Côte d'Azur: Nice, Monaco, Cannes

During the week of March 25th, I only had two days of work instead of three because there was a strike on Thursday (big surprise), and the following Monday was a national holiday (Easter), so after Tuesday I was free for basically a week. I was ecstatic about having a random week off from work, and while perusing Facebook on Tuesday, I saw that a fellow assistant, Katy, posted that she was planning a trip to the Côte d'Azur (also known as the French Riviera) because she didn't have class for the rest of the week either! I mournfully thought, "Man, I've been wanting to go for so long..." but then it hit me: I could go, I had the time, didn't I? A week off! So I asked Katy if I could join her in her little adventure, and she happily agreed! Even though we had never met in person before, we had talked on Facebook a few times and knew of each other, so it wasn't as sketchy as it sounds. I bought train tickets and booked the hostel that night, after unsuccessfully trying to find a CouchSurfing host, and the next morning I was on my way to Nice. As we were about to pull into the Cannes train station, I glimpsed my first view of the beautiful blue Mediterranean waters:

SO PRETTY!

Once I got to Nice, I found my way to the hostel and met Katy. We decided to go get lunch, ended up buying a panini and pizza from a small Italian place, and ate them on the beach. It was actually not very nice out--windy and cold, with rain on the horizon. But, hey, we were eating on the beach in Nice. Still pretty awesome. However, we did get hit by a wave, sort of, because the tide was coming in. I didn't get wet since I managed to jump back in time but Katy's foot did, haha. Obviously I took some beach photos...

Random dude fishing

After lunch, we went back to the hostel and then left to go find the bus that would take us to Monaco. Yes, I went to another country in an afternoon. It was awesome. We basically spent the rest of the day in Monaco, walking around and seeing the main sights:

Monte Carlo, of course

The port!

Pretty street

The Prince's palace!

Cathedral where Princess Grace got married =)

Me and Katy in front of a yellow submarine! Outside the Oceanographic Museum.

When we got back to Nice, we got dinner at this very charming restaurant in Vieux Nice (Old Nice) called L'Ecurie. I had a delicious dinner of rabbit and tagliatelle, followed by a dessert trip to Fenocchio's, a popular gelateria in Nice. It was amaaaazing, my first time trying it!

Dinner.

Dessert. I got fleur de lait and speculoos for my two flavors =P

The next day, we went back to Fenocchio's for "breakfast" to try out some more of their insane amount of flavors. After that we headed up to the Chateau de Nice to explore the ruins a bit and also enjoy the view. Unfortunately, the weather was not that cooperative and was being gloomy and drizzling all morning. Then we tried to go see the Russian Cathedral, but it was CLOSED. So upsetting!

It was way less crowded during the day.

Mine on the left: lavender, jasmine, guava. Katy's on the right: fig, cactus, melon. Different, but tasty!

View of Nice from the chateau!

Vieux-Port

Castle ruins

Waterfall =)

So this is the Russian Cathedral...

...EXCEPT IT WAS CLOSED. WHAT.

Disappointed, we headed to Cannes for our next leg of the trip (also my final leg, sad). Our first stop was supposed to be the Palais des Festivals where the Cannes Film Festival takes place, so that we could take a picture on the steps (as everyone does). Keep in mind it was still disgusting and rainy...

So of course, OF COURSE they were under construction...that is me being sad.

The port. 

After that we wandered into the old town and of course EVERYTHING was closed because it was at that awkward time of day right after lunch but not before lunch is over, so we literally had nothing to do. We eventually found a small cafe that was open and got some food to comfort ourselves over the fact that it was an absolutely miserable day.

Street leading into old town, which would have been nice if  it hadn't been RAINING.

Comfort food, aka tarte tatin (France's apple pie)

Now slightly more satisfied, we went and walked down the main shopping road just for something to do, and then Katy had to leave pretty soon after to catch her train to Aix-en-Provence. I walked around a little more (wasted about half an hour in Sephora) and finally headed to the train station to take the train back to Nimes. And that, my friends, was my slightly disappointing trip to the Côte d'Azur. Not that I didn't have a good time--it was awesome meeting Katy (whoo shout out for her blog!), don't get me wrong, but I just wish it had been better weather. Still, now I can say I've gone!