The French Riviera..

So this weekend, I went to the French Riviera with the school.....and it was amazing.

We had to be at the bus stop at 4:45 on saturday morning and we got into Nice, France at about 10/10:30. I didnt really like it at first. We went on a walking tour. and i was tired and some of the natives were a lil mean....but then they told us that we had about an hour to eat and hang out and they pointed in the direction of the beach. so we bought some sandwiches and headed in that direction. we got there, and i fell in love.

The beach didnt really have sand at all. there was like one section...the rest was like little rocks. but the water was like crystal. and this blue. crazy. it was so clear...but it wasnt caribbeanesque either...it was different. but i loved it. Took a ton of pictures. so no worries.

So then we got back on the bus and we went to Monaco, which is another country nearby. Its where princess Grace lived. It was really pretty there too...and we saw their graves...and there is constantly fresh flowers around it. oh, in Nice there was a flower market with all the fresh flowers that are grown in the area, Bella!

So then we got on the bus again and went to Monte Carlo. I wasnt about to pay 10 euro to go into a casino for 20 mintues, so i saw it from the outside and walked around the area. ridiculous prices. like 17 euro for a pizza for one person. craziness.

then we got to go back and i actually got to watch english news...so i kinda know a lil of what is going on over there in the US. lol. then we went to dinner. it was ok. we had french bread which is delicious. and stuffed vegetables. some sort of beef stew and potatoes. and lemon cake. there was another group coming to eat dinner behind us though and they like practically threw us out of the restaurant. we were really mad cuz we paid for it too. frustrating.

So THEN. we were going to go to another casino or something...but on the way, we ran into the Carnival parade! I dont know whats with me and ending up in these places when they're having these massive carnivals, but i love it. so we're walking along, taking it all in, and decide to go on the ferris wheel. So we're on it, and im like, hey, Dar and Paul's hotel is supposed to be right around here somewhere, i should look for their hotel and look for them....and while im on this ferris wheel, i turn around and see their hotel, directly behind me! So im like, thats it! No way. so we get off and Kim, Allison and I decide to look along the parade in front of their hotel and meet up with our friends at the casino afterwards, so we're walking along and getting sprayed with silly string and getting confetti thrown on us, and i had just decided to walk past the hotel and if i saw them, that would be insane, and if not, no big cuz i didnt really think id actually find them anyway. so we're crossing the parade, cuz you can do that in France. they dont have police that stop you from walking into the parade. you can join whenever you want....its crazy. so i hesitate cuz with my luck, id get run over by a float, and just as im about to go, i hear my name and turn around and there is DAR! apparently, they were sitting on their balcony and were looking down at the parade and saw my plaid coat! see, plaid coats are awesome. And seriously. i still cant believe it....what are the odds. I mean, even the fact that i wore my plaid coat when they were in florence, and that i wore my plaid coat in france is ridiculous. cuz i usually have my black one on, and they never would have found me. and i still have no clue how they managed to spot me from that high up in the midst of all that chaos. but it was awesome. and so much fun. And we ate nutella crepes.

After the parade was over, and dar and paul went back to their room, we met up with our friends on the beach, and got to see the lunar eclipse. its so crazy...there we were...a bunch of college kids...from america....in france...on the beach seeing a lunar eclipse. who gets to do that??

so then we went to bed. and the next morning we left our 4 star hotel! yea, 4 star...definitely different than the hostels we've been staying in lol. and we went to St. Paul or something like that. It was a cute little town. Stef and I sat down for most of the time. relaxed. took a breather. we did so much traveling in two days, it was needed to refresh for the next two places....then we went to Cannes. they have film festivals there. so we went to see that and saw - they have hand prints like we have the stars with the stuff....haha. so we walked around and took some pictures of the people we liked, or didnt like, or our fathers dont like, like chuck norris. hehe...and then we took some pics by the palm trees! and ate mcdonalds lol. and then we sat on the beautiful beach with our tshirts on an dgot some sun. the water was really cold. i had to take my shoes off and feel it. and i took a shell :-)

from there, we started heading back to italy....and we stopped in Eze...where we went on a tour of a perfume factory. it was ok. expensive stuff...and then we left. and hit traffic and our 5 hour bus ride turned into a 7 and a half hour bus ride. so we got back pretty late last night and i had to do some homework. haha. but it was a blast.

tomorrow we are going to siena for the day. and this weekend, we're traveling to Torino!

oh ps, we paid for the trip to switzerland today!!!

miss you all.

baci!