Nice Is Not Just Sympa: Nov 5th-Nov 7th

4:30 am seems to be my best friend for 7am flights. Dear Easy Jet, can you please make your flights at normal times in the morning? Thanks. At least I arrived in Antibes early enough to enjoy the entire day.

This weekend I stayed in Old Antibes, which is a small French Riviera, town in between Cannes and Nice with my friend Ingrid. I met Ingrid this summer at the French embassy and we bonded over our hatred of the visa process, Connecticut and the fact that we were both going to France for the semester! Ingrid is so sweet, cultured, intelligent and a great chef, so I was lucky to be able to stay with her in her charming apartment.

Upon arriving Ingrid toured me around her area, so that I could sea the Meditteranean Sea! Its always been a secret goal of mine to put my feet into every ocean, but I had to settle with just a hand, cause I was not purposely getting gross to spend the rest of the day touring. Thus I missed out on swimming in the Mediterranean Ocean this weekend, but it is Novemeber!

(At least I got to put my hand in the Mediterranean!)

I completely acted like a giddy tourist and I have to thank Ingrid for putting up with my ridiculous behavior until we met up with her friends Alex and Marianna at the train station to head to Nice, where we just casually wandered through the city talking, taking pictures and most importantly eating.

(Ingrid, Marianna and I casually walking through Nice and eating Gelato.)

Lisa you would love souther france. It is a mixture of france and Italy, so the gelato was still delicious here and there were pasta shops where you could go in and choose any kind of freshly made pasta and bring it home to cook. I was in heaven and I desperately wanted to buy some, but I don’t have a kitchen to cook in, which poses a problem!

There is nothing extremely touristy to do in Nice besides the boardwalk, so we had a crazy fun time striking poses on the famous beach.

And taking photos of the massive amounts of police officers that were in town because of Sarkozy’s and the prime minister of China’s visit to Nice that day. I would have loved a photo of Sarkozy, but he was MIA.

Dinner was hysterical. We went to a burger place and had French fries and of course burgers with a north African twist. The soundtrack in this fastfood restaurant was the best I had ever heard. Never again will I underestimate the dining quality of a fast food restaurant. Not every burger barn is like McDonald’s!

Saturday in Nice proved to be less eventful, but much more relaxing. While Ingrid, got ready I walked a huge circle around Antibes to explore the place where I was staying. I found…

Beautiful views of the ocean,

Antique markets and art markets, which I did not photograph because I felt insanely touristy with my large and in charge camera,

And monuments? That’s my best guess for these buildings and statue I found.

(Land of the yachts.)

After and hour of walking and almost getting lost I picked up Ingrid and we headed to Cannes, which is where they have the film festival every year. Cannes is the strangest city I have ever been in. It is small and insanely sketcy with porn shops and the ghetto by the train station, but a two minute walk towards the ocean leads to a rich, vibrant Cannes filled with stores like Gucchi and Versachi and restaurants and hotels that I will never be able to afford. It was bizarre, but along the coast of Canne near the famous film screening building is a beautiful boardwalk, lined with shops, restaurants, beachfront and yachts. It truly was a French paradise.

(The building where they have THE movie festival of the year. Me I'm just be a chameleon.)

(Ahh sunshine. How I miss you here in Paris.)

I was sad to leave bright and early at 5 am on Sunday morning, but Paris just feels like home now. Also, on the plane I gave directions to two French families. Je suis parisienne et maitenant, c’est vrai.