We all met outside l'Office de Tourisme (Toursim Office...) at 9am Saturday morning to travel to Nice on our obnoxiously tourist buses--however, our also large and air conditioned tourist buses. The plan in past years was to have said trip as an overnight, spending that Saturday night in Nice, and then traveling to Cassis in the morning; however, with the H1N1 epidemic anything involving the words "overnight" and "group of students" is absolutely prohibited (despite the administration at IAU's laughter). So we met at 9am to drive for 2 hours to Nice (on the Mediterranean Sea riiiight by Italy, ~15 miles according to the giant map of France on my desk), and left by 5pm, stopping just outside Aix for dinner.
We were split up among 2 buses; eight of us at that point had grouped together, five from USD, two from Univ of Denver, and one from Towson Univ around Baltimore (hey, Brandon), so we all got on a bus together and took up the back row plus some. A pretty subdued ride up but our semi-tour guide/prof from IAU pointed out random sites LIKE the mountain pass that Cezanne is famous for--he painted it something like 70 times. Funny story (at least when the guy told it), Cezanne was known to paint exruciatingly slow so he said he liked this mountain pass (Mount Saint Victoire, very famous) so much because it didn't move...hahaha It was freaking HUGE, went on for forever. Below is a picture of it from the bus. He also pointed out Cannes as we passed it, where the Cannes film festival is held every year.
Get it Cezanne
Sooo pretty...I'll be riding through it on horseback in October :)
So we drove into Nice and, excuse me, but we passed a hotel where scenes from the ORIGINAL JAMES BOND were shot. EXCUSE ME. The prof guy said that and I almost jumped out of my seat to see it--James Bond movies are a necessity of life; those, Clint Eastwood westerns, and the original Star Wars, feel free to add to that list (criticism possible). We had the option once we got off the bus to go with the prof/tour guide on a tour around the city, or we could go off on our own. We only had about four hours or less, so between wanting to eat and spend some time on the beach, we opted to explore on our own. Now that I've travelled to Nice, Cassis, and Marseille, I can say that the French at least have some kind of obssession with merry-go-rounds. We were walking to lunch and--BAM!--a merry go round in the most random of places. The beach across one street, and the Palais du Justice across the other...umm, okay? But pretty.
Lunch...I brought mine, but I can't resist putting this picture up. For a crazy reasonable price everyone got huge portions with a drink and a cafe (espresso) after. Those who ordered the shrimp option learned an important lesson in French cuisine culture: you order shrimp, you get shrimp:
I don't think you understand the reactions we had when Kim recieved this dish and our waiter walked away
We were also treated like Americans for the first time at a restaurant. Meaning, we were seated long before a table next to us with the same amount of people, but were definitely served after, not payed as much attention to, and received our espressos and the check much later--had to ask the waiter actually which we haven't had to do yet. He knew it, too because he would catch us looking at him and run away rapidement. Mhmm...we know what you're up to monsieur--"Americans" not "stupid"
We went to the beach RIGHT after the beach--and can you say gorgeous? I've been to the Mediterranean before when I went to Israel four years ago, but there is nothing like it. Crystal clear water, perfectly blue skies...and the landscape around Nice is breathtaking, with gorgeous green hills and cliffs rolling one on top of the other into the horizon. The beach goes on for days, but not a beach like we are used to in the states. The beach in Nice is that of rocks. Not little baby pebbles either, no, more like mini boulders, aye. It was like a balancing act getting from our towels to the water, comical though it was to watch. Also comical was Courtney and my's new best friend (though he didn't know it) Sergio--a young man, quite bronzed, maybe our age or a little older, in a pair of itsy bitsy teeny weeny short shorts. Hahahaha, I know it's the Euro thing to do, but it's just not something you get used to so easily.
Also comical, along with our near eating shit experiences of walking on the beach and our besty Sergio, was Courtney's brilliant (truly though) idea of bringing a bottle of wine with us, with a corkscrew, to enjoy on the beach. Sun, sand(ish), and wine--sounds amazing! One problem...we couldn't get the effing bottle open. We passed it down the line, each of us trying to open it, and no go. We successfully poked a hole in the cork! But no bueno haha One of us would hold the bottle while the other attempted to pulle the corkscrew with cork attached out, and the person trying to pull out the cork would end up lifting the other person up with the bottle. How the hell...this is why I stick to twist off caps.
After the beach we looked around, grabbing some gelato here and a postcard there (I've decided to collect; the cheapest, one, and two, should make a cool collage when I get back). Lunch had ended up taking about an hour and a half (the French take loooooooong lunches), so it was time to go back to the bus soon after gelato. Waiting for our tour bus, we saw this fountain waaay up on a hill that has to have the BEST view of Nice (picture below). We'd already decided to come back and explore one weekend because there hadn't been enough time that day, but after seeing this, we decided that was our next adventure...there's an elevator haha
Back on the bus, we stopped just outside of Aix for dinner at a place which I am quite confident in awarding "The Most Random Decorations" superlative. Dear Lord. They had leighs and sea shell necklaces on one wall, random dolls on another...interesting. Then back on the bus and sleeping at our houses...
Sunday we met again outside the tourism office and left 9am, but for Cassis this time, about a 30 minute drive. Cassis = beautiful. Right on the Mediterranean as well, and known for it's "calanques" or cliffs. The bus took us up to the top of a mountain first to an amazing view--but one problem...fatty bus couldn't make it to the top without stalling out hahaha It was fine, but a little freaky--we were in the back again, so a perfect view of the path back down the windy path of the mountain. The way up was breathtaking tho...
The beach at Cassis...I liked this beach more than Nice, but I like the city of Nice more than Cassis. The beach in Cassis didn't have sand either, but it had little pebbles--so a happy medium. And the water? CRYSTAL clear and so nice. However, we spent a loooong time on the beach. We all bought to go sandwiches this time so we would have more time to explore, but we split up--half going on a ferry ride and half going to the beach. I didn't feel like spending the money for the ferry ride, so I opted for the beach and stayed out a little longer than planned. Face got a little burnt, but not surprise there. We walked around town for a little bit, but therein lies my issue with Cassis--it's a tiny little town. The bus dropped us off just outside it b/c it couldn't fit in the streets. It was pretty, beautiful for sure...just petite. And the shops were mostly clothing places, with some hidden boutiques here and there.
However, some girls went hiking and found an area of cliffs that people jump off of--so we decided that one weekend we're going back to do that. I believe that will be this weekend :) Hiking and mini cliff jumping? Yes, please! Knee depending...kind of. "Remember that one time we jumped off those cliffs in Cassis, France into the Mediterranean? Yeah...me, too." We bought these bus passes this past weekend that for students are 5 euro for the card, and then you load it up as needed--one euro for each trip; the bus goes to cities around France. So my cliff jumping adventure is pretty much taken care of, lunch TBD.
Random cool thing we found when we entered Cassis was a guy who had a little kiosk type deal selling actual sponges from the sea. You could by them, to use as like a cleaning sponge. That was cool to see. Then it was back on the bus and back to our host families for dinner...It started to rain on the way back and has pretty much been raining since then haha Good thing I like the rain, right?
Aforementioned sponges...
Love this picture of the port in Cassis
Next posts: nights out on town, and European Heritage Weekend
I guess you're getting over your fear of heights, huh?! lol Glad you're able to appreciate the beautiful cliffs/views :)
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