A Sunday on the French Riviera

My future home.
Nice is nice.

So this morning we woke up after a riotous night before of participating in the Carnival activities. We had almost the whole day Sunday to spend in Nice before we had to take a flight home. So we started it off with a breakfast of cherios and milk... what could be better.

After breakfast we checkout of our hotel, but left our luggage there in their "luggage room"-- basically the corner of their little reception room. Meh, None of us had anything of value anyway. We decided it would be nice to walk along the beach so that's where we headed. I guess Sunday is the "get out" day for the Cote A'zur folk because the streets and cafes were packed with families. It was quite the sight to see. We walked along the beach up on the boulevard and watched the sun shining over the Mediterranean. We walked around to this lookout point where we could look back and see all of Nice and the French Alps. Again, I can't even hope to describe it to you so please visit my shutterfly website. We climbed an endless staircase up to a point above Nice, which again was unbelievably beautiful. We sat up there for awhile just soaking up the sun and sitting in completely beautiful unadulterated silence. It was glorious. 

As a side note-- one of the things that I have discovered about myself while I've been over here is my liking to silence. I know for some of you that is hard to believe because as a child you could not get me to shut up, but as I've grown up I've become a much more introverted person and now take particular joy in silence. So we sat up there in silence for awhile. While we were up there we could see down into Nice and we saw what looked like a market street so we decided to descend from our own little heaven and check it out. It was indeed a true French market flanked by cafes and brasseries on either side. There was fresh produce and pizza and wine and plants; jewelry and postcards, and olives and scarves. Anything and everything that a habitant of sunny southern France might need. We looked around for awhile and decided that we should find a little cafe to eat lunch in. We ended up walking out of this market area to find the cafe we ended up in, but it was still lovely. We got a table outside the cafe in the Sunday sun. We all had sandwiches of various types and spent a good long while there. We soon discovered that the cafe we were in was on the parade route for that day. Before we knew it there were people scuttling around shooting each other with silly string. The people sitting at the table next to us were in a fierce battle of this one little girl probably 6 or 7 versus 3 adults. She was dressed as a princess and was there with her parents and I assume some other relative of hers. It was adorable and hysterical. People around us were getting shot and continued on with their meals as if nothing had happened. My table, on the other hand, were constantly ducking and covering in hopes of not getting hit with silly string. Shortly there after the parade started going by, literally 10 feet from where we were sitting. It contained the same floats we had seen at the night parade except they weren't lit up because it was day time.

 Eventually we left the cafe some time in the afternoon and walked back to our hotel to pick up our bags. We were supposed to catch a bus right at the end of our street to take us back to the airport, but that didn't work out so well. Part of that street was closed down for the parade and so when we finally left the bus stop and went the tourist office they told us that we would have to go to a different bus stop further in the heart of the city. I wasn't in charge of the map on this trip and so Dani and Brelyn led the way to this supposed other bus stop. We got there and there tons and tons of people there waiting for various other buses. Time was ticking along now and even though we still had plenty of time to get to the airport we were unsure of exactly how it was all going to work. We waited and watched as most of the people disappeared onto various buses that came round. Finally we saw a bus coming that had our number on it. We walked to the edge of the curb to get on it and it looked like it was going to slow down and stop but the doors never opened and it went on past the stop. We looked around in bewilderment and then took off running down the street after the bus. Undoubtedly we looked ridiculous. We ran and ran, but we couldn't keep up with the bus and it disappeared out of sight. Now we had no idea where we really were and how we were going to find a way to get to the airport. We could have probably walked there, but again we didn't know the way. We started looking for another bus that might take us close to the airport. We found one that would take us to the wrong terminal but we figured if we atleast got there we could figure it out from that point. So now all we had to do was find a bus stop where that bus stopped. Ha Ha We found one, but we were on the wrong side of the road and so we would have gotten on a bus taking us in the opposite direction that we wanted to go. We crossed the road and waited for the bus. Fortunately it showed up about 15 minutes later and we hopped on. We had no idea how much a bus fare was and the driver spoke no English so I'm pretty sure we way over-payed him. Oh well. It was a pretty uneventful ride to the airport and once there we just hopped on their free shuttle that would take us to the international terminal. We went through check in and security just fine and an hour or two later were flying back home to England.

So far it has been my favorite place I have visited and I think it will be hard for any other trip to trump this one. We didn't go see any museums or anything particularly historical, but we spent time enjoying ourselves and indulging with the locals over a common value of happiness and good life. Far too often with all these trips I take, and life in general, we rush through it all trying to get everything done. We forget to experience and live in the 'now' of life. We want all the things on the list to be checked off; but really at the end of your life are you going to look back and say "Wow! I'm glad I went to 24 places in Paris in 28 hours." No, you aren't. You might, however, say "Wow! I'm glad I went to Nice and walked along the boulevard with people from all walks of life; and I'm glad I just took the time and sat on a bench and watched the sun set over the Mediterranean with my best friends. I'm glad I shared that with them and nothing that happens in the future can ever replace that experience." That for me is nice.

Cheers!

Le Carnival!!!

So when we woke up today we were all a buzz for Carnival until we discovered that the shower in our room had no hot water. Awesome! We all took freezing cold showers and for once I was so thankful I had short hair and could make it really really brief. We then dined in style with our cherios and milk before heading out to find the tourists office to pick up our Carnival tickets. 

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!

Nice- Day 1

So let me preface this trip by saying that back in St. Louis Mardi Gras is a huge thing for my family. It has been since I was a little kid and almost without fail I have been toe very Mardi Gras since I was probably 3 or 4 years old. So when I cam to the realization that I would not be home for Mardi Gras this year I was disappointed to say the least. One of my best friends, however, is a true Arcadian from Lafayette, New Orleans and she promised me that we would celebrate it in true fashion over here. And when we say true fashion we mean, Níce where it essentially originated. If you are wondering where Níce is it is on the French Riviera pretty close to the border with Italy. So it is basically sun and sea. 

Now prior to our trip to Nice we were going to go see Spring Awakening in London because we found really inexpensive tickets and we had all been wanting to see it. It was phenomenal. One of the best theatrical productions I've seen to date, and I don't say that too often. It's not for the faint of heart and if you ever see it prepare to be assaulted by less than savory language and be pulled back to the angst of your adolescence. Having said that it is a true masterpiece. It shows the consequences of being ill-informed and in this case being completely uninformed about sexual relations with members of the opposite sex. It is not a modern day setting... I think it is in the 1920s maybe in Germany... not sure if that is entirely correct. Anyway, the cast is entirely kids, I mean that literally, and two adults. I was probably older than all of the young actors and actresses. Me, the old bag at twenty years of age. I even felt old sitting in the front row and that's saying something. Anyway, the show is a powerhouse, with an underlying poignant message that I think often gets lost when we are all forced to grow up before we are ready. In the last year I've learned that growing up isn't fun or easy. Basically, Peter Pan knew what he was talking about. Now if I only knew the way to Neverland I'd be set.

So after seeing the show that night Dani and I scooted ourselves out the Luton airport for... another night of sleeping in an airport. I won't go into the gory details because it was much like all the the other times I have slept in an airport. Basically I can't wait to go home and not have to sleep in an airport. So anyway, our flight leaves around 1:45 on Friday and we arrive in Nice approximately 4:45pm give or take a little bit. Upon our arrival we are greeted by a bunch of dancing girls and men banging on drums. It was like show girls from Vegas and musicians from somewhere south of the border. Quite the site let me tell you. The French Riviera French are much freer about their bodies and so in that fashion and in the spirit of Mardi Gras (I'm sure) the ladies were wearing thongs, and I don't mean the sandal. Sadly we had to leave the welcoming party and hop on a bus to take us into town. The Nice airport is very near the center of the city so it was only a 15 minute bus ride to our stop. We got off the bus and were on the beach, literally. The sun was already sinking low in the sky and stretched out before us was the Mediterranean Sea. It was jaw-dropping. We finally tore ourselves away from the beach and found our hotel, which was a block and a half away from the beach; and I don't mean a long Arsenal block, I mean a short little Arsenal to Spring block. 

After checking into our hotel we walked a couple blocks to the grocery store to get our traditional bread, cherrios, milk and jelly combination. We went back to the hotel and made ourselves some dinner before heading out for the night. By the time we left our hotel it was after dark, but we still headed down to the beach. We walked along the waterfront for a while before heading up towards the main part of the city. Let me just say here that the parade runs on the blvd parallel to the beach right next to it. Anyway so we walked towards the center of the city and followed all the color for Carnival posters. We had no map so we were just wandering blindly around Nice. We eventually found ourselves in the Jardin de Albert I-- Albert's garden where there was a huge ferris wheel. We couldn't restrain ourselves so we got tickets and road the ferris wheel. I hadn't been on ferris wheel since I was very very young at Six Flags so it was pretty exciting. From the top of the ferris wheel you could see all of Nice glittering below you and the French alps off in the distance. It was pretty stunning. Directly below in Albert's garden was the main center of all the Carnival festivities and where the two highlight floats were on display. We went around a few times and then got off to go look at the two floats. The incredible thing about the Carnival Parade floats is that they are made entirely from papier-mache, no truck beds here. They are moving pieces of art. We walked around them and took a bunch of pictures before heading away into the city.

Nice is set up in a way that there are wide boulevards and then there are narrow little pedestrian walk-ways. We walked down what was probably one of their main drags looking into the windows with glee. Nice definitely has got the fashion thing down pat. We wandered on the pretty deserted streets for awhile. We figured no one was out because they were all resting up for the following day of insanity! We found a little gelateria and I got some fantastic terramissou gelato. It was soooo good! So we walked around with our gelato and eventually headed back to our hostel for the night. 

When we got back we met one of our roommates, Anthony. Anthony is from Belfast, Ireland who is on a vacation because of the economy. He is a shy, blonde-haired, 34 year-old construction worker. We had the hardest time figuring out what he was saying at first because his accent is so thick, but once we did we all became great friends and bonded over our common distaste of our other roommate this young man from Turkey who snored so incredibly loudly that none of us could sleep that night. So yeah, you basically know how our night went. I actually slept really well because I was so exhausted from getting little to no sleep in the airport. 

So we went to bed in anticipation for the next day.