The French Riviera Area

Say that out loud a couple times fast!  This weekend we flew Ryanair, a discount European airline, for the first time.  Ryanair has a ton of flights out of London Stansted airport which at only 45 minutes away is really convenient for us.  We found super cheap tickets to the south of France, so off we went to Marseille and Nice! 

 I hate to say it, but Marseille struck us as unpleasant, acrid, grimy, brown (other than the graffiti which was pervasive), and just really freaking windy.  The town grew on us, though, mostly because of the most amazing dinner experience we’ve had in years.   Food and emotion are definitely intertwined, aren’t they?  We rarely (maybe annually) go out to an expensive dinner but my grandma recently sent a surprise check with ‘my share’ of her gambling winnings. HA!  She has this uncanny ability to outsmart the nickel slots.  She and my Dziadzia gamble maybe twice a year and she always wins, insisting it’s because she splits the winnings amongst us four grandkids.  Grandma doesn’t approve of spending the money on practical things, so she’ll be excited to hear we splurged on dinner!  All that said, Restaurant Carmino didn’t have an English menu, nor did anyone work there who could speak more than a few words of English, so after about twenty hilarious minutes of food and wine charades (it took a while to figure out ‘sea urchin’) we ordered homemade linguini dishes,we think one with a seafood medley and the other with smoked caviar.  They both were absolutely delicious and went perfectly with the bottle of pinot noir we somehow ordered.  The only cultural ‘oops’ was that we started to put fresh parmesan on the dishes and were emphatically told NEVER to put cheese on seafood dishes.  Honestly after our waiter's look of horror I don’t think I ever will again.  Dinner service didn't even start until 8:30, so after spending a few hours ooing and ahhing over dinner we had a sketchy metro ride back to the hotel and were just really glad to be there safe and sound!



Marseille, France



Vieux Harbor, the Cathedral of Notre Dame atop the hill

From the Cathedral of Notre Dame, looking out at Chateu d'If (famous from Dante's Count of Monte Cristo)

Ah, graffiti

Marseille and Nice in the South of France

Early the next morning we took a 2.5 hour train ride to Nice ('niece') which is the largest city of the French Riviera (aka Cote de Azure).  Wow, could the cities be any different?!  Nice was grand, colorful, vibrant, and charismatic. Although it sits on the same Mediterranean Sea, the landscape, water, and weather were completely different than Marseille.  The foothills of the Alps come almost to the water, apparently blocking the wind and keeping the area much warmer than the rest of France.  The water was stunningly blue and the beaches, although pebbly, were pleasant to lie on to catch some rays.  We spent the majority of the afternoon just lounging, swimming, and laughing at all the (not so pleasant) boobs on display. 

Beautiful flower, vegetable, and olive market



Chris enjoying the water.




Look at that blue water! Lovely Nice, France.



The rest of the day was spent window-shopping.  Our bank account would’ve taken a hit if bad influences like my buddy Brett or mom had been around (those boots are an investment at 1200 Euro, right?)!   Every high street store you can imagine was represented in a big, expensive way, and it was really pleasant to just walk hand-in-hand with my honey taking it all in. 



Nice's central plaza




Aw, one picture together at least!



In the evenings, huge swatches of the city become pedestrian-only and colorful strands of light hang across the streets.  The city felt even more alive at night (a Sunday night, no less!).  All in all, we were enamored and would love to go back to the French Riviera for an extended vacation in the future to explore Monaco, Cannes, and St. Tropez, tour the local olive oil factory, and hike the Alps’ foothills.  We were sad to leave Monday to start the trip back to England but my very French friend Rick Hammond will be pleased to know we ate chocolate croissants for breakfast to sneak in just a little more French-ness before we left!

Nice's train station

PS:  Seemingly everyone smokes, all the time.  And they smoke Marlboros!  I seriously wonder what the lung cancer rates are in France. 

PPS: Hammer pants are making a comeback, at least in France.  I would never have thought it could happen...  could massive shoulder pads be next?