1. French people are rude and hate Americans..
2. The French Riviera is a small area and nothing too spectacular..
3. I would win abunch of $ at the Monte Carlo hahaha..
I will be honest and admit that the negative connotations and stereotypes I had about the French and their country was completely inaccurate. For me this just goes to show even further that you can't believe everything you hear, and you truly need to be open to many different cultures and people, especially in today's increasingly more globalized society. So here is what I did learn FOR the most part especially in the French Riviera area, the locals are actually extremely nice and polite to Americans, not only that a vast majority of them even speak English! Having been in Barcelona for more than a month now, I will say that it is very uncommon to ever have a local know English so that was a nice change of scenery for a few days. And in terms of the French Riviera well it was AMAZING so here we go.
Day 1: Woke up at a reasonable hour and we would depart for Monaco which is a very wealthy beautiful city which is also home to the world famous Monte Carlo Casino. The train ride from Nice to Monaco was about 30 minutes and was extremely beautiful, the train line runs right next to the ocean and offers great scenery of the beaches and the beautiful homes and buildings built right along the coast and up into the mountains. Once we got into Monaco we started off by doing some exploring and would see the oldest church in the city, the Queens Palace, the exotic gardens, and greats views of the lower city. Unfortunately none of the following were actually open to see inside which was a bit upsetting, but still beautiful from the outside. After spending most of the day seeing the sites of Monaco it was time to venture to the Monte Carlo Casino, which is a main attraction and world renowned. Inside was BEAUTIFUL artwork, and architecture, and plenty of high status people. Now for myself I am not a big gambler and if I am going to gamble I prefer blackjack or poker... That was unfortunately not a possibility for me as minimum bets were $25 euro and well I am just not quite to that level yet. So I was forced to play Roulette for $5 minimum bets and I'll let ya in on a little secret I have no played and had no idea how to play... Within a few hours let's just say I had lost/donated alot more $ than originally intended, but it was fun. My buddy Travis on the other hand won $175 on his final chip when he bet on 32 lucky SOB, but atleast someone came out on top! After a bit more exlporing of the city and getting some night shots of the city we decided to head back to Nice and grab dinner. We had some AMAZING pizza I mean it was good stuff, rumor has it that Nice may or may not have better pizza than Italy...
Day 2: Today we would make the journey to the beautiful beach town of Cannes, yes the same one you have probably heard of for the world renowned movie festivals and a place where many actors and actresses frequent. We saw the giant screening auditorium and all of the tiles with actors and actresses names and hand prints, but were not able to go inside :( We also spent some time walking around the town and along the beach, which was one of the few sand beaches in the Riviera. For lunch again we had pizza and again it was excellent! That day we would head back a bit early and rest up for the night of Carnival festivities! Carnival was awesome, the floats and the insane amount of people on the streets was crazy. The floats were extremely detailed and just overall alot of fun to watch. Carnival is quite an experience and I would love to to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and carnival in Rio de Jinero in the future, let me know if your interested!
Day 3: We would explore Nice and see the afternoon version of Carnival. Nice was extremely beautiful although it was rainy and cloudy we were able to see the beach and climb to the top of the castle which overlooked the entire city, it was well worth the hike and I think I may have some great calves by the end of this semester watch out Johnny Drama! The top of the city was absolutely gorgeous and it was amazing to see all of the coast line and city from such a great point. At the end of the afternoon Travis and I went into the old city to watch more of the Carnival parade this time with the day light. It was just as exciting as the night before and we were able to see even more of the floats. Later that evening we would make the lonnnngggg bus ride back only 9 hours...
Well that was my trip and obviously it was a blast and I was extremely glad I went I should probably thank my family, Sallie Mae, and whomever my future employer is for making it a possibility.
This week I plan to relax, catch up on sleep, and study for my 1st midterm exam in Spain, wish me luck. As always I hope everyone is doing well back in the states, enjoy yourselves and be safe. Thanks!
Regards,
Eric
