Nice, France

Nice, France

August 24-26, 2012 (My 21st!!)

After making stops in Mendrisio, Milan, Genova, Ventimiglia, and finally landing in Nice, France, our travelling group of eight girls and one boy made it to our destination! On the last train ride we decided to break out the wine we had bought at Denner, which is apparently Blacksburg’s Kroger and Northern Virginia’s Giant, and toast to our first weekend trip. We were caught off guard when a twenty-some-year-old approached us with a concerned look on his face and sniffed the air to then tell us, “you know there’s a 5000 EURO fine for drinking alcohol on the trains in France?” Well everyone’s eyes bugged out and then chugged until he yelled, “I’m not being serious!” We talked to him and found out that he attended college in California and apparently was proficient in trickery.

Arriving at the train station, we executed our easy plan: call the hostel and they would send a shuttle to come pick us up. Coincidentally, when exiting the train, we acknowledged the variety of linguistic tools we had in our group: French (the most important in Nice), Spanish, German, Chinese, a British accent, Italian among all of us, and English, naturally. Turns out the hostel no longer offered the shuttle service so we all dispersed our talents to find a means of communication to the hostel. Melanie, my roommate and connoisseur of the French language, was able to find out from a taxi driver, surprisingly, that we needed to walk down the block to the tram and then meander our way past a few streets, take a right turn, and arrive at the hostel.

Once our means of transportation was established, we were able to notice our surroundings a little better. The very first thing we spotted from inside the train station was Hotel Interlaken. This spotting may be misleading for the disoriented traveler but we were more amused upon the next things we spotted: KFC and Subway. Perhaps our eyes naturally directed to these American brands but nonetheless, the homely sighting was welcomed.

Marching further from the train station, we were able to take Nice’s atmosphere. In the two weeks I have been in Europe, there are two things that stand out and I particularly like most about the architecture: the uniqueness of each building and the use of contrasting, bold colors. I’m going to try and document this more on upcoming trips!

The Hostel we stayed at was called the Villa Saint Exupery. I really liked it, though the other group who stayed in another room did not like it as much. I roomed with eleven other girls in my program and two girls who were from Vienna, Austria. I think meeting people we encounter has already proven to be one of my favorite activities while traversing the European sites. Ali and I shared a quick salad for our dinner once we were finally showered and ready for the night. The salad was delicious. Either, Ali and I were really hungry, or the salad was fantastic; regardless, we spoke about the salad on numerous occasions the next day, just to be disappointed by a sub-par meal after traveling the French Riviera! But more on this later…

By around 20:00 a group of twenty-some Riva students had arrived at the hostel. We spent some time at the hostel bar and met a lot of traveling Australians. I admire their ability to travel; I believe the way their school system is set up, they are given time to travel and become a more informed member of the global community. As Sam put it, “traveling makes you more humble.” This statement proved true starting on Day 1. I am slowly learning to expect a barrier between what I want to do, and how to do it. Little things like ordering from a menu written in French has been a lot harder to decode then I thought. Social expectancies and norms are much different than what I am accustomed to and I have started to pick up on little tips as I go.

Friday night was an amazing first night out in a town other than the quiet Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. The highest and lowest part of the night came at the same time when we went to the beach. Everyone was so happy, no, not happy, euphoric, when we were in the water. When we came out of the water, everyone’s jaws dropped in disbelief: we had been robbed. Though Dana was sitting with our stuff, in the time it took for someone to come up to her and ask her for a lighter, and she declined, some people’s bags and purses were stolen. We learned our lesson early and fast but hopefully we will smarter for the duration of our time abroad.

On Saturday, we got on a bus to Cap d’Ail and then walked down the beach to Monaco. I’m so happy that someone at the hostel recommended going to a beach that wouldn’t be filled with tourists like us. After a 50 minute beautiful bus ride along the French coast, we got off after choosing a random stop in Cap d’Ail and could not have been luckier. We walked to the bottom of a long winding staircase from the highway and arrived at the perfect, little secluded beach. After spending some time in the water and getting directions from a woman who worked in the cozy beach restaurant near us, we walked five minutes along the coast to Monte Carlo. Every moment we took in while spending our time walking down the French coastline towards Italy was more beautiful than I can put into words.

Walking down to our private beach

Cap d'Ail

Monaco

Monte Carlo

We easily knew when we reached Monaco. Yachts the size of half a football field field the harbor and the cars were all so expensive. Judging from the housing advertisements, the cost of living in Monaco started at a mere $5 million. Though I was not able to go into the casino, Monte Carlo, because I didn’t have my passport, we were able to take in the lux decorations and high wealth stores surrounding it. Sitting in front of the casino was Bugatti Veyron surrounded by people taking pictures and following the orders written in different languages on a piece of paper on the car: “Do not touch the car.” 

We caught a bus back to Nice around 18:00 and then got ready to celebrate... MY BIRTHDAY! The night was so much fun. The best part about it and the night before was the instantaneous friendships that formed. Everyone made the night so enjoyable for me and it was the best 21st I could’ve asked for... all that I was missing was my friends and family at home!! Miss you!

On my actual birthday, I spent the majority of the day in a train station or waiting for a train and was beat by the time I came back. Gretchen initiated a birthday bar trip so in the spirit of staying young, we made a visit to Mini Bar. My favorite part of the night came when Matt asked me if I felt old and I said for the first time, standing looking at a beautiful lake in Switzerland, yes I feel old and mature. He then grabbed my hand and brought me to the playground overlooking the lake and told me to go down the slide, reminding me that I'll always be young.