Nice, France

I can’t remember exactly when my infatuation started, but I know I’ve wanted to visit the small country of Monaco for a long time. Monaco is so small (less than one square mile), it doesn’t have an airport, so I begrudgingly looked at flights into Nice (pronounced “niece”), France, about a half hour’s drive from Monaco. As it turns out, Nice has several critically acclaimed beaches and after looking into it more (“it” being the outrageous room prices in Monaco), I decided to spend some time there, as well.

Friday, 9 October: After arriving in the early evening, I walked around for a bit. My hostel was a stone’s throw away from the beach and near a lot of shops and restaurants. I had a delicious crepe for dinner to start off my time in France the right way.

Saturday, 10 October: On my way to the port, I went up Castle Hill to get amazing panoramic views of the city. From the port, I took a bus to Monaco. First, I visited the casino and the casino square. I didn’t go in because I wasn’t bothered to pay ten Euros to probably lose even more than that. After that, I enjoyed a walk around the harbor and admired all the yachts. A boat taxi took me to the other side, where I visited the Oceanography Museum before heading back to Nice for the evening.

Sunday, 11 October: I welcomed a (somewhat) lazy Sunday with reading and relaxing on the beach. I dipped my feet in the water, but the crude pebble beach makes it difficult to enjoy the shoreline. After that, I went on a walk through Old Town, a series of thin alleyways and unique buildings with an atmosphere to match. North of Old Town, I stumbled upon the European Masters’ Games village square, where there were festivities celebrating the event. When I got back to my hostel, I met someone else from the United States, Lucas, who has been traveling Europe alone for five months. We shared about our traveling experiences and got to know each other better over (another) long walk through Old Town and around the port before watching the sun set over the hills.

I had a wonderful weekend of enjoying the sunny weather and beach atmosphere. Nice has been my favorite single city thus far, although my Ireland trip remains my favorite as a whole. My next international trip isn’t for another month and a half, so I’m going to take this time to explore parts of England, starting with Bath and Southampton this week.

If you would like to see pictures of my journey, check out my album on Facebook here.

My next adventure: Prague, Czech Republic!