I almost felt a little guilty about this, like, here I am in in this foreign country and I should see and do everything I can while I'm here, but...I love the beach! And this is my vacation and few things make me happier than just laying out and listening to the surf. So off to the beach I went.
A few days ago, in Sancerre, Natalie's Auntie Carol had asked me about the other places I'd be visiting in France, and when I told her Nice was one of my destinations, she immediately started gushing about how much she loved it there. And I remember specifically she said that she's never seen water in shades of blue as beautiful as those in Nice. And I thought, "Sure, okay, whatever, it's probably great but best ever? Lady, I've been to Greece, and to Crater Lake, and to the Virgin Islands, you really expect me to believe that Nice is going to be more impressive than all of those?"
Yes.
This might be my favorite picture of the whole trip.
The sun, the light, the water, it was just incredible. It was almost hard to lay down, because instead I just wanted to sit up and stare out at the sea.
I did get up to go into the water briefly, but unfortunately there were a few factors working against me there. Firstly, I didn't have anyone to watch my stuff, so I didn't want to get too far away from it. Secondly, the beach was not sand, but rocks and pebbles. This made walking on it somewhat difficult, even more so when I stood in the surf, and the waves swept the ground out from underneath me. And thirdly, it was very windy, so the water was pretty choppy and some of the waves rolling in got pretty big. It was too bad I hadn't had room for a boogie board in my backpack.
So instead I just sat on the beach, happy as a clam, taking good pictures like this...
Stunning coast of Nice.
...and terrible pictures like this:
Selfie assessment: Gaah! Is my face always so puffy in the morning? Why do I look vaguely cross-eyed? And what's up with my hair looking like one of those fru-fru hats that you'd wear to a royal wedding or the Kentucky Derby?
Sadly all good things must come to an end, so around 4 in the afternoon I reluctantly packed up and headed back to the apartment.
I showered and realized I was a little hungry, so I wandered around the Old Town a little bit looking for a good place to eat. I wanted to try socca, a Nicois specialty that I'd seen described as ground chickpeas flattened into a type of pancake. I chose a little bistro off the square, and settled in to enjoy the socca and my last night out.
Pour a little balsamic on the plate and sop it up with the socca and mmm, that was good. (Also good and pictured above- Skipper Stories, True Tales from Disneyland's Jungle Cruise. I think I've found my retirement job.)
What was so cool, in Nice specifically but also in all of the other places I've visited here in France, was how many people were out and about late into the evening. In America we're all so separated in our homes, or if we're outside, it's because we're on our way to somewhere. I don't think we have a lot of public spaces like those that exist in Europe, and if we do we certainly don't use them in the same way. So I really appreciated getting to see the cities here so alive, and the sense of community everywhere.
Did you see the dancers doing their warm-ups and stretches?
Ugh, I don't want this trip to be over, but just like the beach earlier today, all good things must come to an end. I walked back down the Promenade des Anglais one last time to get back to the apartment and pack everything up.
Good night Nice I'll miss you! (Selfie assessment: unsure why I'm in focus and background is so blurry; going to pretend that was done on purpose and picture is "artsy".)
PS- conveniently ice cream shop was along the way back to the apartment!
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