I was going to call this “Nice: First Impressions,” and then I thought, well, are they really first impressions after 2 weeks? Procrastination at its finest!
Anyway, here are some of my random thoughts (with pictures, of course) about Nice and the surrounding areas.
- Hello, gorgeous! There’s pretty much nothing more beautiful than a sparkling, blue sea with Mediterranean-style buildings and fauna framing it. Seriously amazing.
View of the Nice beach/promenade from Castle Hill!
View of Villefranche from the highway.
View of Villefranche from above.
- For real. Every beach you go to has a ridiculous backdrop.
Port of Monaco!
We found a sand beach in Antibes!
Beach on St. Marguerite, an island off the coast of Cannes.
Beach and Brian! (Antibes beach near old town.)
Beach on St. Marguerite, an island off the coast of Cannes.
- The Farmer’s Market fruit here is so good! I mean, I’m sure this is true in most places, but the price here is hard to beat, too. It’s comparable to, if not better than, most of the local supermarkets.
- But you know what the Farmer’s Markets and supermarkets don’t have? BROCCOLI!! It’s been the most disappointing part about Nice so far.
- Well, that, or the fact that there is dog poo everywhere! The sidewalk from our rented Air BNB to the tram is like a war zone. All of the doggy bathroom bag dispensers throughout the city are empty of bags and filled with beer cans and candy wrappers instead.
- Not as many people speak English here as in Germany, but it’s been OK so far. We’re trying really hard to translate things, then listen to the pronunciation and try to recite it to whomever we’re talking to. It seems to go better when we just show them the translation on our phone. We had an entire conversation with a store manager about buying a beach umbrella using hand gestures, noises, and our phone’s translator app. Teamwork, for the win!
Our hard-earned umbrella and a gorgeous sky.
- On that note, French is really hard, however, we’ve perfected ordering ice cream. Duh.
Only the yummiest ice cream in all of Europe (so far).
- Also on that note, the gelato is AMAZING here. I know Brian’s got something up his sleeve about a new “Misadventures of Ice Cream: Part 1,253,” so stay tuned!
We eat ice cream almost every day. Strike that. Every day.
The Wildly Ordinary Life 
Just yesterday I had a conversation with two women who told me not to bother going to France (even/especially the Elsass) if I don’t know any French, which I don’t. I had thought that was an old stereotype, but they assured me that the French hate Germans, and Americans slightly less, but they just won’t give you the time of day or even try to help you if you don’t at least try to speak French. I know more Swahili than French, so I’m guessing I should stay out of the country. I’m sad you guys left Freiburg!
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Hi Beth! In my personal opinion, I think that’s a silly reason to stay away. We haven’t had any experiences with people who wouldn’t speak English to us once they realized we couldn’t speak a lick of French. We always say hello and thank you in French, and we ask “do you speak English?” in French, but 100% of the time, so far, we’ve met very kind people who will do their best to help. It’s true that way more people will speak English than German, but this is ok for us. I think France is definitely worth visiting at some point! There are too many beautiful places here to let a couple of people discourage from you coming. 🙂
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I’m glad to hear it! Then I think I’ll take my chances, because there are a few places I’d like to see in France. And if my husband or MiL travel with me, then I’m with someone who can at least understand some French.
Happy travels!
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That’s great! There are some amazing places here, including Alsace (especially Colmar – it’s like a fairytale there!) 🙂 Enjoy!
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