It was a glorious glorious day. The sun was shining it was was 60 degrees and the aura of happiness was everywhere you looked. We walked down the Blvd across from the beach and picked up our tickets. We still had several hours before the parade started so we went back to the main drag and did a little Nice shopping. I was frugal, but I did pick up some pretty sweet Cote A'Zur stuff. After our shopping escapade we dropped our stuff off at the hotel before heading down to the parade. Here the parade is in the afternoon instead of the morning. We got there around 1pm approximately an hour before it started so we could get a place right up against the barricades. We stood there and walked people go by and masque venders distribute to the locals and the tourists. Some of my friends indulged in a masque or two but I remained abstinent.
Something else that makes the Nice Mardi Gras parade different is that they line the floats up along the parade route and then the floats go around in a circle essentially. So the parade we were at was the the Flores Bastille- the Flower War or the Parade of Flowers. This is where it gets interesting and almost indescribable so please look at my pictures on shutterfly. The floats are made entirely of flowers. It is incredible! And instead of throwing beads or other random stuff the beautiful women who are featured on each float throw flowers to the crowd. It was so dignified and beautiful. So the parade started at 2pm and for the next two hours it was a barrage of extremely colorful floats and people and just general frivolity in nature. There were dancers from all different nations and there was a marching band. There were people dressed in full masquerade ball regalia and people on stilts. There was an automation dragon and big balloons. It was stunning. I can't even begin to describe it.
So after the parade had come round full circle we headed back to our hotel to drop off our flowers and such before heading back to the beach. We went back and sat for an hour or so just enjoying the sun shine and contemplating.... what flavor of gelato we were going to get that night. You know, the usual life altering thoughts. We stayed there until sunset when we went back to our hotel to eat dinner before the night parade.
After dinner we walked around some more before going over to the grand boulevard near the Albert garden for the Parade of Lights. Just like the parade earlier that day the Parade of Lights was unbelievably beautiful. It was the most colorful thing I had ever seen. Go to my shutterfly for pictures. For this parade there was a completely different set of floats that were made out of papier-mache, painted beautifully, and lit up. There is also another tradition here in Nice. Instead of having beads for the night parade/ the flower parade people have silly string instead. So if you really like the float or if you just want to be silly you shoot the people on the float with silly string. But wait, it extends to all the people standing around you. My friend Chelsea and I were standing there when 3 little boys decided it would be funny to start shooting us with silly string. Their parents were standing right there, but they thought it was funny too. So Chelsea and I went and bought some silly string and prepared to take revenge upon the little boys. This soon extended into an all out war between a good 10-15 people around us. It was one of the strangest experiences I have ever had. People were shooting complete strangers and it was totally okay. People were laughing and running and ducking. Little kids were shooting old men and women and the elderly folk were just laughing and pulling the silly strong off their faces and out of their hair. Sometimes it got a little extreme, but for the most part it was just silly fun.
So the parade went by and we got covered in confetti and silly string. We tried to hide from the little boys, but they found us eventually. After the parade had gone by we headed back to our hotel by running and dodging in and out of people trying to shoot us. At one point Brelyn and I fell down and got covered in silly string by a group of French guys. The only way to get away from them was to run across the parade route, but that didn't work out to well so we ended up joining the parade until we found Becca, Dani and Chelsea. Delighted and high off of life we skipped back to our hostel where we recounted our adventures to Anthony. I'm sure he thought were were crazy, but we all had fun watching TV in French and trying to figure out what they were saying.
I hate to break it to all of you back home, but this was the best Mardi Gras I have ever experienced. Thank you Carnival Nice!
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