A Final Day in Nice

Wandering the Streets of Nice

We had a final day to spend in Nice before Theresa jetted to off to Spain for a week, and I returned home through Paris. Theresa’s flight was earlier than mine, so after our lunch on the beach which we had wanted to visit since we arrived, we finally went shopping, something else we had hardly done. She wanted a souvenir from France. We wandered back to the market (this time it was a flower market) and then veered toward the old area we loved so much. We never really made it all the way back to the oldest part of the town, but we did weave through several streets to pop in and out of a variety of quaint shops before Theresa found a few items at a store not far from our hotel upon our return. Continue reading “A Final Day in Nice” →

Driving the French Riviera

Marseille

Our car ride to Marseille turned out to be a bit challenging. We had asked Hertz for a DETAILED map, but it turns out it wasn’t, and the set of directions we had to arrive at the city center left out a highway. As I was following the road signs and Theresa was navigating, the directions were contradicting the signs! After a few U-turns and an interesting way of paying toll when the machine wouldn’t take our credit card because American cards aren’t “chipped”, we eventually made it near the parking area. At this point, I turned on the Google maps app, also rather useless as it kept pointing me the wrong way down one way streets and taking me to the underground parking garage on the side where there wasn’t an entrance. At least, we, as Americans, drive on the same side of the road as France. That helped a little as I deciphered unfamiliar road signs in a strange language with mopeds zipping by in all directions. Needless to say, I was happy to finally be parked a few hours later than anticipated to begin our tour of some of the best cities to visit in the French Riviera! Continue reading “Driving the French Riviera” →

Nice, France is Nice!

Nice is so nice!

We woke at 4:30 to get to our 7 am flight on Easy Jet.  The early time doesn’t really matter to me since I never seem to adjust to the European clock.  They fly A300’s but proceeded to tell me my flight attendant travel pro roller board suitcase wouldn’t fit in the overhead bin, and I had to pay $50 Euros to check it…what a scam!

Anyway, we made it to Nice and took a taxi to our hotel, Beaux Rivage, which was lovely.  We arrived very early and they tried very hard to accommodate us.  The lady at the front desk was superb.  Our TV in our room didn’t work, so we couldn’t check in eventhough we said we won’t be watching it! As a result, we simply checked our bags, and wandered over to the flower market area to find a place to eat.  The flower market wasn’t selling flowers today, but was more like a flea market selling all types of antiques and collectibles, and it was surrounded by cafes.  We selected the first café we saw on the corner because we were starving!  I snacked on yogurt and bread while Theresa opted for a chicken sandwich. Continue reading “Nice, France is Nice!” →

From Paris to the Chateau de Versailles

From Paris to the Chateau de Versailles…that took up most of our Sunday.  I’m pleased to say we successfully bought the correct roundtrip train ticket and made it to the correct stop where we exited and found a ticket office to the palace.  The ticket office was out of English brochures, so we received an excellent French brochure about the palace that we didn’t try to read while we waited in the extremely long entrance line.  The website had warned that mid-day on the weekend was VERY busy, and that was no mistake!  The line snaked half-way through the court yard.  It looked like a customs line at the airport without any barriers defining the next curve.  I was surprised at the orderliness.  We spent an hour or more people watching…some snacked on baguettes from a nearby sandwich shop while others snapped photos.  We picked the Americans out of the crowd…the biggest give away is they wear tennis shoes. Continue reading “From Paris to the Chateau de Versailles” →

Parlez-Vous Francais? An Adventure in Paris – Part 2

Top Sites to See in Paris

Our second day in Paris was action packed!  We hopped the metro to our first stop, the Louvre, once a medieval fortress, now the world’s largest museum.  We were told the lines would be long to enter, and that we could be here all day, so we arrived early and we hit the highlights, because we had several highlights in Paris to see today, and we were going to be hard pressed to see all of them. Continue reading “Parlez-Vous Francais? An Adventure in Paris – Part 2” →

Parlez-vous Francais? An Adventure in Paris – Part 1

Traveling to Paris

My money clip stolen, a sprained ankle, and Petey going to doggie heaven all in a month…that was enough for a spur of a moment trip to France!  I joined some friends for drinks during the floods in Colorado when I found out one was visiting France and Spain in just six days.

I nonchalantly chimed, “I want to go.”

She replied, “Come.”

So that’s where my journey began.  Six days before takeoff, Theresa didn’t have a plan or any reservations…only her plane ticket, and aside from picking hotels four days before we boarded the plane, that’s the way our trip remained.  We took recommendations from friends and obviously focused on the tourist highlights and began our adventure to France…our first stop Paris! Continue reading “Parlez-vous Francais? An Adventure in Paris – Part 1” →