A *NICE* Weekend in the South of France

I am back from a weekend in Nice! Man, was that one beautiful place. I went with four other friends, and we rented an apartment for three nights overlooking the city. The weather was in the high 70's the whole time, and the water was just as warm. We spent a lot of time relaxing, but also exploring the restaurants, shopping, and the small amount of night life. Three of us took a partial day trip to Antibes, which was about an hour bus ride away form Nice on the coast (in hindsight, the train probably would have been faster). Anyway, both places were absolutely gorgeous and I feel lucky to have been able to explore them.

 Walking off the plane had a similar feeling to arriving in Hawaii because the air was just so much warmer than where we came from. We left rainy Paris for very warm, and sunny Nice! It was so amazing to see the water from up above as we landed. The airport is actually right on the water (much like Oakland Airport), and we could see lots of cruise ships and boats on the water. The ripples from the waves made the water look like leather from up above. We got a taxi at the airport instead of trying to figure out the bus situation. Entering a new place and figuring out how to get somewhere is hard enough, but not speaking the language does not help at all. As we got closer to the apartment, we started driving up a hill with a very narrow street. There were so many switchbacks and cars parked on either side of the street. Our taxi driver was mumbling to himself and eventually stopped the taxi and said "You walk from here - 5 minutes." I didn't blame him. I wouldn't want to drive up that hill either. Every car had scratches on the side as if the owners just gave in to the idea that that was the way it was going to be if they wanted to park there. After 15 minutes we finally found our place! The owner came to let us in. The picture above shows the view from where we were staying, which was absolutely unreal.

Waiting for the owner to arrive with the keys, and admiring the view. It was breathtaking

So, the less than awesome part of the apartment was that there were literally hundreds of stairs to climb to reach it. Going down the switchbacks would take forever, and so the stairs were the best option. We had to use the stairs to get down to where a bus could pick up up and take us closer to the center of town. I certainly did not expect to be sore after this weekend, but these stairs definitely changed that.

We went down town as soon as we unloaded our things to explore. Again, I had to restrict my building picture taking habit because there were so many buildings here that I loved. The town had SO many shops and markets. I could have easily spent the entire weekend shopping if I wasn't so interested in going to the beach.

 We made it to the beach just in time for sunset. Since the beach is all rock, there are private beaches all along the shore with chairs that you can rent for about 15 euro per day (totally worth it to not have to be in pain form the rocks). I think I got goosebumps when we made it to the beach and saw this. The colors were so vivid and everything just looked crisp. We went down to feel the water, which was incredibly warm.

 There were many people strolling along the promenade near the water at sunset. We decided we had to find a placer to eat where we could look out at the sea.

 We decided on a nice pizza restaurant just across from the promenade. The best part (in my opinion) was the piano player across the street who provided smooth jazz tunes as we ate. I ordered a cheese pizza with ricotta and eggplant (I have developed an obsessive eggplant addition while I've been here - no idea why). Anyway, the food was incredible. I especially liked Kayla's truffle gnocchi! Sitting here in the warm breeze and breathing in the sea air was the perfect start to our mini vacation.

 We met up with our 5th friend Friday morning and headed into town for breakfast. After breakfast, we made our way to a private beach where we stayed most of the day. We each got a towel and reclining chair. The umbrellas were extra, but I didn't mind because I loved being in the sun anyway.

 blue water

 Oh, I forgot, we picked up some wine before heading to the beach but could not take it into the private beach so we sat along the edge of the promenade and drank it.

As we sat, a musician was playing behind us adding to the peaceful feel of the afternoon. I think all of us were a little bit overwhelmed by how nice (haha) this place was. I clearly remember the phrase "it's just so pretty" being said many, many times. Enjoy the soothing music!

Kayla and I enjoying the sun at the private beach!

I took this picture from the small dock that went out above the water. You can see the promenade and all of the hotels lining it. I love the color of the water here. I am also happy I didn't capture any of the nudists in my picture haha.

On the dock! This was a fun place to jump in! The water so so incredibly salty! It was refreshing until i gulped up a bunch of salt water - I was much more careful after that. It was so easy to float because of the salt in the water, though. i think that was my favorite part, besides the temperature. There were so few waves that just floating on my back was possible to do for 20-30 minutes at a time if I wanted to. A couple of times I'd find myself a little too far down the beach and have to swim back.

We tried not to be too stressed...

So I actually tried to take a picture of a cat, but it ran away form me at the last second so this is what  the picture is instead. You can kinda of see him in the far left under the chair. Anyway, I like how this turned out.The lifeguard had a twig and was moving it around trying to get the cat to pounce on it. I came over and asked to pet it, and he told me the cats name is "Titi."He was trying to get the cat to jump up onto the small stump of the plant seen in the picture. He really didn't speak much English, but it was okay because we both spoke "playing with cat" language. Anyway, I really tried hard not to laugh when he said, "If you want to see cat climb tree - this is now!" I also found it amusing that everytime the car would grab the stick he would say "Bravo!!!" like we would say "Good boy!" in America. That night, we went out to explore the night life, and went to a bar called Wayne's. It was full of travelers from all over the world, with many Australians specifically.  Since we got there late, there was a lot of dancing and so we joined in. It was a lot of fun! I highly recommend this place to any young people visiting Nice. The crowd is fun and lively!

Antibes! Like I said, three of us took a trip to Antibes on Saturday which is not far from Nice. It was very lively and had lots of little squares that were bustling with people and filled cafes. The buildings here reminded me of what I expect Italy to look like. I tried to hard to not take pictures of every building I saw here that I actually was sad afterward that I didn't have pictures of the buildings. Not doing that again!

There is that big blue sea again!

The Picasso Museum! This sat right on the water and had the most incredible view. We went inside to get tickets and they told us, "Today it is free!" I am having really good luck with this free entry thing! Haha. We explored the art, were very intrigued by all of Picasso's pieces, especially the ones with goats. I liked those.

A cool outdoor sculpture!

I got in trouble for taking pictures, so this is really the only one I have from before I got caught (oops!). If you look close you can see that all of the animals have little smiley faces on them. I though this was so funny, especially because he continued this simple smiley face theme in so many other paintings that we saw. My friends and I loved looking at each piece art art, specifically the ones that were supposed to be a "woman", and figuring out where each part of her body is in the painting.

When we left the museum, we stumbled upon a wedding on the sea. We waited to watch the bride and groom come outside. I am not sure if any of you have seen these, but there are these very large balloons that have lots and lots of small balloons inside. They are usually clear and the balloons inside are often multi-color. Anyway, they had one of these balloons and popped it just as the bride and groom exited the church, sending hundreds of little heart shaped balloons into the air! I loved it so much. It was beautiful.

We made it back to Nice in time for an hour on the beach and the sunset. We found a place where they had imported sand for a volleyball net and sat there!

Here is my proof that I got some sun in Nice! And I didn't even burn. It's a miracle!

The last sunset.

We ended the trip with a dinner among the hundreds of restaurants in the busy square. We did some shopping at the little stands they had after dinner, and then went home. We all went straight to bed because we were so tired!

So now I am back in Paris. I was actually very happy to come back and it felt like home walking into my tiny little room. In 48 hours, however, I will be in Barcelona! I leave Thursday afternoon after class and return home Sunday. It will be another fun weekend of adventure and I cannot wait. We are meeting up with some friends from UCLA there and staying in a hostel with them. I have hear amazing things about this city from so many and cannot wait to see it for myself. Thank you specifically to my cousin Ariana who sent me a long description of what to see and what to do! It is supposed to be in the high 70's or low 80's, so I am sure we will spend some time at the beach!

I know it seems like I am not even in classes, but I am! I promise! It is hard to explain because my classes don't really feel like school - they kind of just feel like an acticity. My language class is the most school-like because it is actually hard and I do have to study. But, my other two classes are going well and I am enjoying them so far. I still have  pictures from the past two weeks that I want to share, but it will have to wait until after Barcelona!

Have an amazing week <3

Excursion 4!

Hi everyone! Even though I already ended my language practicum over a week ago, I wanted to share these photos from my fourth excursion to the Latin Quarter. This area of Paris is walking distance from where I live and is really close to Notre Dame, as well. It is a young area, with lots of colleges and young students. The energy is amazing.

We were let inside the courtyard of a school. Here is just one of the buildings inside. I thought it was funny that they had 4 guards standing in front of what seemed like an empty school (nobody was back from summer vacation yet). Anyway, the buildings were very pretty, but we weren't allowed inside. We stayed for a short while and continued our walk through the area.

We passed by many other schools, including a law school and public school. I cannot remember exactly which school it is that is pictured above.

The Pantheon! This is located in the Latin Quarter and was probably my favorite stop of the day. I have seen this building in school and many pictures of it. The inside is gorgeous, and it is the burial place of many famous people!

We got in for free with our student cards here, too! Hooray! Here is the inside of the building in the main hall. My teacher is the women near the center of the frame. I really miss having her show us around the city. Although, at this point, all of her tours would probably be in French and I would not get as much out of them as I would want to. She has really been drilling French into our heads.

Voltaire's Grave! I have a picture of Rousseau's grave too, but it didn't turn out very well. This large underground room had many hallways and turns and was really creepy. It was cold and smelled like dirt. I kind of got the chills walking around.

creepy! This picture is kind of blurry because I wasn't sure if I was allowed in there so we took it quickly (:

Marie Curie is the only woman to be buried here! She is in a tomb right next to her husband.

Mr. and Mrs. Curie

The view as we walked out of the Pantheon, complete with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Very Parisian! I just love the streets here.

Our teacher pointed out a few small stores and theaters that she likes, and then set us free for the day. Jen and I decided to head 10 minutes up the street the Luxembourg Gardens. It is open to the public and is a GIANT piece of land with the most beaufitul flowers, trees, and fountains. It was bustling with people, but didnt feel crowded. I absolutely fell in love with this place. We sat and people watched and just enjoyed the warm September day.

We stopped to listen to this band play for a little while. I loved this so much because I don't think I could ever experience something quite like this in the US. This say was just so cheerful!

I was SO OBSESSED with these flowers. I actually have no idea what kind they are (anyone know?). They were all over the place here and made the garden so cheerful.

The same plant from a different angle.

It was hard to get a good picture of the whole park. This was the central area. There were benches everywhere for people to sit. People were lounging, reading, enjoying the day, and even sun bathing.

It looks like a movie, huh? This was kind of one of those "pinch me" moments. 

At the back of the gardens were long liens of trees and paths in between. I took full advantage of wearing all my shirts and dresses while it was so nice here. It is starting to get cold and rainy, so I am glad I got some use out of my summer clothes! Actually about 2 minutes after I wrote this line, it started pouring outside! 

I think this shot is my favorite because it includes the flowers, the main part of the park, and the building in the background. Also, the blue sky adds great contrast.

The flowers, again. Haha.

Jen and I enjoying the sunshine!

After the gardens, we set out on a mission to find some food. This is just a random street in the Latin quarter.

Pastries everywhere! Yum!

So we tried to find the famous Berthilon Ice cream shop, and ended up just at a place that sells the ice cream instead, not the original store. We knew it was near Notre Dame, and did our best at asking people where it was. It led us here. Anyway, the ice cream was still really yummy and refreshing after a another long day of walking! I got two flavors: banana and ginger! They were so creamy and flavorful. It was the perfect way to end a great day!

My Happiest Day in Paris!

 The Palace of Versailles!

So technically, my happiest day (so far!) was in Versailles, not Paris. Four of us headed on the RER train to the Palace of Versailles, which is just on the outskirts of Paris. We arrived in the mid afternoon, and were immediately stunned by the building because of both its size and glimmering gold color. Even though the clouds don't look it, the weather was actually very very warm this day. I ended up taking off my jacket and wishing I had worn a tank top. Again, we got in for free because we are students! Yay!

 Some detailing of the fence. The gold color just shone so bright, and gave the building such a warm and inviting feeling, as well as a feeling of royalty and class.

 This is the "front" of the building. I tried to take a panorama inside of this front courtyard but it was just too hard. It ended up looking way too flat. Anyway, we really didn't have much prior knowledge of Versailles and so we just explored and walked around with no one specific destination. We entered through a side door and began to walk through all of the rooms.

A view out back to one small portion of a garden. The tour bus kind of ruined this picture, but I was getting impatient and didn't want to wait for it to leave again.

So I added this photo just for some perspective. The GIANT (I mean MASSIVE) building that I am in is on the very very right of this model (It's so small on the model that I don't think you can even really see it). Everything to the left is the gardens on the property. I looked it up, and the property is just about 26 square miles!!! When we peered out the back windows, we could see the pond stretching for so long. There were boats on the water and rows and rows of flowers and trees. The garden was unreal. We actually didn't end up going into the gardens in the day time (I will explain below why), but we had views of them from all the many rooms inside Versailles. So breathtaking! I know that they rent bikes here so when I go back I want to rent a bike and explore the entire property in the day time, and maybe bring a picnic lunch, as well.

There was so much art inside!

Everything here is golden.

 A pretty piece of ceiling art. Everything here was pretty overwhelming, and all of the rooms started to blend together because everything was so ornately decorated. There was never a time where I wasn't completely amazed by the arcitecture and decor.

 A royal bedroom.

This was the side of a fireplace in the house. The golden man was actually about three feet tall. Not sure why, but I really liked him!

The famous hall of mirrors. You can see in this picture just how packed it was the day we went.The fountains are shutting off soon and so I think everyone has probably been visiting Versailles these last few weekends of the season. I tried in most of my other photos to stretch my long arms above the crowd to get pictures, but it was just too hard to do in here. This room has so much light and an amazing energy. I can only imagine how gorgeous it would be as the sun sets and the pink and orange light shines into the room and bounces off all of the mirrors and glass chandeliers.

Just another room with larger than life paintings and so many sculptures.

A pretty view into the courtyard!

-----------------

Evening

Okay, this is where all of my excitement is coming from. After we exited the building into the backyard, we saw that they were selling tickets for "The Fountains Night Show." They put on this show from late July until September, and only on Saturday nights. It must have been fate that we came on this day and had the opportunity to attend this event. We asked what the show was exactly, and our basic understanding, at first, was that there was going to be fireworks, music, and some fountains. We expected a sit-down event and to leave after 45 minutes. We were confused as the lady explained that we would be walking around the garden at the event. Still, it seemed like it could be a cool thing to do and so we all paid the 20 euro for our ticket to save a spot! We decided that since we would be seeing the gardens that night, that we wouldn't pay to go into the gardens in the day. Instead, we went out to explore the town of Versailles.

This is when my camera died, sadly. I am so bummed, especially now after knowing what happened that night, that I couldn't take pictures. Luckily, my friends sent me a lot of theirs so I can share some memories with you all! In the little town of Versailles, we spent a lot of time walking around a little flea market that had bags, clothes, and so many little trinkets. We began to get hungry and tired, and so we found a restaurant that was open and grabbed a table out on the street. Since it was only 4:45 (we didn't really have lunch), we could only find a few restaurants that were open for dinner! Parisians eat so late, and we definitely stood out as tourists coming to dinner so early.  This is Nina and I with our food! I got one of the only vegetarian things on the menu, a pizza with peppers, mushroom, and cheese. It was actually really good. I know i could probably ask for certain dishes from the menu to be made without meat, but since I know so little French, I am still a little scared to do that! haha.

We decided that since we has about 4 hours to kill, we would try out very best to be true Parisians and have an extremely long dinner. We took our time ordering drinks, and then food, and sat and talked for hours. It is really fun to get to know so many new people here, and the four of us had the best conversations!

We finished with dessert! This wasn't mine, although it does look like something I would order. I got the chocolate mousse and it was spectacular. The only disappointment was Nina's banana flambe. Our waiter poured the liqueur over the banaa and tried to light it, but it didn't work. He gave up pretty quick, and just walked away leaving a cold, alcohol soaked banana on her plate. We asked the people next to us for a lighter (it seems everyone in Paris has one because everyone smokes) and tried to light it ourselves. It didn't work out to well. All in all, though, dinner was so amazing. I think we ended up staying for a total of 3 and a half hours. We felt very Parisian after that.

                                                              

After dinner, we headed back to the palace for the show. As we entered, there was classical music playing, and so many people! A huge crowd was gathered above the large staircase that descended down into the gardens. It was 8:45 and they weren't allowing people down until 9:00. We decided to take a "path less traveled" and head off to the right, to a different part of the garden that seemed less crowded. Suddenly, classical music started playing and lights turned on all around. It was magical. There were tall bushes (about 5 times taller than me) that created mazes all around the grounds. It really felt like we were in Alice in Wonderland. The energy was electric and I suddenly got so excited to explore all around. The best way I can describe the feeling is to equate it to a little girl in Disneyland where there are no lines at any ride and she has the park to herself for the day. It felt like we could just not possibly see and do everything we wanted to, and suddenly the 3 hours time we were given did not seem nearly long enough. The crazy part is, the portion of the gardens this was held in was just a TINY sliver of the grounds, and still there was not way to see even half of it. In every direction we looked, there were fountains, beautiful flowers, amazing lights, and even bubbles flying up into the sky. Above is a video I found that gives a much better visual representation of what we experienced than the photos I have do. Even if I had my camera, it would have been absolutely impossible to capture the beauty and magestic-ness of this night. I'm hoping the video can give you a little bit better of an idea of what was around us.

We followed a group of people into a "maze" looking garden, and ended up in this beautiful stretch of road. The place was filled with these walkways. Often times, they led to big, beautiful fountains at the end (as you can see in this one). Each fountain was different, some simple and some VERY extragent. It was very cool to see all the different types of people at this event. What I loved most was how classy it was. We decided to go buy a bottle of wine for the night, as thats what seemed like the thing to do here. Intertwined in the gardens were small little food stands set up, selling pastries, crepes, wine, hot chocolate, coffee, and even fresh squeezed orange juice.

Here is a picture my friend Robert took. I love the setting pink sky in the back and the yellow light on either side. This was sort of the "central" view of the gardens. I wish the photo captured more light, as those lights really did illuminate the setting. Again, there was no way to take a successful picture of this.

While waiting for our friends who went to find a bathroom, Robert and I went straight to the bubbles which were flying all over the place. i had a really fun time dancing around in them haha. Again, I must have transported into the mindset of a 5-year old, because everything this night just felt make-believe.

Ugh. So this was THE coolest part of the night. I watched my friends take pictures as we stood there, but the pictures couldn't do this jsutice. Basically, we ended up in a court yard shaped in a circle, with a statue at the center. Using blue and green lasers and fog machines (which were mysteriously hidden somewhere - seriously, I couldn't find them), they created a visual experience that was unlike anything I've ever seen. The lasers shot across the courtyard creating a very thin beam of light. When the fog machines were activated, the lasers would pick up the pattern of the swirling fog, making the illusion of clouds overhead. Just looking directly up, it was as if we had a sky about 10 feel above our head, and the clouds were dancing  and swirling around. They somehow controlled the fog to corporate with the classical music, and as the music became more intense, the fog was blown by fans more intensely, creating a storm like quality. One thing I dont like about this picture is that from the side, you can see where the lasers are shooting. But, we standing below the green, it is impossible to see the sharp edge of the laser, and so everything seems natural and real. We honestly talked about just staying here for a while to enjoy because it was so cool. We sat down and just stared up, but were eventally asked by someone to please not sit (or at least I think that's what he said - he was speaking French so I had no idea). Anyway, if you ever make it to Versailles during this time of year, coming to this night time garden show is worth it for THIS part alone. I swear. I will absolutely never forget this.

I liked the colors of this fountain a lot. It reminded me of a Disney princess! I don't have a picture of this, but one of the other amazing elements was the fire show that took place on the large stretch of pond. There were small spout-looking things in the gross that shot HUGE burst of fire out. Every 10 minutes, there would be a fire show, where the 20+ spouts of fire would go off and make a pattern in the tune of the music. I think this is featured in the video I posted above. 

There were these funny blow up white things all over the place. They helped to light up the gardens. I'm sure you can see the pure joy on our faces. As we walked through the tall mazes, we would find some parts that were not lit up. Actually, they weren't just not lit up, there were 100% pitch black. It was one of the creepiest things I've seen. Naturally, we wanted to go explore. We ran through these wide, open paths of blackness, having no idea where they led. The reason it was not scary was because we could hear music playing in the distance, which got louder as we ran. It was like we were transporting to another part of the garden, and everything was mysterious and exciting. We decided this might just be one of the scariest places to take your child because getting separated and then lost would be terrifying. 

The night ended at 11:00 with the most incredible fireworks show. It was the most symmetrical and perfectly planned fireworks show I have ever seen. They went off just above the main fountain, and were accompanied by a fire show on the water in front. I made this short video with some highlights of our night. A lot of the videos are dark, but you can see some things at least!

I really wish I was a better writer/explainer so I could completely express just how awesome this night was. I think you ALL will need to go to Versailles and see this for yourself. I can't imagine having a more perfect night here.

I just finished my two-week intensive language program and had my final on Friday. I've gotten A's on everything so far and I am hoping for another one (: I start my normal classes tomorrow. I got both classes I wanted so I am very excited about that. I am leaving to go to Nice on Thursday with four friends. We are renting an apartment for 3 nights and I am beyond excited to see the south of France. The weekend after Nice, I am headed to Barcelona with about 6 girls! Two of the girls are in DG with Bella and I and are studying abroad in other places. Looking forward to that as well! I also have my tickets booked to go to Germany for October Fest the first weekend of October. We'll be meeting up with UCLA people then too. AND I booked tickets to and from ITALY for my week break!!! We are flying into Venice and flying out of Rome, and plan to go see Florence in between. SO many exciting things to look forward to, and many more trips to plan. I still need to plan weekends to Switzerland, Amsterdam/Belgium, London, Prague, and maybe one more place! If you have any suggestion on my final trip let me know! I was thinking maybe somewhere in Austria or Berlin. It is hard to know where to go, even though I am sure no matter where I go it will be spectacular!

That is it for now (: I have a few more things I want to blog about but I am off to enjoy my sunny Sunday in Paris!