For our last full day, we took the bus to Vence, just north of Saint Paul. It's a city very like Saint Paul, with an old town part and residential parts. Some people live in the old town too. But maybe because it was a cloudy and chilly day, and there were very few people about, it didn't seem quite as enchanting as Saint Paul. We only walked around for a little while before hopping on the bus back to Saint Paul. Even there, it was very quiet. A few groups of men, old and young, playing boules. I read about [View Full Entry]

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Eze The Eze village is over a thousand feet above sea level. The bus ride over took us on the mountain round over looking the ocean, scenic in itself. Maybe it's the cloudy and chilly day, or maybe it's because Eze is such a commercialized village, we didn't think it was as nice as Saint Paul. The old town is perched on the mountain top, with houses all up and down the hill. I don't think anyone lives in the village, which takes away some of the interest. Still, it is a very photogenic village. Getting back to Nice in [View Full Entry]

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Saint Paul A bus ride of less than an hour later, we were in a different part of the world. Up through windy roads, past houses nestled in hills, Saint Paul is a medieval town on top of the hill. The streets are very narrow and inaccessible by car, and all cobble stones. There are lots of art galleries and stores. After rambling for a bit we stop by a restaurant over looking the city walls, a great view. The town itself is tiny, and if it were for the modern shops, you could image this place hundreds of years [View Full Entry]

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Cannes, and the world's best dressed beggars The forecast was for rain all day and the morning sure started out as if it was going to pout all day. I woke up to the sound of rain. But after a while, the rain stopped and the sun came out slowly. At first just patchy clouds but by mid-morning, it was shinning brightly. A gorgeous day. Having already written off the day as an indoor day, I felt like it was a bonus day now. How many non-French speaking people know how to pronounce Cannes the right way? Traveling on the [View Full Entry]

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Right now I feel very much for appreciating the good things, the simple things in life. Yesterday, All Saints Day, being Sunday too, seemed liked it going to be pretty quiet everywhere. Nevertheless we went to the train station to see if we could check out Eze, just east of Nice on the coast. We bought our ticket but the next train was not due for another half an hour. We decided to just wandering outside of the station, and right next door was the tourist office. So we went in to maybe check out boat trips to Corisca, but ended [View Full Entry]

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Extremely cute puppies! We walked by a pet store and there was this really playful puppy in the display window. So adorable. We decided to take a day off from vacationing and just be lazy in Nice. Got a late start, then walked around town doing some shopping. Because it's All Saints' Eve, most stores were closed, except in the tourist areas. Kids were dressed up in Halloween costumes but other than that I think it's more like a memorial day for the adults, visiting graves of ancestors, etc. I just managed to get the bug repellent (really looking forward to [View Full Entry]

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Today we went to Villefrance Sur Mer, a little town the other side the peninsula, just 15 minutes away by train. It would have taken the same amount of time to travel two subway stops in inner London. It's very quiet and quaint, town on a hill. There were a lot of tourists but somehow it didn't seem too crowded. We walked to the old fort, garden, then back down to the water front, had lunch/dinner at a restaurant. It's our first meal out in France and it was great. We both ordered fish, figuring it would be fresh so close [View Full Entry]

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Monaco for the day Stepping out of the train station at Monaco, we were immediately assaulted by loud American pop music, screaming, clinking of game machines, and swarms of people. It's like a state fair/amusement park at it's worst. I just wanted to get away from the area ASAP. It was an amusement park with rides set up right along the harbor. May be fun for some, but not what I came to Europe to see. Getting away from it along the harbor and climbing up many steps to the chateau, the view is beautiful. Monaco is so small, lots [View Full Entry]

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Jogging on Promenades des Anglais, right along the blue ocean, was great. The boardwalk runs for 7km (4 miles) so plenty of space. Our apartment is 10 minutes walk from the promenades. There were plenty of other joggers so I didn't feel so weird like in some European countries where only crazy Americas run for no reason. Later we went walking around Nice, back along the beach. The beach is so rocky I still don't understand how people can lie on top of it all day, on just a towel. Having seen many other beaches, Rio comes to mind, where people [View Full Entry]

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First day in Nice - I'm so excited to explore. I already don't ever want to leave. People say the world is very small these days, and it's true that just last night I was still in cold Boston and less than 24 hours later, I was in sunny Nice. Voila! Like magic. Here is how I really got here. First I drove to the airport long term parking, then I took a shuttle from the parking to the airport terminal, did the usual queueing in the airport, took a 6.5 hours flight from Boston to London, got off in [View Full Entry]

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