The French Riviera

I arrived in Nice around 2pm on a Monday, having taken the train from Paris early that morning. From there I took an hour bus ride to Vence, a beautiful village north of Nice between the sea and the mountains. I dropped my bags off at this gem of a hotel and walked down every windy side street I could find, (that's what you do when you're in the south of France). Vence was particularly quaint, very medieval and with so many side streets quite easy to get lost in. There was a main square that I kept coming back to, children were playing around a fountain and locals stopped to chat with their neighbors. I had a dinner of roasted chicken and potatoes au gratin nearby, and soaked it all in. I still think about those potatoes, well I still think about all of it.

The next morning I took the bus back to Nice, dropped my bags off yet again and over the next 2 days tried to see everything in the French Riviera. Eze, a town up on a hilltop right over the sea was a favorite. I walked seaside from Monaco to Mala Beach, one of the prettiest walks I've ever taken.  I stopped at Cap d'Ail along the way for a few hours to swim and sunbathe and picnic. You have to stop at Cap d'Ail. The smaller, sleepier towns I loved most. I didn't care too much for Cannes and Nice, a little too touristy for me but it could of just been the high season.

I left the Côte d'Azur for the west on Wednesday and stayed one night in Toulon. On Thursday I continued to Cassis, a fisherman's town that was cute as a button! I took a boat out all the way to the coast of Marseilles that eve, where the next day I caught a train back to Paris. It was a full five days - particularly when relying on (very old) buses and trains, but what a dream it was to see it all.