Nice

Tuesday, the girls and I set off for Nice. Right away we learned a lesson in taking the TGV: get on the right train. It turns out we boarded too early at the Montpellier station and got on a train leaving 15 minutes before ours. We were about 10 minutes into our ride when we figured this out and pandemonium broke out. Megan even tried to get off the train, which was a funny sight. Ultimately it worked out- the trains were going in the same direction so we got off in Nimes and 15 minutes later, the right train came along! Taking the cheap route, we had booked trains with a 'layover' in Marseilles, where we switched to a train with compartments like the ones on the Hogwarts train. We were loving it!

Out the window:


Stretching out in our private compartment:


On arriving, it was about 8:30pm. Thankfully our hostel was a short walk from the train station and since there were 5 of us, we got our own room. Traveling in a large group is a much different experience than with one other person. We spent the night celebrating our vacation in our room since it was too late to go explore a foreign city.


The view from our hostel balcony:


Our first full day, we made for the beach OF COURSE! Our hostel was about a 20 minute walk from the heart of Nice and the Mediterranean. On the boardwalk, we found one of those tourist trains (there's one in Montpellier too) which took us through Old Town, along the Promenade des Anglais, and up to the hill where all the postcard-worthy pictures of the city are taken. We were so excited the entire time!

On the train:


At the top of the hill, where the Chateau is:


Along the Promenade des Anglais:




After our train ride, we found a beach and laid out for the rest of the day. The beaches in Nice are a little different than we expected...a lot more rock and a lot less sand. One of the cool parts about Nice is that it is more of a tourist town, which meant we met a lot of different people on the beach. American, English, German, Ukrainian, French, Polish, Irish, etc. It's weird to sit in one place and hear all of those languages! And I do have to mention the people there were a lot more friendly and inviting than here in Montpellier.

For the next few days, we did more exploring, swimming, and shopping. We found more of an exclusive beach (Coco Beach)and did some topless sunbathing. When in France!





Overall, our time in Nice was the refresher I needed before starting school tomorrow. I am a little disappointed we didn't see any of the free museums while we were there (Matisse and Chagall are high on my list of artists to see), but I may be back in November while my mom and grandma come visit. Until then, I will finally have school to occupy my time!

Hope you're all doing well! If you'd like to send me anything, my address here is:

Caitlin Boyd
75 Avenue Augustin Fliche
Batiment B, Chambre 53
34096 Montpellier Cedex 5
FRANCE

xoxo
Caitlin
caitlinboyd72@gmail.com