Perhaps the most pun-inducing travel destination there is, Nice, France certainly lives up to its name. We had a wonderful time there, and I could describe just about everything we did as nice, but for the sake of you readers I’ll try my best to curb my pun-making tendencies and use some more creative adjectives.
The three of us began our journey on Friday, meeting up with a friend in Paris on our way. I attempted to do my electromagnetics homework on the 6-hour train ride from Paris to Nice, a task that got increasingly more difficult as the tantalizing sea waters and beaches came into view, but somehow I managed it. Our AirBNB was a cute apartment that was very close to the train station and which had yet another confusing European door. We didn’t know it then because our host let us in, but we would spend ten minutes later that night trying to decipher its mysteries before finally arriving at the right combination of key turns and black magic for it to open at last.
After depositing our bags, we walked down through the city to the coast to stroll along the rock beaches and climb the castle on the hill (yes, like the Ed Sheeran song). Our calves were burning after walking up so many stairs, but the incredible view was worth it, and we sat at the top of the tower for some time just watching the sun sink below the horizon.
Upon our descent, we began looking for a place to eat, and we stumbled upon a street occupied entirely by restaurants, each one much like the next and advertising either Italian food, seafood, or some combination of both. Because there was so much competition, each restaurant had waiters standing outside for the sole purpose of talking to pedestrians and trying to get them to come in (which was stressful for both us and them) and we ended up choosing one pretty arbitrarily. Luckily for us, it ended up being delicious—by this point, I’ve been in France long enough that I shouldn’t be surprised by incredible bread, but this definitely had me contemplating the morality of smuggling the basket away in my purse. (You could say it was…inbreadible?)
The next morning, we took a bus from Nice to a lovely town called Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and took the 6 mile walk around the peninsula there. It was absolutely stunning; the rocky path wound up and down through the cliffs along the coast, through trees and around tiny inlets. A bit of the way through, we stopped at a tiny little platform near the water where a few people were swimming and had a picnic, the latter of which I now consider a staple of my GTL experience. There have been many occasions during our travels where we’ve wandered a Carrefour or local supermarket, each person picking up one or two things to share, and then we find a park or a bench or a train to share in our makeshift feast. Truly, a baguette, some apples, some brie and good company is really all you need to have a wonderful meal.
The rest of the day was just as marvelous as the beginning, from the views on the rest of the hike, to swimming on the stone beaches, to getting ice cream as we walked back to the bus stop. One of my favorite parts of the trip, though, and about all my travels, really, is sharing the journey with friends. Whether you’ve known each other for ages or you’ve only just met, sharing food, sharing stories, sharing awe and excitement in whatever new experience is just around the corner is one of the best things I could ask for, and I can’t wait to share more travels with friends old and new during the rest of my time at GTL!