Jour 4

   Welcome to Day 4 of our fabulous excursion to Nice. Like the past few days, today has been phenomenal. The four of us woke up early (thankfully Hayley was able to drag us out of bed before 10) and headed out for breakfast....Only thing is, everything is closed on Sundays. A little known fact about Nice that I wish we had previously known. All of the stores, restaurants, grocery stores, etc. are all lifeless. Could not suck more...Honestly. As we walked down the barren main street only like 2 out of the 30 restaurants were open so we had to settle on a little place called Kitchena for breakfast (even though it had a giant postage stamp as its logo that said PHILADELPHIA- which naturally Adam refused to go to the first day we were here since it was too "American" but I thought it was a sign that we should eat there...). Anyway, it turned out to be AMAZING. We split two chocolate croissants and got the best cappuccinos/cafe oles that we've had all trip. Yum.
   Afterwards, we embarked on the most anticipated event of our entire stay in Nice: a picnic on the top of Castle Hill. Castle Hill is one of the highest points in Nice that overlooks the entire city and the views were absolutely breathtaking... If you thought the view of Eze was pretty, just check out these pictures.

   Before hiking to the top, we stopped at the market and put together an entire picnic of fresh ingredients from the market to make sandwiches with. We bought a loaf of French bread, fresh sharp Parmesan cheese, Prosciutto, the most interesting looking Provence tomatoes we've ever seen, homemade pesto, and then a variety of handpicked strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries. The market was super crowded and we had to walk from table to table looking for the best deals/best looking food. It was so exhilaraitng and SO much fun!!! We bought what must have been at least a pound of cheese for only 9 euro and then an entire platter of various types of Prosciutto for 7 euro. And loaves of bread only cost 1.25....talk about a good deal.

   We split up the bags and started our hike. The higher we got, the more picturesque the views of Nice became. Pictures do not do it justice- it looked like a painting. We saw parks (one with a moon bounce?) and a huge waterfall cascading from the top of the hill. Eventually we found our perfect picnic spot, a little circular dirt area with a stonewall and a bench (*it was more glamourous/beautiful than I am making it sound- even though it had no lush green grass, it was hidden and bright and PERFECT*). We made four absolutely perfect sandwiches (see pics. salivating.) and had arguably the best lunch of our entire lives (which Adam, Jaycee, and Hayley will all attest to).

   After devouring our berries, we proceeded down the hill to the other side which overlooked the marina with all of the yachts. Finally glimpsing into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, which we have not really seen so far. Although beautiful and definitely high class, Nice has been much more down to earth than we ever expected. At the base, you were directly on the waterfront, so we (well I) decided to be adventurous and go rock climbing on the water. For everyone else it was a piece of cake, but naturally I was freaking out that I would slip. But, I did it it anyway and conquered my fears and could not have been happier. It was so beautiful and liberating to be that close to the water and see the views of Nice without any obstructions whatsoever.

   It was supposed to rain starting in the early afternoon, but luckily it held off and we walked back to our hotel to change for the beach. It was a little cloudy but we managed to get a little sun. Adam is completely tan now, but somehow I obviously managed to stay pale as a ghost. May try just no sunscreen at all next time since 15 somehow still seems to be too overly protective... Anyway, after like half an hour it started to get cold and cloudy and we decided to leave the beach. Adam and Hayley went rollerblading down the boardwalk and Jaycee and I went to a little restaurant to get a drink (we're DEFINITELY not coordinated enough to rollerblade through streets full of people). From my previous blog posts, you all can obviously tell that I love France. I love the food, the shopping, the culture, the architecture, the sites, and basically everything else. But one thing I CANNOT stand is the lack of iced coffee in the entire country. Not a Starbucks, cafe, or anything that serves coffee bigger than like 3 sips. It's absurd. So, even though I wanted one so badly, Jaycee and I decided on Irish coffees instead. Definitely did the trick.
   After that, we walked back to our favorite gelato place in Old City and had a second snack. Best stracciatella I've ever had in my entire life, hands down. We took it with us over to the Nice Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The entire city was dead on the walk over, which was interesting to see. The museum was cool but modern/contemporary art is definitely not really my thing. After an hour I was ready to leave.
   We came back to the hotel again, showered and changed for our final dinner in Nice (tears), and walked back over to Old City. At night, the market transforms into a huge square of open air restaurants- probably about 20 of them. For some strange reason, we were comparing the best hamburgers on Penn's campus on our way over, and all 4 of us were craving them more than anything. We looked at every single menu trying to find one hamburger. Two restaurants in the entire square had it so we decided on a place called 26 Cours Saleya, which advertised a "French style hamburger" on their menu, so we all felt good that we weren't wasting our last meal on something too American. We split a bottle of rose, two baskets of bread, and all ordered the hamburger cooked medium. We all are so appreciative that the four of us make such a good travel team! Just as our food arrived (the best looking hamburgers EVER--with cheese, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, and russian-ish dressing-- that came with a side of baked chickpea "pancakes" in the shape of thick French fries- all four of us are devastated we did not take a picture) a monsoon hit, and we all rushed to the inside part of the restaurants. We made it in just before the rain got bad. We talked for hours and were the last people in the entire place. It was fabulous. The rain let up a little and we made the trek back to our hotel once again. We planned on going out, but everything is quiet on Sunday nights, so instead we're going to invent our own fun activity back at the hotel since it's still pouring outside. Tomorrow we have the whole day in Nice and will be heading to Cannes in the late afternoon to finally embark on the next leg of our trip. Je suis tres enthousiaste!