Nice (part 1)

Ok, there are so many terrible Nice jokes. Even just writing that title felt like I was making a joke. Well, Nice is nice. Nice is great. And I'll try not to make any more Nice jokes in this post.

My parents and I spent a wonderful week in Nice. We stayed in a rented apartment, which was homier than a hotel. Each day we'd have fresh baguette or pastries for breakfast, and then go exploring. Since I'm bad at remembering things chronologically, I'll just give little descriptions of some of the trips we did.

The most "exotic" was our visit to Monaco—a whole new country! I just get so excited about crossing borders. Monaco is actually tiny and full of a lot of ugly apartment buildings, but it's also full of rich people and fun stuff. We saw the castle (which is quite disney-esque) and wandered around near the yacht-filled port. Even saw some signs in MonegasqueWe also went to the casino, of course, where I tried my hand at gambling (slot machines and poker machines) for the first time and was actually quite bored. I can't figure out what is so enticing about gambling, and I hope I never will.

My dad and I also took a day trip to Cannes—home of the famous movie festival—and Antibes, another town on the coast. Luckily we found cute old-town parts of both cities, with old stone towers that were much nicer than the modern apartment buildings. Also saw the convention center where the Cannes film festival is held, which was pretty cool. The craziest thing—especially in Antibes—was the amount of yachts. Mon dieu. So many rich people with giant shiny yachts. It was like a forest of masts. Could hardly see the water.

Anyway, we also spent some nice times in Nice. Saw some cool Roman ruins (those Romans went everywhere!), as well as an old fort on a hill near the old town. We did a lot of wandering around old Nice, and had some great meals in restaurants here. One of the awesome things about Nice is that they still use Provençal here! Not sure if I've heard it spoken (I think it sounds like Italian) but many of the street signs are written in both Provençal and French.

I've also fallen in love with the Promenade des Anglais—a sea-side walkway that runs all along the shore. It's always packed with people, walking, running, biking, and roller-blading or just sitting and enjoying the view. The beach is mostly pebbles, but the water is bright bright blue (that's why it's called the Côte d'Azur) and some people are brave enough to swim. I took a six-mile walk there yesterday, and took two more walks there today. :)

When my parents headed back to the states, I headed over to my host mom's house. I'll be staying here for three weeks, taking a 2.5-hour french class every day. My host mom is a ball of energy and very hospitable, and I think I'll really improve my french while I'm here. I had my first class today, which went well. It's only 8 students, and the teacher seems quite good. So for now I'll say à toute à l'heure!