What a weekend! I must still have the traveler’s bug, because I took a vacation within my vacation. It was great! We almost lost a wallet, nearly pick-pocketed, and could have gone to jail! Oh, wait… let me explain:
HUGE yachts in the harbor where we ate lunch Megan, Meghan, Cameron, and I took a girls trip to the French Riviera. The weekend started off with catching a bus at 6:30am on Friday. I don’t remember the last time I woke up before 7:00am! We were all so glad that we took the early train because we ended up having the whole day in Monaco. The first thing we did was grab lunch; I had a crepe, of course. As we walked along the harbor, we noticed a big event going on in the center of town: Les Longines Global Champions Tour of Monaco! An international jumping competition was going on right at our very feet! The admission was free, so naturally we went in and took a seat. We ended up watching for at least an hour! It was incredible!
After, we made our way up to Le Casino de Monte Carlo. Two security officers came up to me and said “18 or older” (Do I really look THAT young???). Anyway, we went in and the casino was unreal! I mean there was a bar made of diamonds! I played the Black Jack machine and though I went held on for awhile, ended up regretting wasting 10€. Oh well, there are definitely worse ways to lose money...
In the afternoon, Meghan suggested that we take the train to Cap D'Ail; and what a great decision! There wasn't much of a beach, so we decided to explore instead. We walked along the edge of the cliff near the water and it was GORGEOUS! All along the shore there wasn't sand, but rather stones. It was like a massage for me feet! Thunderclouds rolled in suddenly, so we took shelter and ordered some drinks at a nearby restaurant.
When the rain passed, we decided to move on to Nice. But finding the train stop was a complete mess. You would’ve thought we would have learned our lesson to remember how to get back. I think I need to start carrying a little bag of cereal to drop behind me whenever I go places now! But after asking some people, meeting new friends, and going waaaay past the train stop; we finally found it.
Onto Nice (pronounced "Neese"). When the four of us got off the train at Nice Ville, we had to then take a tram six stops north to where our shuttle from the hostel would come pick us up. To buy a ticket for the tram, you needed to use a ticket machine. We all tried purchasing a ticket, but the machine didn’t accept cash and denied our American cards. We were out of luck. When the tram rolled around, we noticed that no one else had a ticket when boarding the tram, so decided to just get on and hope for the best. Success! We got to the stop and checked into our hostel. Everything was great there; friendly people, a room for just the four of us that locked, and even a free breakfast for tomorrow. But there was one tiny little thing that set us all off laughing while Cameron had her ‘diva moment’: Hair. On the beds. On the pillows. In the shower. On the floor. Everywhere. I have to admit, it was pretty gross but hey, it’s a hostel. |
By that time it was getting pretty late, so we cleaned up and headed out to the Old Town of Nice for dinner. We settled at a fun, crowded, outdoor restaurant and it was absolutely wonderful! We ordered drinks and the four of us talked and talked and talked! We didn’t even notice that it took an hour for our food to come and didn’t begin eating until 23:30! It was a very relaxing meal. We went out just for a bit after so that we could catch the last shuttle to the hostel of the night. To get back, we had to take the tram again. Again, we had to pass due to the ticket machines. We had no problem earlier in the day, so we figured, no problem now right? WRONG! At the first stop that the tram came to, the door opened and twenty police officers flooded our car! They demanded to see our ticket, and when we said we didn’t have one, they demanded for our ID. More than half of our car was escorted off, along with at least thirty more from the other cards, due to the fact that no one had a ticket. The police officer that had our passports walked out of sight, making us nervous. It was at least ten minutes of confusion, anxiety, and annoyance, until the officer reappeared. Our IDs were handed off to a strict-looking older man who said “48€”. All four of us tried explaining our situation and the whole time he kept saying “48€”. When we said we didn’t have the cash and couldn’t afford this, he pointed to the ATM across the street. We still hesitated and didn’t know what to do. Then he said something I’ll never forget in my entire life; “Bank. Or Jail”. All of us just looked at each other out of pure shock. While still so confused about this whole ordeal, the officer grabbed his walkie-talkie and said “OK, police…” And at that moment we shoved the money into his face. So we bought a pass that should’ve been 1€, for 48€ instead. Cool. The whole way back to the hostel was full of so much confusion, and anger, and feelings of unfairness. But what’s done is done.
Villefranche The next morning (Saturday), we packed our things and went to beach at Villefranche (city number four: are you keeping count?). On the way to the train station, Cameron caught a pick-pocketer! Whether it was the Grace of God or just a woman’s intuition, she actually caught the woman in action. We all decided that Nice is not so nice. Villefranche was lovely though! The beach was somewhat crowded and full of strange occurrences. The day started off with a pigeon walking across Cameron’s back while she tanned. Then moved on to watching a man spray sunscreen in his long golden locks. Which then on too much PDA. Meanwhile, a little girl was spotted peeing in the rocks. And the day summed up with two intelligent little boys making a stream through the pebbles of the spilling sewage water. The things that went on were, indeed, very odd. I’m not quite sure what I thought about Villefranche after all of that!
From Villefranche, the four of us headed to Cannes. Another student from IAU, Elizabeth, met us at our hotel that night. We all got ready and went for dinner (late, again) at this outdoor pub. Elizabeth and I split the BEST pizza ever! It was called a Margarete pizza (it really was just a cheese pizza). But it was so good!! After dinner, Meghan, Cameron and I met the sweetest girl, Océane. She showed all of us the 80’s Music Festival that was going on by the water of Cannes. I think we were the only ones dancing at the concert! Later that night, we said our goodbyes to our new friend, and I slept the best I had in several days.
The next morning, we spent the entire day at the beach in Cannes. I tanned a lot with a little bit of sunburn, unfortunately. The beach was sandy, and the water an appropriate temperature for once! In my opinion, I liked the beach at Cannes more and had a lot of fun in the water. After at least five hours at the beach, we caught the next train to Marseille and then the bus to back home. |
The excitement doesn’t end there though! Because we were all starving, we went straight to a Tapas restaurant and grabbed some food. When it was time to pay, Meghan realized she didn’t have her wallet. Anywhere. Just as any normal person would do, she freaked and ran back to the bus station. Fortunately she knew exactly where she left it: above the seats on the bus. And after much worry on everyone’s part, she found the right bus and found her wallet!! That was a very close call!
Now although I went into much detail of the mishaps that occurred this weekend, I had SO much fun this weekend! One of my most favorite parts of the weekend was that we had absolutely no plans, and no schedule, whatsoever. I don’t remember the last time I traveled without having anything or any place to be. It was a very relaxing way to travel. I also really liked that I had no Wifi during the whole weekend. So the only time I communicated was to talk with my friends. And we talked ALL DAY LONG. And we laughed ALL DAY LONG. And that’s all you really need in life: someone to talk to and someone to laugh with.
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