Washout

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I woke up at 7:30 this morning to the pattering of raindrops on my room’s sunroof. No need to run in this. I set my internal alarm to snooze.

About an hour later, the rain subsided. Good. I have big outdoor plans today.

I headed out on my run shortly thereafter, heading down toward the beach. I turned left once I neared the beach to head up the hill and see the views of the city. Damn. I fogot my camera. Well, I’ll just go back up again later.

The run up the countless steps to the first viewing level was tiring but after that it eased up quite a bit. Especially since I stopped at the first level to catch a view of the coast. Nice but a little too cloudy.

I continued up and eventually reached the top, with views looking west towards the beaches, the city and the hills in the distance to the north. I’ll definitely have to come back up here when the weather turns. Actually, it appears to be getting better already.

After my brief break to absorb the view, I headed back down the stairs, along the coast and back up to the hostel. In the last half mile of my run it began to rain again. By the time I got back, I was soaked. This is not how I envisioned my relaxing day at the beach.

After getting cleaned up, the rain had subsided again. I left the hostel in my shorts, my favorite green t-shirt and sandals to go to lunch. About two blocks into my journey, it began to rain again. Fortunately, I remembered my umbrella.

Along the way I had concluded that this beach day was lost and contemplated heading to Monte Carlo in Monaco, a short train ride away. But today was about recharging my batteries so I scrapped that idea. Besides, it would be raining there, too.

I stopped to look at a menu at a café when the hostess came out and started speaking English to me. They speak English and the menu looked good enough so I decided on that place. I ordered the fixed price menu and had fish soup with bread and aioli, lamb and frites (I’ve had more fries in France than I’ve had over the past three years in the U.S.), a Leffe beer and chocolate mousse.

Aioli is a Provençal dish (I am in the Provençal region of France). It looks similar to a thick yellow mustard, and consists of garlic, olive oil and egg. The soup was tasty and the aioli was fabulous. Its mix of strong flavors went well with the toasted bread that accompanied it but was even better with the soft bread that is served to everyone.

When I departed the café, it was still raining. And would be my entire walk back. Having had enough of the rain, I decided to hole up at the hostel and read. After a while, the reading turned into a nap.

Eventually, 6:00 rolled around and the rain had apparently stopped. I took a walk around the town, heading back out to the beach. I walked along the pebbles and even walked on them. They weren’t as tough on my feet as I expected but they still are not as fun as sand. Except maybe hot July blistering South Florida sand.

I headed up towards the hillside and stopped at an overlook to catch the views of the sea. I noticed a walkway down to some rocks. The kid inside me urged me down and out onto the rocks, closer and closer to the crashing waves. There was something very peaceful about the sound of the waves colliding with the rocks.

I made my way back up to the street level and started to climb up the hill I ran up this morning. I reached the first viewing level again and was able to take in the much more picturesque scene. After a few minutes, I continued up the hill, only to be stopped by a ticked off French security guard. He was not pleased that I was there for some reason and sent me back down. I later found a sign denoting that the park closed at 7:00. It was 7:20. No more scenery for me.

I returned to the hostel, picking up a bottle of wine and a small dinner to go with it. When I got back, my Aussie roommates had returned and we talked about our travel plans for a few minutes. They are heading to Spain in a few weeks so I gave them some tips. They’re also heading to Oktoberfest around the same time I’ll be there so we might meet up depending when exactly they arrive.

I leave Nice tomorrow for Lucerne, Switzerland. I can’t say I’ve had the best experience in Nice but that’s just the weather. It’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is. But it definitely is more of a couples town. Hopefully Lucerne will be better.

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Photos

Soupe de Poissons
Fish soup with the toasted bread and aioli.

Rocks
A section of the rocks. I made my way down to the darker section, where the high tide reaches.

Nice beaches
A view this evening from the first viewing point.