The French Riviera: Nice, Cannes, Monaco

Friday April 4^th-Monday April 6^th 2009:

Imagine Megan and I in the style of crazy rich old ladies: “Alas darling, I believe we are running low on diamonds.” “Why yes, diamonds are necessary with our white hats and massive yachts.”

Sigh, the French Riviera. A land of Yachts, sun, beaches and cat calling men. After my day of volunteering for Obama’s town hall event, I went home, had a phone interview for a grant, ate dinner, and went to the train station. I was luckily able to take the tram and walk as normal to the station. The barricades from the “zone rouge” were not in my friends Jolin’s favor. We were supposed to meet at the train station and take a night train together to meet some of our friends in Nice. Jolin however cut the timing a bit too close, just missed a tram, and wasn’t able to catch another one or bike to the station in time.

The night train was an experience. Since I had booked my train a bit late, the couchettes were quite a bit pricier so I opted for the seats. The train was relatively empty so I was able to spread out between two chairs. I was reasonably comfortable except for the light, and loud snoring coming from an old man several seats behind me. However I had an ipod, and wrapped my black scarf like a bandana. I also used my sweatshirt as a pillow, and wrapped myself n my jacket and travel towel. Had I been anywhere but a train, I must have been quite a site, wrapped in random bits of clothing, curled up in a ball and randomly tossing and turning. I probably would have been suspected of being crazy, homeless, or a combination of the two. However being the night train, no one looked twice.

About 12 hours later, I arrived in Nice slightly disoriented but reasonably rested. I immediately ran into Megan, Kristin, Kayla and Amina. Megan took one look at me and said, “You are dressed way too darkly, and we will change that.” Seeing as if my normal French black and brown clothing didn’t entirely jibe with the sun, I then went and changed into my more “summery” clothing, locked my suitcase in a secured locker and headed out into the French Riviera. The plan was to go to Cannes, the land of film, fortune and sandy beaches. Megan and I decided to take a bus (less expensive and more scenic-) and the other girls took the train. I grabbed coffee, then feeling more human we walked a bit around Nice.

It was a beautiful day, bright sun, and about 60-70 degrees. We walked to the old part of the city to see the famous flower market. The old part of the city was quite charming, and beautiful. The locals were all out buying their local fresh produce, meat, and honey. There were stands of lavender and beautiful flowers. After being slightly overwhelmed with beauty, especially after just getting off of a train, we bought some fresh strawberries, peppers and olive to eat on our bus trip to Cannes.

The bus was only 1 Euro, but over an hour with at least 30-40 stops. However it was fun to see some of the countryside along the way. After we got off, we attempted to find our friends, however there was some miscommunication with directions. We eventually gave up trying to find them and ended up lying on a beach for a few hours. It was relaxing ad lovely. There is something really nice about being able to just talk (and Megan is fun to talk with), and soak up the sun. We eventually met up with the rest later, walked around a bit, and took the scenic bus back to Nice. The night was really low key; we ate dinner in the old part of the city and headed back to the hotel. Our hotel is normally pricier, but Kristin found a good deal on one of the third party websites. It was a lovely little place with a porch with vines and a tiny little pool. The only inconvenience was that we were set a bit far from the center of town, and the buses stopped at 8:30 pm. This meant it was difficult to even have dinner without having to take a taxi, but after some frustration, we managed to find one that would take 5 people. After skypeing Kevin, a glass of wine, I collapsed into a peaceful soft and fluffy sleep.

The next morning we slept in a little, and took it easy. I woke up, and then took a walk down the hill to a grocery store that I heard was open. I bought my food for the day and then seeing the sun only getting brighter, headed out to the beach. It was quite rocky, but the water was still. The water was still freezing, but it wasn’t hot enough yet to be sweating “bullets” in the sun. After awhile on the beach, we walked back up to the hotel to get our things together. We checked out at noon, went to the train station, put our stuff in secured lockers, and took another one-euro bus to Monaco.

Monaco is a tiny little “sovereignty” still under the rule of a King and Queen (I believe). It is known for its yacht’s, ritzyness and casinos. I can now see why my aunt (who finances large yachts) goes to the boat show every year. The marina’s look like “normal” sized marina’s on steroids. It was a beautiful day to walk around and take in this unique country. The old part of the city lies next to the castle, and has a beautiful view over the marinas, mountains and the hotels/casinos. We saw the changing of the guard, which was fun and walked around the old, but very well kept and rich buildings.

After that, we headed down and decided to check out the casino part of town (about a five minute walk). Man, that is a section of very concentrated wealth. There were beautiful ornate gardens and fountains, and a very ritzy casino. The “Casino Monte Carlo”. We walked in and immediately had to check our cameras “no photos or cell phones!” the guards instructed. The building was huge, ornately painted with a decorative gold colored molding. The building also had an opera house, and a small room of slots. Deciding that we would only live once, we all chipped in a euro and played a slot machine (the smallest bill you can put in is a 5). We of course didn’t win anything, but we can now say we have gambled in Monaco.

We took the bus back about 4 pm, and afterwards continued to walk around Nice for a bit. We took “jumping pictures” off of the fountains, and then walked to a “famous hotel” that is on all of the postcards. The rest of the group bought some “Doner kebabs” a sort of Turkish fast food that is popular all over Europe.) We then walked to the train station, got our luggage, and took another night train back to Strasbourg.

Concluding remarks: It was lovely to spend a few low key and relaxing days on the French Riviera. However, the cities we were in were a bit ritzy for my taste. Next tie I am back in the area of the “Cote d’Azure”, I would like to travel to some of the smaller, medieval villages. It was a fun and relaxing weekend, with some much needed sun. Next time I travel to Cannes, I hope it is in order to see Ali’s film in the infamous festival.