Prelude to Cannes: Nice, Days 1 & 2

   Bonjour France! I have been lucky enough to travel to Nice as a prelude to the Cannes Film Festival with two of my friends from Penn also doing the Cannes trip, Hayley and Adam. We arrived in Nice yesterday morning and it's been an incredible two days. We are staying at the Nice Riviera Hotel  right in the center of the city. It's such a charming place to be; the streets are all cobblestoned and there is a sleek silver monorail that goes through the entire city. The hotel is extremely old fashioned-- there are no electronic keys which was a shock! Instead, the front desk gives you a huge heavy key when you walk in to unlock your room upstairs, and you return it back to them upon leaving for the day.
   Yesterday we hit the ground running and delved into a bunch of activities. There is a daily market in the  Old City of Nice which we walked over to. There was an abundance of fresh flowers and soaps, and then rows of spices, sauces, fresh meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables. Truly spectacular and it all looked delicious!

We continued to walk around the Old City, which has managed to remain authentic despite its rising tourism. No cars are allowed to drive down the narrow streets and all the stores have been built into the small buildings and stone walls that previously existed there. We sat down to have lunch at a French brasserie in the center of the market (it has become our mission to only eat places that have little to no English translations on the menus) and dined on omelettes and fresh wine. After that, we continued to walk around the city and explore, and ended up at the beach. Rather than white sand, the beaches here are surprisingly completely rocky. At first it was tough to get used to, but now it just adds to the city's uniqueness.

After napping there for a few hours, we came back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. We walked more towards the heart of Nice away from the beach and passed a bunch of amazing shops on the way. One of which was called Sharon (I freaked out as we passed it...) and it is only in Nice and Cannes. Pretty ironic. Sadly it was closed, but we are definitely going back once it opens so I can buy a souvenier. Obviously can't pass up this opporutnity!!!

We wandered down a side road and stumbled upon Temple Bar,  a French bistro with a pre-fixe menu too good to be true. We all shared escargot, beef tartare, prawns, bruschetta, and duck. It was asbolutely delicious and we came home and immediately passed out after a really long and exciting first day!
   Blogging two days in one post here since we just discovered the lobby of our hotel actually does have WiFi....This morning we woke up early and decided to take a day trip to Eze, a small fortified seaside town outside of Nice. We walked over to the train station and stopped at a cafe for breakfast on the way-- chocolate croissants and cappucinos, nothing's better! After struggling a little with the ticket machines (what on earth is a credit card with a microchip and why won't the machines take anything else?!) we managed to get cheap tickets and found our way to the train.

20 minutes later, we arrived at Eze. We navigated the bus schedule and made our way up the giant hill to the old city of Eze. There were no cars whatsoever and the entire thing was one winding cobblestone hill. There were small shops and cafes built into the walls. We spoke to one woman who owned a jewlery studio there, and she explained that about twenty years ago she put electricity and built her store, because it was only rock there- so cool! We walked all the way to the top where there was a giant cacti garden and unbelievable views of the water. We stared for 15 minutes because the view was too good to pass up. 

After making our way down, we toured the Fragonard perfume factory which was really incredible. We hustled back to the bus and then the train (so proud of ourselves for figuring out all the schedules on our own too!) and headed back to Nice! Adam headed straight for the hotel, and Hayley and I stopped at a sandwich shop and ate arguably the best sandwich of our entire lives. The three of us then went over to the beach again for an afternoon suntan and nap and here we are... back in the hotel lobby as I write this blog. Tonight's agenda consists of some type of dinner (we're thinking Italian tonight?) and then a Laidback Luke concert at a club near the waterfront. Looking foward to another eventful day in Nice tomorrow!