a lot and passed the Picasso Museum, which was closing for two hours for lunch so we couldn’t get in to see it. I think I like the way Europeans think (what, with their siestas and all) except when it interferes with my need to get into places, especially on Sunday!!! It’s rare that anything is open on Sundays, but that’s another story. Anyway, after Antibes we went to Cannes where the film festival is held. That was really neat, but really crowded.
Kelly and I split from the group without really telling anyone to get some crepes (yes!), and we really have to learn not to do that anymore, ha-ha. But, the crepes were worth it and we just walked up and down the red carpet for awhile and by the beach where these guys were doing huge sand sculptures. They were really neat and it was the first beach I’ve been to here so far that had sand instead of rocks! After Cannes we headed back to Nice and went out for a nice dinner. We went to a place that Simon, the guy who’s in charge of Bus 2 Alps, recommended: 12 euro for unlimited mussels and fries. Well, we couldn’t have gotten ready and on that tram faster. It was completely worth it, too–Will and Kelly had never had mussels before and they loved them! They were in some sauce with onions in it and they were just absolutely delicious. After that we walked around downtown Nice for awhile and took in the beautiful town.
I loved Nice because everyone spoke French and were so incredibly nice, it was clean, and the sidewalks were huge! In Florence all the streets are narrow and they smell, but Nice was such a different experience. I really loved it.
The next day we were free to walk around Nice, but since nothing was open we spent a lot of time walking and looking at closed stores. We ended up just grabbing McDonald’s for lunch before getting on the bus and heading home. For some reason, our bus driver seemed like he couldn’t quite drive right because he didn’t stick between the lines or follow traffic laws…we swerved a LOT. We also stopped abruptly and people’s stuff was falling all over the bus, so Abbie said she’s going to call the company to complain. Normally I don’t get involved with this type of thing, but it was pretty scary, especially when we were driving beside huge cliffs.
Anyway, we made it home safely on Sunday night around 11 and had a nice night in our own beds in Florence 
. I loved Nice so much because I could finally speak French! Also, Cara and Bailey, who spent the last half of their fall break in Paris, told Amber and I that Paris is AMAZING and they didn’t want to come back to Florence. That makes me really excited for me and Amber’s trip this weekend. We leave Thursday night at 8:50 from Pisa Airport and should get to Paris around 10 something. We have two full days there and I want to see everything! I am so excited.
Until next week, Ciao!
Katie
PS-I think this picture summed up our entire Nice trip:
That’s Kelly and I on the bus on Sunday, with Will being silly in the background. I love it!
