Just Stop It - More Nice, France

Yup, this was a great decision. There is nothing like being by the ocean and warm, period. Dave always likes to joke that he has made me into a mountain-girl, but being here makes me realize that I am still very SoCal/beachy at heart - and that I can NEVER live in a cold, non-mountain climate ever again.


Nice, France is an ideal place for a lone traveler. The area has great transit, lots to do, a million restaurants, and enough tourists that it is entertaining but not over the top (a-la Brugge). Plus, there is nothing like a coffee or cocktail by the beach, you can sit and just stare and contemplate the world and not feel like you have to check your phone or read a book to look busy or whatever.

So what have I been doing....... Yesterday the forecast was for rain so I hit up the amazing, bite-sized museums in Nice: Matisse, Chagall, the archaeology museum, and the freaking-Roman bath ruins and amphitheater (so awesome and I didn't even know it was here). Nice just keeps revealing more and more of it's awesomeness the longer I am here. OH AND THE SUN! I love being warm. Look how happy I am at the ruins over there.

Roman Ruins with the Matisse museum in the background.

I also accidentally ended up at the Monastery of Our Lady of Cimiez complex after the museums. There is a gorgeous Baroque church from the early 17th century there. It doesn't look like much from the outside but HOLY COW it is cool inside, sorry no photos allowed though. Perhaps it is the years of Catholic school, but I cannot break the no-photo rule when it is posted......sorry peeps.

Sweet old church.

I did get a few photos in the cloister. That is an old well there, I just thought it looked pretty.

 

It might be the severe lack of sun I experience in London, but for some reason I couldn't get enough of the monastery garden.

Stupidly beautiful, and I am not really a botanical-garden type of person at all.

I am going to become a nun and live here.

Nice was French then Italian, then again officially became part of France again in 1860. The names here in the graveyard (where I got stuck during a sudden rainstorm) are almost all Italian. OMG plus don't get me started on the pizza, with crust so cracker thin it brings tears to my eyes. I have consumed so much pizza here that I think my nails and hair will grow an inch this week.

Sorry, this is a dumb picture.

This is my little lunch at the Chagall museum - a goat cheese salad. And you WILL have dessert after lunch and dinner or else your waitress will look at you like you are weird. Everyone has dessert here and they are still all so thin. Amazing, I think they are all just happy.

YUM, again my hair and nails will be an inch longer when I get home.

  

Today I rented this sweet little bike and rode the 20k (plus or minus, I got lost a few times) west along the coast past Cagnes-Sur-Mer and Villeneuve-Loubet to Antibes. The ride itself was windy and mostly along a busy road, though still next to the beach with a spectacular view of the mountains. OK - I know they say it is "the engine and not the machine".......but it was a tough ride. In my defense, I think the bike, basket, and lock weighed more than I do. It was worth it though! Check out the pics, they say more than my words could for sure.

Best cappuccino ever in Cagnes-Sur-Mer.

 

Antibes, there is a reason you have heard about this place.

Not the ideal shoes for a day of cycling - but whatever.

 

Picasso museum.

Me and my 125lb bike.......

Look closely, can you see the snow on the mountains!!!!

 

Mountains, or beach - how about both. That's it, I am moving here!

 

Cagnes medieval center viewed from the beach, are you kidding me!!!

Tonight for dinner I am cooking up some fresh veggies to make pasta sauce for the homemade ravioli I bought at the little store below my flat. Then I am laying low the rest of the night with The Marriage Plot (very good but then I love pretty much everything by Jeffrey Eugenides). I know how to party! Actually, tomorrow I am headed into the mountains on the Train Du Pignes for some hiking and sight-seeing and the train leaves at 8:50am so I will be up early to get to the station.

I have a feeling it will be amazing. I'll post some more photos tomorrow. Love to all - xoxoxox.