French Riviera

We got on the train to Ventimiglia (the last Italian stopover before you get to France) and the train was jam packed.  After the first few stops, a couple of seats opened up so we jumped at the chance.  An hour or so later, we arrived in Ventimiglia with a French man's phone number and a little less sleep than we had hoped for.  Since Italian trains are never on time, and French trains are always on time, we just missed our train change to Cannes.  So naturally, we got on with our new found Parisien friend, Stephan, and a wildly outgoing elderly French lady who sat next to us.  She heard us speaking French/English and so she just jumped right in our conversation with a little English.  Stephan practically jumped out of his seat when he heard her speaking such good English...it is very uncommon for the older population here to speak English.    We had a crazy fun time on that train ride, as she had a lot of spunk.  Turns out she was an English professor here in France.  

We arrived in Cannes and after a few bus "issues" that Kerry had, she finally made it.  While we were waiting on her we stashed our luggage at the train station and walked along the beach, looking at all the posh stores we dare not enter and sat along the beach to do a little people watching.  There is some excellent people watching in Cannes.  We also tried to find a bathroom.  Even in the train station you have to pay 50 cents to use the bathroom.  Okay, we had put all of our change in to store our luggage.  No big deal, we bought a sandwich to get some change.  No 50 cent pieces though, just one euro and two euro pieces.  Turns out the rest of the bathrooms in Cannes require exactly 50 cent pieces and won't take one euro pieces even if you are willing to pay more.  Ugh.  We finalllllyy came upon a bathroom with an actual lady to take my one euro piece.  At that point I would have given just about any amount for les toilettes.  

There is only a small stretch of beach that is public, the rest you have to pay to use.  Paying to use the beach?  Seems like a foreign concept to me...but, this is France, and....this is Cannes.  

The weather turned a bit windy and chilly so after we finally met up with Kerry we decided to just head back to her house.  She lives about 40 minutes away from Cannes in a small village called Mandalieu.  We took a bus to her station then took her car back to her house.  It was weird to be in a car with friends again.  It's always weird to be in a car, but without my host family was so different!  Her house was such a cute, French, country house with horses, dogs, cats, and a pool.  

Meet Bruno and Dior.  

Saturday we woke up at 6 am ready to get a head start on the day.  We woke up to cold rain.  Bleh.  But, seeing as how we were only here for a couple of days, we trudged through.  We started in Monaco/Monte Carlo and at the Prince's Palace of Monaco.  

We didn't take a tour of the castle, as there was maintenance going on and too expensive to just see a few rooms.  So, we explored the other streets on the top of the cliff very quickly as we thought we might blow away up there!  

They were also already setting up for the Grand Prix of Monaco which is just over a month away.  The preparation which was going in to all the grandstands, streets, and pedestrian areas was crazy!  

We walked around the marina and took a look at all of the massive beautiful yachts.  There were thousands of them!  All with a staff of at least 5 people waiting on their employers to get there.  

We were meeting Charlotte (another au pair from Paris who's family has a house in the south) in Nice at noon, so we decided it a good chance to break from the rain and get back on the train to Nice.  Our trains arrived at nearly the same time so we didn't have to wait long.  We got all the way to the "Old Ville" Nice before it began to rain again.  The market in the center of the Old Ville was absolutely beautiful.  

The beach in Nice was deserted because of the weather, no naked sunbathing beauties like on normal days.  We climbed the cliff to the château, looking for another great view.  

Pebble beach instead of sand!

The view of the city would have been better in the sun, but it was still beautiful!  I had no idea how big Nice actually was, but the view of the rooftops proved me wrong!  

After Nice we stopped at the small village of Antibes, but I didn't take any really good pictures as it downpoured the whole time.  In fact, all we did there was pop in a little café and have some tea to warm us up!  Our clothes were drenched and we were all shivering from the wind.  We said goodbye to Charlotte and got the train once again, to Cannes.  That night, we turned on the Wii to play a little Dance Party.  It was hilariously fun.  

We danced to a little Proud Mary, Lady GaGa, and 80's hits and were beat by another long sight seeing day.  Easter Sunday we woke up, went for a little swim, a walk down to the lake, and played with all the animals.  It was great!! We left for our flight out of Nice around 4 pm and after a long evening in the airport we got back to Paris around 11 pm.  It was good to hit the ground in Paris and we were immediately thrown back into a busy city with lots of people.  It is really nice to get away for a week or so, but is always nice to come back home.  Paris.  Yes, I can now call Paris home.  And it feels that way too.  Its nice to get back to familiar people and places and shower in my own shower.  

Huge thanks to Kerry for being such a wonderful hostess!  She is a fabulous cook, and made us feel right at home and welcome.  We miss her here in Paris, but I think she fits right in with her family in Cannes and hope she gets the chance to enjoy the countryside for the summer!