Nice, Eze, Monte Carlo and Cannes September 11-12

a view of Nice

Allo! I have been in France for a little over one week now, and it is a spectacular country. This past weekend, IAU took our program on a tour of the cities: Nice, Eze, Monte Carlo and Cannes. All these cities are located near the Mediterranean Sea. The weather was amazing in all four cities and the temperature stayed around 80-85 with no clouds in the sky. We were first taken to Nice (pronounced: niece or |nēs|) where we had the afternoon to go to lunch, swim in the ocean and walk around. Nice is the largest city on the Côte d'Azur and the fifth largest city in France. It has the second biggest airport in France after Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. When driving by the airport, Kathleen spotted Michael Jordan's plane with the Air Jordan symbol in Tar Heel blue. Alas, we did not see Mr. Jordan during our six hours spent in Nice. Kathleen, David and I went to lunch at this very nice restaurant overlooking the ocean where we all ordered great salads different combinations of fresh fish. This restaurant also had their olive oil and balsamic vinegar in spray bottles which was very interesting. I had never seen that before. The streets of Nice were lined with Palm Trees which reminded me of entering a upscale neighborhood of Beverly Hills, except Nice has history, elegance and Lindsey Lohan sightings are luckily far and few. We went on the public beach for almost 3 hours. It was so different from Quogue, the beach that I am used to. Instead of sand, there were millions of soft, weathered pebbles and stones. It was so nice to leave the beach and not have a towel and ponytail filled with sand. The water was amazing and the color of a deep Cobolt blue and turquoise. Nice was extremely nice, and I would love to go back and visit for a longer period of time.

the pebbles and blue water of Nice

Hotel Necresco in Nice

view of mediterranean from Eze

We later stopped at a Parfumeur Company called, Fragonard located in Eze, France. We took a fairly quick tour of the Fragonard Museum. The perfumes sold in the gift shop are scents that companies i.e. Chanel or Chloe can choose to buy and brand themselves. However, Fragonard keeps their own scents and sells them for much cheaper than the bigger perfume corporations. I bought a really nice smelling perfume called Etoile. At the top of this mountain in this little village called Eze, there were winding  pathways lined with hotels, stores and cafes. The pathways were comparable to hallways and they were walkable but a car could not drive up and down these steep streets. This area was first populated in 2000 BC and apparently Walt Disney spent a great amount of time in Eze on vacations. We later were taken to our hostel accommodations where they served us dinner and we had time to get ready for a night in Monte Carlo on Monaco.

Amanda, Kathleen and I- a view near Eze

the little streets of Eze

monte carlo in monaco at night

Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco was absolutely breath-taking at night. It was all lit up with fountains and lights everywhere. It was far more tasteful than  Las Vegas when I was in fifth grade (haha). Walking into the Monte Carlo, it was very tame and extremely elegant. It was not littered with women with mullets wearing fanny packs sitting at slot machines, but rather is was very refined reminding me of a scene from an old James Bond film. David gambled ten American dollars and walked away with nearly eighty euro, which was very exciting. We later went back to our hostel where they had a planned discotheque. It was similar to what I would think a camp dance would compare to. It was not awful, but the time spent in Monte Carlo was far more exciting.

Cannes, France

We woke up the next morning and took buses to Cannes, France which is famous for its film festival every spring. I had only ever really heard/seen Cannes on episodes of Entourage, so I was interested to see what it really looked like in person. When we drove into the city, there is a very visible sign featuring the word "Splendid" on top of a hotel. Actually, that adjective is a perfect way to describe Cannes. We went to a restaurant on the main boulevard and ordered omelets and coffee before we went to swim at the beach. The beach was very different than the beaches in Nice. This beach had sand and palm trees scattered in the sand which made a great deal of shade (which was greatly appreciated haha). The water was not as clean in Cannes as it was in Nice, however it was still very beautiful. Sitting on the beach you can see hundreds of yachts and the mountains in the distance. We were in Cannes for the "Festival International de la Plaisance"which is the largest boat and yacht shows in France. It was nice to see all the white boats scattered along the water. Later that day, Kathleen, David and I went to sit down on the boardwalk in front of the most famous hotel in Cannes, The Carlton. After sitting down for about fifteen minutes, David noticed our friend from Sewanee, Tennyson, walking across the street. It is such a small world. Tennyson and Will Finney's brother are studying in Avignon for the semester, and were in Cannes for the night. It was completely by chance that we ran into them and was so fun to see other people from Sewanee. Cannes had many more clothes shopping opportunities compared to Nice. Nice is known more for its markets as opposed to its high end shopping. I was happy that we went to Cannes on a Sunday, so I was not tempted to even walk into stores for clothes haha. Before we got back on the bus, David rode on the Cannes Carousel. He was easily the oldest person... but the only person who broke the rules and was changing horses while the Carousel was moving haha. It was pretty funny to watch.

the carlton hotel in Cannes 

kathleen in cannes

david in cannes

Our long bus ride home left us all exhausted, however we were so happy to be back in Aix. The familiarity of the streets and the comfort of going back to our own beds was very nice to come home to. When we got home, our host mom, Daniele, had come down with a cold. However, she is so amazing and still made us a great dinner even though she was sick. We came home to all new sheets and fresh laundry. She is the best.
Yesterday Kathleen hung up her tapestry and the room is just so cozy now. For our painting and drawing class, Kathleen and I have to sketch every day. This task has proved to be a little harder than it sounds, because well, I have never sketched before. Last night Kathleen and I drank red wine and sat on our terrace tracing windows and doors and even each other.  She said my portrait of her looked like a caricature from an AirHeads commercial. haha. So... after that, we kind of gave up.

basically my drawing of kathleen

Anyway, this weekend, Thomas and Oise are coming to Aix to visit us! I am so excited... Then the following weekend we are all thinking of going to Paris. I miss everyone! Seeing pictures of the football game this past weekend really made me miss Sewanee.

Ciao, 

Molly

fountain at Cours Mirabeau in Aix at night