Nice

The morning after my last post, I caught an early morning ferry from Bastia, back to Nice. Although Bastia looks closer on the map to Nice than Ajaccio, it actually took an hour more on the ferry to return to Nice.

It was raining lightly when I arrived in Nice, but I decided to walk back to the hostel anyway, and didn't get too wet, which was good. I noticed on the way that there didn't seem to be any shops open at all. I was a little worried, as I was a little bit hungry, but there were a couple of cafe's open, so that eased my mind a little.

I stayed inside the hostel for a couple of hours after my arrival, as it actually started raining quite heavily outside, and I didn't want to get wet when there actually didn't seem like there was anything to see. By 4 o'clock, however, the rain had stopped, so I decided to go out and explore the streets a little (as I hadn't on my last two overnight stays in Nice), and see if I could find something to eat.

On first sight, Nice appears to be dead on Sundays, but I discovered that all the action happens in the old town, or Vieuwe Nice, where there are quite a few little boutiques down some very narrow streets. A few of these little boutiques were open, as well as some cafe's and bakery's. I also found the best chocolate shop in the world, down one of these little streets, and bought about $500 dollars worth of chocolates in there! Actually, that is a bit of an exaggeration, it was only about $25 worth of chocolates and nougart, and I think it was the nougart that bumped the price up, as it was charged by weight. Anyway, it was really good chocolate, and the smell inside the shop was truly intoxicating!

I took my chocolate, and went for a little wander back down to the port, as Mum had told me to watch out for James Packer's boat, as he was supposed to be in the French Riviera for his wedding. I didn't see James, or his boat, but there were lots of luxurious, impressive looking boats down there. Far more impressive than those at Porto Vecchio! There were some nice looking colourful little fishing boats as well. After my unsuccessful hunt for James, I walked back along the esplanade, and found some steps which led to the top of a cliff and a lookout over Nice. There was also a garden up there, and some ruins of an ancient town. By the time I left there, and walked back to Vieuwe Nice, the market was just about in full swing, and there were quite a few people about. I didn't actually buy anything from the market, but it was nice to look at all the jewellery and locally made products. I got a panini take-away, and headed back to my hostel, where I stayed for the rest of my evening.

Fortunately, (for me that is, for you it is a bit unfortunate, as it means that I don't have any interesting stories to tell), there were no freaks in my hostel dorm that night. There were two girls from the Scottish Highlands who were looking for work on campsites in the area, a lady from Japan who was travelling around France (she worked in Paris for a few years), and a girl from Canada, who was travelling around Europe for a month or so, before she started a new job. There were a couple of other women in the room as well, but I didn't actually meet them.

The next morning, I went for a little wander up the main street of Nice, and spent about an hour in the queue at the post office just to buy some stamps (enjoy your postcards, people), before catching a train in the afternoon to Paris.

I will write more about my week in Paris later, but (maybe you can tell by this pretty uninteresting blog) I haven't got much enthusiasm for blogging today. I went and saw an accountant this morning just outside of London, and now I am a little confused and worried about my work and taxation etc, and it has taken away some of my enthusiasm and excitment of being here!

Love,
Lis x

ps. comments and emails truly appreciated, otherwise I will feel like no one loves me, and I won't come home (or update my blog).