Nice times in Nice

Forgive me for the cheezy title, I had to..

Spring Break for the French universities has been filling my days for the past two weeks. Although the break started with four days of intense paper writing - about the American forces in Asia from 1945-1975; can we say broadest topic ever?!?! - a train to Nice brought the start of an amazing vacation. I was fortunate enough to miss all of the Iceland volcano drama that seemed to be plaguing all of Europe. Can't say the same for A who was planning on flying into Paris on the 20th to meet up with me and head to Nice, but had her flight cancelled thanks to the big bad ash cloud spouting from the stupid volcano.

Travel problems and the fact that I was now going to awkwardly experience Nice alone aside, the vacation definitely started of on a great note. The weather was WONDERFUL! Blue skies, sunny, warm. I got so desperate at one point, that I actually had to buy a pair of shorts to make it through the rest of the vacation. (I hadn't packed any because weather.com was incorrect about the ever-changing weather. Again).

The Coast

Gardens outside the Monastery

Waterfall on the Hill

Fortunately, some of my friends from my program, E and H, were also in Nice. We hit up the Matisse museum, the beach, the hill, and even Monaco together. It was definitely a seaside paradise. Monaco was just as beautiful as Nice. We spent most of the time walking along the port and taking in the views. We tried our luck in the casino, but that ended in all of us losing between 5 and 20 euros to the slot machines. Turns out, gambling is both awful and addicting...

Monte Carlo Casino

View of the Port in Monaco

The wonderful, relaxing stay in Nice ended on a very stressful, rainy note. I spent the last dreary day checking out the Chagall Museum while constantly checking my phone trying to keep track of A's progress in getting to Europe. Hat's must go off to this girl. She had literally the WORST day of travel. Ever. Flight from LAX to Newark, international flight from Newark to Paris, three hour "layover" in Paris, 5 hour train to Nice (that ended up being delayed and taking 6 hours), insane ride in a death cab making it from the train station in Nice to the airport in about 7 minutes (usually a 20 minute ride), checking in literally three minutes before closing, and hopping on a flight to Rome. I'm exhausted just typing it out.

In the end, we got back on track with our original vacation plans and A and I were on our way to Rome to meet up with M. Goodbye France, hello Italy!