FIRST BLOG FROM THE RED CARPET

            So yesterday I was too tired to write a cohesive blog, and yesterday was fun, but let me just preface this by telling you all TODAY was probably the best day of my life.

            Yesterday: we had our first full day in Cannes and it was wonderful!!! It was so amazing to see this beautiful city in the daylight and learn to navigate our way around. In the morning, Nicola Gentili (our program advisor) gave us our coveted passes for the film festival. This year we got the best passes Penn students have ever received. We can get access to any film outside of the main Grand Lumiere Theater with just our badges, and then need to finagle an invitation to get into the movies in there…. But before the movies even started, we used our passes to get access to the Grand Palais, which is the hub of the entire film festival. They greeted us with a welcome and a smile when we walked in, so we actually felt semi-important upon entering such an amazing building. The security was tight, but our passes make us insiders! We roamed around there for an hour or so and then got lunch and headed to the beach! This beach was actually sandy and the sun was so strong it was beautiful. Could not have asked for a better day!!! After a few hours, we walked back to the dorm and changed for dinner. On our way back, we walked past the Carlton Hotel, which, if you’ve seen the news, is COMPLETELY decked out to promote Sasha Baron Cohen’s new film, The Dictator. It’s absolutely hilarious to see. A group of 8 of us wandered back towards town and stopped at a restaurant on a cobblestone side street called Poivre del Sol. For only 19.90 euro we all had a delicious three-course meal consisting of goat cheese salads, French onion soups, grilled steak, grilled lamb chops, and chocolate lava cakes and crème brulee for dessert. Yum.

            Now onto the best part of the night- we’re walking more towards the center of town after dinner to get drinks at a restaurant somewhere, and a group of boys pass us in the opposite direction. I KNEW I recognized the leader of the pack from somewhere (aka knew he was a celebrity- which initiated a freak out) but could not quite put my finger on it (aka increased the freak out even more). Finally, Hayley and I realized it was the one and only AARON SAMUELS FROM MEAN GIRLS. Everyone mocked me for freaking out over the sighting of a D-list celebrity, but hey, it’s me we’re talking about and I don’t know what else anyone would expect from me……Even better, as we were walking past a restaurant a few minutes down the strip, JESSICA CHASTAIN walks out. (Insert me dying of happiness here). All the people were yelling “Bye Jess!” on a clearly nickname basis and I was so jealous. The end. Night= major win for Sharon.

            If that night was a win, today was like winning the lottery. We had our first program group meeting where all of the logistics and expectations were explained to us. Then, Nicola took a big group of us on a tour around Cannes, showing us where all the major movie theaters were located (extremely valuable information). Tonight was the opening ceremony kicking off the festival, and the premiere of Moonrise Kingdom, a Wes Anderson film in the Palm d’Or Competition that was selected to be the festival opener. Since it was obviously going to be screening in the Grand Lumiere Theater, invitations for the ceremony/first screening were like GOLD. Thus, the begging for tickets began in the early afternoon. We split up into teams and each attacked hotels and other areas across the strip. We had absolutely zero luck all day and eventually we got too tired to keep begging. Hayley, Adam, our friend Rawson (also from Penn! Shout out to him too for reading the blog!) headed for lunch at an amazing pizza restaurant called Pastis. We split two margarita pizzas and I finally got a Nicoise salad! It was so delish.

         We came back to the dorms and changed into black tie attire (a must for the red carpet past 6:30 pm) and headed back to the Palais to beg for tickets again. So, if you ever for any reason need to know how to say “Any extra invitations for tonight please?” in French, I’m your girl. We unfortunately did not get tickets to the major premiere red carpet (although some people from Penn did!) but got to see the celebs walk the red carpet anyway from a distance. I saw: Alec Baldwin, Eva Longoria, Lana del Rey, Frida Pinto, Jane Fonda, Claire Danes, Ewan McGregor, Chris Pine, Bruce Willis, and the entire rest of the movie’s cast. It was so incredible, and I have faith that eventually I will make it to the red carpet with the stars and will be walking among them. BUT, that doesn’t mean I didn’t make it to the red carpet last night J We took a brief cookie/cappuccino break once the first showing of Moonrise Kingdom started and then went straight back to the streets. After about an hour, a group of 6 of us got tickets to see the 11 pm screening of the movie. IT WAS THRILLING!

         So, as promised, here it goes, my FIRST BLOG FROM THE RED CARPET OF CANNES!   Finally, my life-long dream came true as I walkedt up the steps into the Grand Lumiere Theater (conveniently the only way to access the theater YAY). Official Cannes photographers were everywhere snapping away and handing us their business cards, so it is obviously a necessity I go get those pictures printed and pick them up to remember the best night of my life (and pretend like they actually were there to photograph all of the Penn kids- because who else would they have been there for? Jokes.) We lingered on the carpet for far too long because I could not relinquish my 15 minutes of fame, but eventually headed inside to see the film.

*NOTE, it took approximately 30 mins to upload this one picture on the wifi in this dorm, but it was SO WORTH IT.

            I thought Moonrise Kingdom was a fabulous movie. As soon as it comes out in the States this weekend, I definitely recommend it as a must see. His directorial style is so unique and absolutely beautiful. The story is about two 12-year old misfits who fall in love and both try to escape their unfortunate lives to be together. Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) is a quirky yet intellectual orphan who runs away from his Boy Scout camp, while Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), tries to escape her overbearing family. They find comfort in each other and foster a type of innocent intimacy that you can’t help but be moved by. Their escapes prompt a full out search and rescue mission, which is where most of the comedy comes into play. I laughed, cried- SEE IT!!!

            Oh, and then as we left, we walked back down the red carpet again (swoon). I could get too used to this…..

COMING SOON!

BLOG ABOUT THE BEST NIGHT OF OUR LIVES IS COMING TOMORROW- LET THE ANTICIPATION BEGIN!!!!!

Short story: walked on the red carpet at Cannes, saw Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom on opening night in the historic/famous/incredible Grand Lumiere Theater. Witnessed the major star-studded red carpet for the festival opening ceremony. Best night of my life. Check back tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

Nice was Nice

***wifi is EXTREMELY slow at the Cannes dorms so pics will be much rarer sadly unless I can find a better internet spot-- text will still be coming though and pics will be uploaded ASAP***

On that note, here we go....Though it's hard to follow Hayley's guest blog (thanks for being funnier than me on my own blog Hayls), I'm gonna have to take the reins back. Sadly, today was our last day in Nice :( But what a nice day it was!
   Expecting it to be raining all day, we slept in and got a late start. Alarms went off at 11, check out was at noon, and our bags were stowed away with the concierge for the day and we were out the door by 12:15. The 4 of us really do make an excellent and efficient travel team. The rain we expected luckily never came and the sun started to peek through the gray overcast sky. We walked over to the market which on Mondays transforms into an outdoor antique shop. It was such a cool experience! There were tons of tables strewn with vintage French jewelery, china, perfume bottles, glassware, linens, clothing, handbags, scarves, and more. After hunting around for an hour, Hayley and I finally found a table of jewelry that held our attention and we each bought a truly special and memorable piece from this woman's antique French jewelry collection (after a little haggling of course). I bought an 19th century gold mother of pearl pin that I plan to wear as a necklace and Hayley found an elephant pendant carved of ivory. Truly really lucky finds!! But then again, luck on this trip has always seemed to be in our favor!
   After doing our shopping we sat down at a crepe restaurant in the main square. We were so surprised yesterday when we realized that after four days in France, we had yet to eat a crepe. It was crazy. So obviously, we made that our main mission for the day. Jaycee, Hayley, and I ordered the best banana nutella crepes EVER and Adam got some equally-as-delicious savory chicken/cheese crepe that looked amazing. Stuffed, we embarked on our other adventure for the day: conquering the Matisse Museum.
   It was way too far to walk (even though we contemplated doing it, but thank god we didn't because as Adam put it, we would've collapsed 1/8 of the way there) so we decided to take the bus North of our hotel to the area of the museum. For the third time now, we successfully navigated French public transportation and could not have been prouder of ourselves!!
   The museum was beautiful from the outside: a large red house with green shutters everywhere and beige balconies painted on to its facade. It was situated in a large park that also housed a site of ancient ruins, an archaeological museum, and a monastery with an adjacent garden. We were all exhausted walking through the park but managed to make it over to the museum in a few minutes. I personally was underwhelmed by the museum and definitely made it a point how Matisse's work did not "call out to me." I was the only one though apparently, because the other three loved it. Classic. Still though, all the signs were totally in French and therefore completely incomprehensible to us so I guess I wasn't totally off base.........
   We left the museum and walked to see the ruins which were pretty cool and then walked over to the monastery. But importantly, on the way, Hayley befriended like 3 different French dogs. It was probably the cutest thing we've ever seen (see for yourself).

   The church at the monastery was so beautiful, and it was so interesting to observe such a lavish church in the middle of what looked like a poorer area of Nice. The garden too was stunning. There were tons of multicolored roses everywhere and there was an overlook from which the entire city could be seen (we love those!) In addition to pretty views, dogs (in Hayley's case), and doors (in Adam's case-- don't ask), we also love little French babies, which we saw/friended two of in the garden. A mom was walking around with her 2 year old twin boys and our hearts melted. We played babysitter for them for a little while (with the mom there of course) and then parted ways, but will forever remember the little boy twins, mysteriously identical but one with very curly and one with very straight blonde hair (and suspenders and pink polo shirts aweeeee).
   We took the bus back to our hotel and planned on stopping at our fav place for gelato but honestly did not have the energy to make it that far. Instead, we sat in the lobby and computered/napped until our car arrived to take us to Cannes! After a short hour drive (which I slept for most of to be honest- did I mention we were EXHAUSTED today?!), we arrived at the International College de Cannes!!! Such an exciting thing and we got ourselves settled into our rooms as soon as we arrived. They're definitely different from Penn dorms (somehow something has managed to be even smaller than room Leidy 112- hey Allie!) but hey, when in Cannes right?
   As a pre-dinner snack, we finished the Parmesan cheese from yesterday's picnic and some breadsticks we took from our hotel in the dorms and then walked into town for dinner. Even at night, the water was glistening and the gorgeous yachts were visible in the darkness. I absolutlely cannot wait to see Cannes in the daylight!!! We decided on Cafe Boheme for dinner, a cute little corner restaurant, and had pizza, French onion soups (which were more like cheesy bread with onion flavor- definitely interesting), and chicken caeser salads. We walked back to the dorms afterwards to hang out and get a good night's rest for tomorrow, when the exploration really begins! The festival starts the day after tomorrow so we need to get our film schedule prepared (an ideal one anyway) and a lay of the land. And some good beach time in. Obviously. Check back tomorrow for more of our Cannes excursion! We'll always miss Nice but had some great memories there that will surely last a lifetime!

Hayley Brooks: Guest Debut

Hey y'all. Okay, I've finally taken my post as the guest-blogger on Sharon's blog. Time to talk about the little juicy (IMPORTANT) details my good friend Sharon left out to protect the privacy and integrity of our friends. She's such a nice person.

I just am not that nice. (Nice, nice, pun!)

So here's what went down the second night of our trip...

If you know Adam Pearlson, it's no surprise that he's now BFFs with our concierge. And we're not talking casual, passing-wave-and-advice-on-Nice friends, we're talking cell phone numbers, facebook info, reunions in New York...they've gone there. So Adam, being the art director/social chair of our vacation, found out that Laidback Luke (a famous DJ? or something?) was playing (spinning? quois?) at this club in Nice one of the nights we were here, so he went to get the scoop from the beautiful Beau, his main homegirl at the front desk. 

Adam not only inquired, but found out when we should get there, what we should order, and even went to the front desk with our outfits to run them by her before we clothed.  Yes, he's certainly thorough, but this is why we love him.

We went to this amazing dinner in this hidden back alley, which was adorable and quintessentially French. My perfect kind of place — tucked away from all of the tourists and the hustle-bustle of the main road. Adam and I got the price fixe menu (we love us some good deals) and each had rabbit stuffed with pistachios and other yummy things, and Sharon got chicken because she's boring. Sucks to suck Shar!

Then we began our quest to The High Club, which Adam's wife told us to get to at 10 PM just in case. Of course, we get there when the doors are still locked and are instructed to come back when it opens...at midnight. Already ruining our cool factor. 

So we killed some time at a hookah bar across the street that had wifi. Naturally, whilst others were puffing we were all texting, whatsapping, and emailing like crazy people to soak in the free nuggets of internet. People thought we were nuts, but it was kind of awesome. We then went to the club and paid absorbent amounts of money on cover and drinks, and scoped out the scene. 

The French club scene is an interesting one. We've been kind of disheartened at the fact that apparently the folks of Nice are all sort of guidos. So much for finding love in a (hopeful!) place. At 2:30 (we were struggling to keep dancing) Laidback Luke finally made his debut. He really put the laidback in laidback luke...2:30? My bedtime at Penn is 1:45 on a Saturday.

The concert was actually awesome, with big balloons and confetti and these random bursts of cold steam from the sky that ended up pressing the wrinkles out of our clothes! Us: 1 Laundry: 0. 

We danced our faces off, made some friends, and I legitimately can't put into words how much fun we had. We walked home, taking intermittent breaks to look out at a moon-lit Mediterranean (and rest our feet, literally were dancing for 3 hours) and casually got back to our place post 4. After all, we had to redeem our cool.

Stay tune for more guest appearances. Sharon has the big things covered, but I'll be here to cover the little moments of silliness that we'll never forget. 

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!

Nice: Day Trois

   Today was everything we had hoped for- another exciting/adventurous/amazing day in Nice! We started off the day with a late start because our other friend from Penn, Jaycee, arrived this morning! Our room was too small to fit 4 people so we packed up all our things (ugh) and moved to a nicer set of connecting rooms upstairs (made it worth it).
   After settling in, the four of us left to go find a place to eat for lunch. We walked for a few blocks and then decided on the Liber'tea Room, a beautiful outdoor bistro overlooking one of the main shopping streets here. We dined on fresh salads and strawberries which tasted even better than they looked.

   After that, we decided to go on our first real shopping trip which, obviously, I was more than ready/excited for. We started off at Sharon, which surprise, was way expensive and out of our price range. Even more surprising, the lady who worked in the store (who spoke perfect English) didn't find it funny that I was named Sharon here in France traveling to Nice and Cannes only, which is the only two locations of the store. Womp womp.
   Alas, we had to settle on shopping at Milton Rose, a cute boutique next door which was much more affordable and even though the lady there barely spoke any English, seemed to enjoy our company. We hit a few more shops but sadly, didn't find anything.... We shall return to the shopping scene tomorrow.
   After that, the exciting part of our day began. We headed over to the site of the flower market in Old City to a gelato place we spotted the day before but didn't have the appetite to stop in. Turns out that it was the one gelato place recommended to Jaycee that supposedly is super well-known and famous for having well over 100 flavors- who would've known?! The gelato looked beyond-amazing and they had so many interesting flavors like cactus, lavender, chocolate ginger, M&M, and rose (just to name a few....) We all devoured ours and are DEFINITELY going back tomorrrow.

   We walked back to the hotel and got changed for our biggest adventure for the day: Monte Carlo. There are no words to describe how absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous it was. Supposedly it has the highest standard of living in the world, which from the first 5 minutes of walking around is abundantly clear. We felt so lucky that we had the opportunity to go to another COUNTRY (it's casually in Monaco...) just for a night. We again navigated our way to the train station, found our track, and got to Monte Carlo with no problems! The city is perfectly crafted from marble and stone with wide roads flooded with the sickest cars ever (which, thanks to my stepdad, I can actually recognize). I probably looked like a puppy dog staring into the gorgeously-designed windows of all the high-end designer shops: Chanel, YSL, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Lanvin, Rolex, Loro Piano, Montblanc, Bulgari, and so mnay more. There was a HUGE underground mall which was probably the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen. Actually.

 
     The waterfront was just as gorgeous and we made our way down there after all the shops closed (which unfortunately for us, but probably fortunate for our wallets, was pretty early around 7). We ate dinner at the famous Cafe de Paris right across from the even more famous Casino de Monte Carlo. The casino was by far the highlight of the entire day. You had to pay a 10 euro cover just to enter, but it was like paying for a museum because the inside is so spectacular. Every hotel in Vegas wishes it could replicate it, but the Monte Carlo Casino is one of a kind. Pictures were not allowed (boo) but imagine the highest ceilings, painted and decorated with gold, and lavish crystal chandelliers all around. Someone who worked there explained to us that it was "off-season" so most of the tables were closed, but the four of us tested our luck out at the slots. We all lost 10 euro each but it was more than worth it to have the experience of being there. The only sad part was that the minimum blackjack table open was 25 euro hands and I am not yet confident enough in my gambling abilities to take that big of a risk (sorry to all my Puerto Rico blackjack fans)...

The city is on a huge hill so instead of walking all the way back up, we decided to take a cab so that we could make our train. The cab, in typical Monte Carlo style, was a Volvo truck, and behind it in the taxi line was a Mercedes town car followed by an Audi. Typical. The four of us came back to our hotel and split a bottle of rose in the lobby... A great end to a great day. Vous voir demain!

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!