Nice - Day 1 & 2

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Geo: 43.6955, 7.2764

Go to the south of France, they saiid
It will still be warm, they said
You can lie on the beach, they said
Its beach is full of rocks and its bloody raining! And I do mean rain, god has picked up the Mediterranean and dumped on Nice. Damn you France, why are you so mean to me! On a lighter side if the rain is the worst thing that happens to me in my third (and final) journey into france, I can live with that. Rain does not break bones or loose luggage.

Onto the actual travel. Most of Monday was spent on the train. First I caught a train to Valence in France, then a connecting train to Nice. I can now say I am glad I am travelling solo. On the first train I was sitting with three Canadian girls who may have been travelling together for a smidge to long. While they were very polite to each other (they are Canadian) I could hear the tension in their voices and niggley little comments along the way. Travelling solo can be lonesome and hard work at times, but my destiny is my own, and my time has not been discoloured by silly fights over stupid things. For that I am grateful.

I arrived in Nice around 7ish. I caught a cab to my hotel and got there just in time for the heavens to open. It didn't phase me as I had not intended to go out anyway, I just wanted to chill out and catch some z's. Tuesday however was a different story. I haven't made any big plans for my time in Nice as this is my "wind down" time at the end of the trip, which is why I picked a spot known for its warm weather and a beach. I knew as soon as I looked out the window Tuesday morning that warm weather was not going to be an option. Nevertheless I had breakfast and made my way along the promenade. Despite the woolly weather it was not really cold, just windy. Which made for some awesome waves crashing against the beach. It was actually pretty cool.

What was not so cool was when the rain came. I saw it coming accross the bay and started looking for a nice inviting bar along the promenade to stop while it passed through. I did not find one in time. By the time I found something that looked a little bit inviting the rain was coming down hard. I had my wet weather jacket and umbrella which kept the top half of me dry. Unfortunately everything from the thigh down was soaked through. I had a drink, read a bit, and then a bite of lunch. But bar was not that inviting and before long I was bored. I started making my way back to the way I had come and veered into the town looking for somewhere a little more cosy. It wasn't long before the drenching got worse and after a short while I decided I needed to return to the hotel and get dry. Once I'd changed into some dry clothes I didn't really want to go out again. The rain poured down heavily all afternoon so I contended myself with my book and some french TV. I really should have picked a hotel with its own bar.

Wednesday was moderately better. The rains held off until about 3 in the afternoon. I started out by walking in the opposite direction to yesterday. This time I found a couple of plaza's, some nice gardens and the shopping district. I wish I had come this way yesterday. There was a lot more shelter and a lot more cafes and bars I could have wiled the time away in. I stopped for a coffee as the coffee at my hotel is truly horrendous, so stopping somewhere in the morning for a real cafe latte is a must. I decided to make my way to castle hill, which looks like a nice green spot in the centre of town and trip advisor says there are great views. I missed it somehow and ended up back at the bay. This time by the Marina. I salivated over some of the boats then walked back along the promenade. I did see castle hill, but by that time I was ready to sit down for some lunch. I found a nice little plaza one block back from the beach and sat down for some lunch and some serious blogging. It rained again, but by then I was ensconced in a little Italian restaurant by then and the rain was no nowhere near as bad as yesterday.

After I got my blog almost up to date I started the journey back to the hotel. I wanted to get some Nice photos on my ipad and charge it up as I'd almost run it down. I was rewarded with the mist spectacular sunset over the bay. I missed the sun going down but when I walked onto the promenade the western sky was ablaze with colour, just gorgeous. Finally Nice lived up to its name.

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