The One Where She Blogged about France...

There are approximately 2 people out there that I imagine will understand why I chose to name this post as I did. I'll be interested to see if they step up and admit it :)

Anyway, let's get on with it, shall we?

I anticipated the question "how was your trip?" since before I even left for Nice and I have been thinking and thinking about how I would respond to people. I slept the whole way there, I ate well, I drank well, I laughed, and Nice was beautiful. However, this will not suffice for most of you :) But as I sat in the airport in Amsterdam on my 2 hour layover, I had a real chance to reflect on my week in France, and everything that I identified as my favorite parts of the trip will bore most of you to tears and have little meaning. Sure, I can advise you to visit Nice and have Socca in the old town, take a day trip to beautiful Eze, eat gelato, take in the history. But you can get any of that from professional travel sites who know far more about this locale than I.

However, what these sites can't tell you is that the 20 minute bus ride across town is the perfect time to people watch and laugh hysterically with your companion. I am also fairly sure that there is not a section about how tart the baby oranges on the bush at the museum are, so beware if you think you want to steal one and eat it. These sites will also not warn you of grown men vomiting on a hot and crowded Night Bus on Halloween. Yes, there are many treasures that they just don't talk about.

So, in order to give you all a snapshot of my time in Nice, I am dividing the remainder of this post into 3 sections that I feel best categorize my trip: 1) The fun things I did... 2) The food I ate... 3) The things I laughed at.

1) The fun things I did
 While just about everything that we did was a blast, there are a handful of items that stand out.

- Eze:   This is a fantastic touristy, walled, hill town about a half hour bus ride from Nice. We went for the afternoon and upon arriving, we realized that we read the bus schedule wrong and had almost an hour to wait for the second bus to get up the hill. This gave me a chance to put my toes in the water at the base of the hill, which was a goal for the trip. Two of the nicest hotels in the region are located in Eze, and rates are around the very reasonable price of 1200 Euro a night. Their restaurant also featured a delectable wild wolf the day that we walked by. Another highlight of this attraction is the exotic cactus garden conveniently situated at the very top of the hill. Even though we were only there for a few hours, there is so much to tell about this area. It certainly should be on your to do list if you are ever in the region.

- Reading on the beach:   This started out as fun. A nice cool windy morning and I needed to entertain myself for a little while, so I grabbed the beach chair and crossed the promenade to sit and read for a spell. About 20 minutes in, on an empty beach a man comes and sits down directly next to me, pulls out his cell phone, and begins angrily chatting away in French. Thanks, dude.

- Attended a birthday party:   Even though we arrived an hour late and somehow still managed to be an hour early, I knew the evening was off to a peculiar start when I asked to use the restroom and could not figure out how to flush the darn thing. The handle was NOT where it was supposed to be, and I could not find any instructions. Panic. Setting. In. Finally, I asked the host for help, and he was very kind in showing me that there was a lever on top that was the magic trick. However, when he had bathroom products stacked all around it, I was never going to find this. I think I played right into his trap, just as he wanted! The rest of the party went well. With many nationalities represented, and the wine flowing, there was an opportunity for everyone to sing Happy Birthday to the trap-setting birthday boy in their respective native languages. I believe there were roughly 10-12 lanugages represented, recorded, and compiled into a fun birthday video for all of Facebook to enjoy.

- Halloween:   I am not someone who loves Halloween. The costumes, the fright, the candy, none of it is really up my alley. So I was actually quite glad to be somewhere that does not "live it up" the way we do in the US. However, there were still parties and a few costumes. We eneded up at a Salsa Club after the Opera Bulles (see section below) and danced for a little while. Aaron was surprised to find out that I knew the words to almost every song that the DJ played. That's right, people...I know how to get down with my bad self.

- Opera Bulles:   Staged at L'Eglise St. Augustin, this operatic piano and voice recital was great fun. We listened to selections of Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, and Bizet operas. The conductor was casual and funny, and the music was classic and beautiful. A lovely and unique event.

- Old Nice: This area of town was probably my favorite. With it's narrow alleys, old buildings, and street food galore, it's no wonder that this is the more touristy area of town. And at the top of the area is the old fortress, which we climbed on my last day. The views were amazing, and that was even on a hazy afternoon.

2) The Food I Ate

- Croissants*: Every. Morning. Fresh. Yum.

- Cochon: This is not what the average francophile would think. It was actually a marzipan pig from the bakery. We had to know what it was. But seriously, a pink marzipan pig, how can you not be a little curious?

- Baguettes: *See section RE: Croissants

- Socca: A Niçois tradition. This chickpea cake is the epitome of simple street food. A plate of it is very cheap, it's a simple flavor, and it needed ketchup badly. I am not sure I have ever said that about anything in my life. I waited until I got back to America to say that, just to be sure it was safe.

- Pastis: The French version of Yagermeister. This Anise flavored liquor is very popular in the region. Most commonly consumed in a shot size quanitty and mixed with water...well, it's awful, to be quite frank (or should I say...franc?). And it's even worse when someone puts a glass in front of you before your breakfast has even been served.

- Crepe: What trip to France is complete without one? And before you start to ask, there was no Nutella involved in the making of my crepe. Judge away. I like a simple sugar crepe.

- Salami: The only way that I feel I can appropriately convey my thoughts here are through the words of Joey Tribiani (and going along with the theme of the title) Salami...GOOOOD.

- Cheese: I ate my weight in just about any cheese I could find. Cheap no name cheese from the grocery store, Emmental on my sandwiches, wheels of Camambert. You name it, I ate it. Ok, well not the blue cheese.

- Sausages: While this is technically a list of all the things I ate, I have included this tid bit even though it was something that I did NOT eat. In an attempt to try something new, we selected several sausages from the grocery deli counter that looked like something we had never had before. Not being completely sure of what they were, and me being convinced that they were in fact offal of some type, once cooked we were not able to identify what they were, but what they in fact were not. These were not consumed, and Aaron was no longer allowed to pick out meats.

- Gelato: A-MA-ZING. We had a cup with 4 flavors: Vanilla, Salted Caramel, Cinnamon, and Pistachio.

- Chocolate: We stopped at a chocolaterie while out for a walk one afternoon where you could watch them make everything. They had samples out and just a really unique variety of goods. One of their specialties was using flowers such as rose and violet. Very fragrant flavors. Not a fan, but still nice to have tried them.

- Champagne: To toast my last night and a fantastic week, we bought a bottle of classy champagne from the specialty store down the street. The owner was very helpful and even was one of the few who allowed me to speak to him in French instead of automatically switching to English and killing my French-speaking ego. My first rose champagne, it was a perfect ending to a sweet week.

And last, but certainly not the least....
- La Rossetisserie: Set back in the streets of Old Nice, this roast meat specialist caught our attention while walking one day. It's a small venue with a small menu, and they do what they do well. This was our one meal out for the trip, and it hit the spot both with the food and on the wallet. We had roast lamb, roast pork, roasted potatoes, ratatouille, salads, a carafe of wine, and espressos- all for around 35 Euro. And for desert? Well, we skipped it, but we would have had the chicken!


3) Things I Laughed At:

- Guy vomiting on the bus: Halloween night, late, tired, crowded, and just far enough away that he couldn't reach me. There was no other option but to laugh it off at this point in the night. The odd thing was that no one seemed particularly phased by it.

- Crazy old woman at the bus stop: While waiting for the bus to Eze, there was an older lady who just decided to start assaulting random travellers. She called one girl struggling with suitcases a "salope" (I'll let you do your own translation, this is a family friendly site), she kicked an Italian tourist, and she cursed almost every bus driver that stopped here. I liked her.

- My French: It was bad. I kind of want some of my money back from my education. Perhaps I can use my French bargaining skills to try and negotiate the repayment rate on my student loans, I don't really want to pay them back so much anymore. Or I can just take them with me and join the folks at Occupy Atlanta. The news showed a group of about 20 that are still holding on strong. Wow.

- Bus rides: Aaron and I used our time on the bus to laugh. A lot. I believe that my favorite bus ride conversation was in regards to the proper way to "Brush your shoulders off". He insisted it was the palm side of the hand, I was sure it was the back of the hand. So then we had to look up the actual video. Which then led to a debate about who sang it. Long story short, he was right on both accounts. Jay-Z and palm side down, in case you are wondering.

- French dogs: Surely you didn't think I would make it an entire post without a Mickey mention? How little you all know me! Mickey would never have made it in France. All of the dogs are so well behaved. They don't bark, they don't run off, they don't chase tails. They were actually kind of boring. But they were everywhere, I love it. On the bus, in the grocery store, cafes- I do like this part of the culture. And I saw a handful of breeds that we don't have here in the US, they got some funny looking pups over there!

Ok, fine a 4th Section that I just decided to add..... 4) Things I Left in France

- My new headphones: crap.


Well there you have it! That was my trip in a nut shell. A very large, very long nutshell. But it was really great just to have some time off to relax, catch up with Aaron, and just be in a beautiful location for a week.

A bientôt, mes amis!