I have arrived in the beautiful country of France. I don't know if I said but my mom is here with me in France for the first few weeks while I search for an apartment and then we will hopefully get to travel a bit before I start work and she goes home. We arrived in Paris on Sunday morning, had a four hour layover and then continued onto Nice. There we spend one night and it was a beautiful city. I really hope we get to go back. I wanted you all to see some of the pictures of that day because it was pretty picturesque.
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| Mom eating a macaron in Charles de Gaulle! |
We arrived in Nice around 5 pm on Sunday night. From the airport, we took a taxi to our hotel near downtown Nice. The taxi driver and I chatted about my new job and Nice a little bit as he drove us to our hotel. It was a totally different starting experience this time than it was last time I went to France and Addie and I were in Paris for the first time. I already feel 1000 times more comfortable speaking with people than I did last year. I also am way less embarrassed about mistakes I may or may not make as I speak than I was then. Which I think is half the battle. I don't know how much more knowledge I have actually gained since that point in time but it's the confidence that makes it easier than anything else.
Once we arrived, our concierge was really nice and he wanted to practice his English which was actually quite good. We settled into our room, which had this gorgeous view, and then headed out for dinner.
Wandering around the centre-ville (downtown), we headed for the Place Masséna with the giant statue that he told us was the main area. There we saw these cool fountains. It was so nice and warm and a bunch of people were taking pictures in the water, one girl screamed as she stood under the spray of a geyser and a young boy rode his bike like a daredevil through the water.
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| Place Massnéna |
After that, we wandered down to the water and Mom caught her first view of the Mediterranean! It is so blue! Then, we ate at a restaurant in the Vieille Ville (old town) called La Voglia.
The rest of the night was filled with walking around the Vieille Ville, getting ice cream, and watching street performers. One group of guys were doing flips over ropes that were on fire, so that was entertaining. I just loved the atmosphere at night there. It felt so lively and there were colorful restaurants around each corner.
The next morning we walked around looking for some breakfast and grabbed coffees and pastries at a boulangerie (bakery). After that, I did some research for finding my apartment and emailed some landlords. Before we took our train to our next stop, we walked down to le promenade des anglais, the street that runs along the beaches in Nice. We put our feet in the sea and hurt our feet on the rocky shore (apparently there's no sand for the Nice-ans). Then we grabbed a lunch of tartines (open-faced French sandwiches that can be sweet, savory, or just plain butter on a baguette). That ended our Nice visit. More soon!
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| Counter of sweets! |
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| The hotel! |
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| An office building |
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| Absolutely no reason for this |
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| Côte d'Azur in all its glory |
