Total miles walked: 4.5mi
Sights
Beach - absolutely gorgeous. Stretches out for miles, and can boast of sparkling blue waters that match the sky. On a bright day you can find romantic pairings dappling the beachfront because as the old saying goes -
Couples who tan together, get melanoma together.
So romantic.
Though my pasty complexion is eons behind the leathery locals, I decided to also take part in the tanning culture (if only because my limbs couldn't be bothered to move any further after 2 and 1/2 weeks of endless exercise). Fun fact: you can tell my sunscreen is Italian because it considers SPF 15 to be "medium strength" - my pale skin begs to differ
Once my skin had had its fill of UV damage, I decided it was time to take a dip in the ocean. Fortunately, this was a pretty foreign concept to our fellow beachgoers so I had ample room to swim about. Turns out, the water in the south of France is only truly comfortable once the hypothermia sets in. Plus, the white pebbles in place of actual sand make the trek down there a tad painful, but ultimately the swim was worth the pain and utter lack of grace imbued in my walk
Collecting sea glass is both mindlessly entertaining and a great way to get quizzical stares from random strangers. And it's shiny! I like shiny
Fruit & Flower Market - need some soap or olive oil? Then come on down! It's apparently the largest outdoor market in France, so that's pretty nifty. I mainly appreciated it for the free samples and cheap food
La Chateau - pretty park that gives you a great view of the city. It even has a waterfall. And what's not to love about miscellaneous water features? For those of you lacking in a go-getter companion like my friend Christine, you can choose to forgo the stairs and take the elevator to this elevated location
Food
Pasta dinner - rather disappointing compared to the Italian creations I'd just departed from, but it's free with the purchase of a drink so my frugal self appreciated it
Happy hour - a must at the end of this exhausting journey (plus the whole free pasta dinner thing was a serious instigator in terms of my brief bout with alcoholism). Also, White Russians are what I picture dolce du leches (Guys & Dolls reference...anyone?....anyone?) to taste like
Market food - the cheap prices and fresh choices make it an ideal alternative to the wallet-draining options available at the surrounding restaurants
Gratin de Courgettes - Be wary of buying food from places about to close. Otherwise, you might end up with this sad concoction that was probably far more enjoyable roughly four hours prior to it being purchased. Could be wrong, but it's probably far more palatable when served at one consistent temperature, as opposed to the scalding top/cold bottom combo I enjoyed
Ice cream - as gelato has become an unintentional staple of my diet whilst on this trip, this became a necessary purchase to tide me over. Sadly, they don't allow you to sample. Guess you'll just have to go more than once to try all those flavors
They have a wide selection of options. So for anyone whose always wanted cactus or beer ice cream, they've got the hookup
Kind of makes me all teary-eyed just looking at it
Au revoir Nice! It's been nice.*
*minus the whole flight delay which resulted in having to purchase another bus ticket (making my bus back to Bristol cost about as much as a plane ticket) and having to camp out in the Gatwick airport until 5:55am because clearly the universe gets uncomfortable when things are going too well.
On the plus side though, I got to revel in the wonders of witnessing overweight businessmen sleep on unforgiving airport benches.
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