1 girl, 1 week - First stop, Nice!

Alright, I'm finally getting around to actually posting about my vacation. I'll take it in installments; despite not traveling super extremely far, I experienced a LOT. Like I mentioned before, it was just me on this trip - unaccompanied, off on a whirlwind adventure (well, that's slightly dramatic...but you get the idea) with nothing but a backpack and my compulsory travel food - baguette, sandwich meat, cheese, and gummies.

Stop 1: Nice! I had arranged a couch surf for my first two days in the city with a wonderful couple - Anthony, a born-and-raised Niçoise who also happens to be a chef, and Fatima, originally from Panama but who has been in France for several years. They were so welcoming and it was a wonderful way to start the trip. First order of business was to hop in the car and take a driving tour, ending up in Monaco for a bit of a look (not too much there), and stopping off once or twice to look around!

The view from Beaulieu-sur-mer. Translated, Beautiful Place on the Sea. It's pretty "Nice," eh?

We had a good laugh together about the directness of the place names here. =) Anywho, next we dropped off Fatima at a friend's and Anthony and I took a stroll around the Vieille Ville of Nice, and it was cool to hear about it from his perspective...and very sweet when he showed me the little fast-order place where he always came when he was a kid, that serves your usual French stuff as well as excellent Niçoise specialties. We shared some socca, an almost crepe-like thing made of chick pea flour and egg, and cooked in a big pan. You eat in plain or sprinkled with black pepper, and it's savory and delicious! =D

Socca and vin. Served by Super Mario's French cousin? =D

An idea of the 'feel' of Vieille Nice. Also, check out the weird pink-haired statue to the right of the fountain...he's kinda creepy.

After temporarily satisfying our hunger, we did the tour and ran into the Saturday livres d'occasion market. Cheap books (drool!) old antique books (double drool!), posters, and everything in between. I was in heaven...and came home with an old anthology of French poetry and an Astérix and Obélix comic. I spotted an old copy of Jules Vernes' 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (in French), but alas...way out of my price range. *snif*

I am such a geek. All this makes me unreasonably happy.

Afterward, we stopped off at a cave des vins to search for a Portugese wine Anthony`s friend recommended - we bought it and I bought another bottle as a thank you - and then he let me wander around on my own for a bit while he ran off to do some grocery shopping. I enjoyed myself, listened to music, checked out the Carnaval festivities as they were drawing to a close for the evening. And as sunset came, all of us went back to the apartment for dinner and some TV. I'm really starting to enjoy French game shows, amusingly enough...I find them quite addictive, and I did watch my fair share before going to bed in the evenings - particularly in Corsica. I'm going to allow myself a little bit of chest-puffing pride here, and admit that I'm so so pleased with where my French is now. I spoke maybe five minutes of English the entire vacation, and it's amazing the conversations you can have and the people you can meet when you're comfortable enough in their language - and despite being recognized as an out-of-towner from the accent, people almost everywhere enjoy speaking to someone new and different - even if only for a few minutes  The more I improve my French, the more happy I get and the more I feel like I've finally found my place here...and, I'm a little scared to admit, the harder it will probably be to leave.

Massive carnaval float thing, last picture of the day :)

But enough of that, the night ended on a relaxed note with some hookah de fruits rouges, then bed. Apparently I talked in my sleep, saying "Je ne regarde pas trop la télé." I feel like such a terrible guest for sleep talking, but apparently I do so in French now without realizing it.

Until next time...don't watch too much TV!