Nice=Nice

Bonjour!

I've made it to Nice, and I have so many awesome things to say about it!

Last night, I finished up my stay in Marseilles by talking with some English and Canadian people about a whole bunch of things and getting my laundry finished. Two of my socks are blue, but other than that it went well! Haha

This morning I got up early and grabbed the 730AM train to Nice, which took about 3 hours. I wish it had been longer because the scenery as we went along the coast in the French riviera was downright breathtaking. I am officially in love with this part of the world! I was thinking about how to convey the appearance of the French riviera and its coast, and the best I can think of is that its a combo of what is best about California, the coast of Oregon, and Hawaii. Man, it is so beautiful! The mountains to right into the water like in Malibu and there's lush greenery everywhere. On top of the utterly gorgeous landscape there are amazingly beautiful houses and in some bays- ridiculous yachts and sailboats. This is the perfect vacation destination, and I want to get a house here. (Austin- looks like we have that in common)

After somewhat regretfully getting off the train in Nice, I found the ticket line and got in it, despite its dauntingly long appearance. The reason for this was because I had run into a little difficulty with some new information. I had been told that there was no more night train from Nice to Rome, so I had consulted my timetables and found that there is a night train from Nice to Florence, and then an early morning train from Florence to Rome. Last night, after wading through the line at the station, I found out that that night train no longer runs as well. So, wrestling with those unfortunate facts, I resolved to take a train tomorrow night to Milan, spend the night there, and then take a gruesomely early train from Milan to Rome. Although far from ideal, it's my only choice.

Once I had been in line in Nice for about 40 minutes, I was welcomed to the desk where I calmly ordered my reservations. I was met with an equally calm response of "The Italian train computers aren't working so we cant get you any reservations going to Italy." I was, needless to say, upset. They suggested that I take a train to the border (40 min away) and order the tickets there. Realizing that I didn't have a day to spend getting some reservations, I left and hoped for the best.

My next trial was finding a place to sleep tonight. I went to the hostel that I had called from Bordeaux (who had said it would be safe to assume there would be a bed for me) where I was met with no vacancy, unless I stayed for two nights or got a private room. Not wanting to spend the extra (and I thought unnecessary) 5 euros for the private room, which had been described as being smaller than a closet, I went in search for the other Nice hostel. There I was greeted with another lack of vacancies. I returned in shame to the first hostel and begrudgingly got the private room. A man's gotta have a place to sleep, I guess.

I then went on to wander around Nice, which is definitely a beach town. It has a beautiful downtown, nice beaches, and kind people. After aimlessly wandering for a while and eating lunch, I decided to go to a museum. When I arrived after about 30 minutes of walking, I found that it is closed on Tuesdays! Ugh. That was not what my thirsty body wanted to hear. Instead I went to the Cathedral of St Joan of Arc, which was covered in scaffolding. Not to let those ruin my day, I went to the Russian Orthodox cathedral, which was gloriously open, and looked around. It was really impressive.

Random Fountain

Russian Cathedral

Energized by my recent success, I returned to the train station where I was met with hallelujah-prompting words- the Italian computers were working! I hopped in the relatively short line and got my reservations. Joy!

So, although the day had a spurt of bad occurrences, overall it was great and I'm looking forward to an authentic dinner tonight and a rendezvous with some Arizona friends tomorrow for a visit to the Monte-Carlo!

Stay Classy!