I’m sitting on my bed after my last “art of Florence” class ready to explain my French Riviera trip to all who care to know.  I went to the French Riviera not last weekend, but the weekend before.  Again, I’m sorry I didn’t write about the trip as soon as it happened but just sitting down and writing without any disruption is a rarity here. 

The Thursday before that weekend, we left Florence at around 11 pm and reached Nice at around 5 am!  I then fell asleep and woke up at 8:30 am…what a great sleep i had that night.  The hostel I stayed in was apparently the top rated hostel in France.  It was much nicer than the hotel I stayed in Amalfi.  The hostel was very charming from the outside.  

We had free wi fi and a nice cafeteria.  The only difficulty was sharing a small room and one bathroom with 5 other girls! 

            On Friday we set out on the bus to Ezbe- a tiny medieval town full of charm and beauty.  In Ezbe, we visited the Exotic Gardens, which is basically a large garden/terrace on top of a hill overlooking the quaint town.  From the terrace, I saw the most amazing views of France! 

 

 

I spent some time taking pictures and enjoying the peaceful and beautiful town.  I don’t think it fully hit me that I was in France until I heard French spoken everywhere.  When I say I don’t know any French i reallyyy mean it.  I had to ask my mom the day before how to say “yes” in French.  Yes, I know thats bad.  Everytime I meant to say “thank you” during the course of the weekend, I kept saying “grazie” instead of “mercie!”  I also kept saying “si” instead of “oui.”  These few italian words had finally been ingrained in my head so switching to French did not come easy at all!  Half the time I said “grazie” I would follow by saying, “I mean merci!,” like a complete idiot. 

After visiting Ezbe for a few hours, we headed over to Monoco- the 2nd smallest country in the world!  Monoco is known to be the hang out of the rich and famous.  Every building oozes with wealth and the city’s atmosphere is completely different from any city I’ve visited before.  It is definitely much more richer and modern.  It was certainly a beautiful sight to see! 

 

             Once we reached Monaco, we headed to lunch and then to the richest casino in the world- the Monte Carlo Casino!  Everyone was so nervous about getting in the casino because apparently one must dress like a millionaire to not stand out. Shorts, flip flops, and jeans are not allowed.  I changed into a nice dress and shoes and headed over to the beautiful casino to gamble with the super rich!  I wish I could post pictures up of the casino but unfortunately cameras were not allowed!  Because it was mid day, the inside of the casino was very solemn and almost intimidating- especially in the black jack and poker room.  My friends and I headed over to the slot machine room and started playing without a clue how to work the machines.  It was pretty hilarious to watch my friend press random buttons and win 20 euros!  Luck wasn’t on my side because I lost 5 euros after 10 seconds of playing.  It’s ok…I will learn the ins and outs of gambling some day…

 

 

The surroundings of the casino were absolutely breathtaking!  With the lavish Hotel de Paris on one side, and beautiful gardens leading up the mountains on the other side, it was definitely a sight worth taking a million pictures of.  Only Royce Rovers, Mercedes, Ferrari’s, BMW’s, and Audis rolled by the casino dropping off suave looking men in black suits. After the casino, we headed over to the harbor to check out the amazing yachts parked there.  These yachts looked like 5 star hotels on the inside!  One day, just one day, I hope to be able to spend a day in a yacht similar to the ones on the port.  Unlike the other tourist spots, Monaco did not have many tourist stands or souvenir shops.  We walked all over and only found stores like Valentino, Gucci, and Hermes.  After finally finding a postcard stand, we headed over to a bar to watch the England vs. Slovenia game.  I really wanted to visit the Monaco Palace that was situated on top of a hill, but the walk to the palace was really long and tedious.  We were already exhausted from walking to the Casino to the harbor so I took some quick pics of the Palace that was the home of Grace Kelly.  Monaco has definitely been one of the ritziest towns I have seen during my study abroad. The entire city is filthy rich and most of this wealth is derived from the casino and resorts.  When I got back to my hostel room, I ate dinner and hit the sack.  I needed to catch up on sleep desperately!

            The next day, I visited the small but exquisitely beautiful town of Antibes.  The Mediterranean Sea had taken on a more Caribbean turquoise blue color that I wish my camera could have really captured.  

            I guess you just need to go visit Antibes to see what I mean 😉  We first visited the Picasso Museum, which was a nice break from all the Renaissance art I had seen in Florence.  The museum contained art pieces not only from the master himself but from other modern artists who used Picasso as their inspiration.  Even though we weren’t allowed to take pictures, I did sneak in a couple hehe. 

            After the Picasso museum, I just basically walked around the center part of the town and poked my head here and there.  I walked through an outdoor market where I saw people bargaining in French for fresh food.  I also slipped into a couple stores that were filled with very original hand made souvenirs.    After a quick lunch I walked towards the beach and dipped my toes into the beautiful teal water.  I really wanted to buy the souvenirs I had seen before lunch but of course all the stores had shut down during the lunch hours, which is completely annoying in my opinion. 

            After Antibes, we headed towards my favorite French city thus far- Cannes.  The first thing I though when I went to Cannes was, “I feel like I’m in Disney World!.”  The city was filled with Palm Trees, palatial hotels, and luxurious beaches for the rich and famous.  Unfortunately, as soon as I got there, my trusty camera flashed “battery exhausted.”   OF COURSE this has to happen to me. Doesn’t matter though because Im planning to steal all my roommates pics =D 

The first thing we did was visit the site where the Cannel Film Festival is held every year.  I walked up the red carpet (oo lala) and totally felt like a celebrity as my roommates snapped pictures of me. 

 

 

We then walked by the beach and bought granitas (that weren’t half as good as the ones I had in Capri.)  The beaches in Cannes are very much different from the beaches I’ve encountered elsewhere.  They’re more like the crowded, bigger beaches you would encounter in Miami, except for the nude part.  The beaches in Ezbe, Antibes, Monaco, and Amalfi were much smaller and less touristy.  I really wanted to get some cool souvenirs from Cannes so I stopped by an antique market.  Besides that, there wasn’t much on the itinerary except to go “oo ahh” at all the pretty buildings, shops, and beaches.  We didn’t dare eat at Cannes because none of us were willing to fork over 50 euros for one meal in the expensive city.  Cannes must be an amazing place to get married because at least 2 wedding parades honked past us as we were walking down the main boulevard!  All in all, I loved Cannes because it was a nice break from the old fashioned cities I had been to and a chance to mingle with the rich and famous.  If you know me, you know how I love my celebrities! 

            After Cannes, we went back to our hostel in Nice, ate dinner, and went out in the night to explore Nice’s nightlife.  There was a popular bar that everyone in the tour group was going to called “Waynes Bar.”  We instead went to “Check Point” which was more local and less crowded.  For the first time, we decided to mingle with the natives there.  It was fun but the language barrier was a little annoying.  We then bumped into some nice Australian backpackers who were living the life traveling Europe.  They were such stereotypical Australians- with their blonde hair, surfer looks, and chill attitude.  I asked one of them what university they attended back in Australia and he answered, “o I just surf.” 

            The next day while I was loading my bags on the bus, I heard that a gang had mugged a group of girls on our tour at knifepoint.  I’m so thankful that I was safe during this amazing trip!

 It was really nice to explore another country and compare the culture with that of Italy.   I did notice that the common perception that French people are beautiful is absolutely 100% true.  The men and especially the women are just drop dead gorgeous!  I know that Italian men are supposed to be very handsome but I actually though the men in France were better looking!  They’re also a lot less forward that Italian men.  Of course I am generalizing and am basing my observations on 2 days of walking around. 

Back at home, I have a little toy poodle named Minnie.  We always joke around at home that she’s a snobby little French Poodle just because she turns her button nose up at the sight of kibbles.  Maybe that explains my excitement at seeing literally every other person walking an adorably frilly little poodle.  =D 

Before leaving for the French Riviera, I thought that it was going to be very similar to the Amalfi Coast weekend.  Both line the Mediterranean Sea and are beach towns/cities.  However, I am still really surprised at how different the two weekends were.  Amalfi was definitely smaller, less crowded, and more old-fashioned than the French Riviera.  Even the Mediterranean Sea looked different in both areas.  It was a deeper blue in Amalfi and lighter turquoise in the French Riviera.  While I mainly lay down on the beach and went swimming in Amalfi, I walked around and explored more of the mainland in the French Riviera. 

            The common phrase that was mentioned by my roommates or I when entering each French city was, “I feel like I’m in Disney World!.”  I guess the statement implies that we didn’t feel like the cities we were visiting were actual cities that regular people lived in.  The styles of the building, the amazing beach views, and the palm trees all felt like a magical world- like Disney World!

Location: via del Moro, 22, Florence, Italy