So I decided to go to the French Riviera last weekend...about 12 hours before my train departed. The girls I went on fall break with had one more weekend left of their Eurail pass and wanted to use it so I decided to go with them! We went to Nice for a day and the next day we went into Monaco and Monte Carlo. It's so weird that we can take a short train ride from Paris and we are down at the beach right by the Mediterranean Sea. It was getting dark when we got into Nice so we just found our hostel and explored the city to find somewhere to eat. We went into the Fruit and Flower Market which is an area with a lot of restaurants down by the beach. Our hostel was about 5 minutes from it. There were a ton of smaller side streets with hidden restaurants and bars. We had such a fun time meeting locals and exploring these hidden streets!
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| Adding another 2 countries and 2 cities to our extensive list! |
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| On the beach in Nice, France at sunrise. |
The next morning we woke up early to see Nice in the daytime and take a day trip Monte Carlo since we weren't there for that long. The beach was beautiful! There are colorful buildings built up along the coasts that lead up to miles of beaches. The city was so lively even that early with people running, biking, or just strolling along the quant town. Our bus ride to Monaco was amazing. It took us on a street along the coast so the views were unbelievable. 40 minutes later, we're in another country! We got off the bus in Monte Carlo and explored the beautiful scenery. We couldn't have gotten luckier with the weather that weekend. Everyone walking around Monte Carlo was so chic. I couldn't even count the number of designer bags, expensive furs, or luxury cars. It was amazing how much wealth was in one town. We didn't have much we wanted to do in Monte Carlo so we chose a small cafe along the water and took our time as we ate lunch and people watched. One of my favorite people watching spots in Europe so far! Before we headed back to the bus station, we stopped at the famous Monte Carlo Casino. My mom told me a story before I went abroad about how when she traveled there with her friends while abroad in Vienna, she pulled out her camera in the casino and they immediately took it and pulled out all the film. No pictures inside the casino for me! My friends and I played a few games and lost a couple euros...very quickly. It was totally worth it though because the casino was beautiful inside! I could have stayed in the casino for hours but good thing for me (and my bank account) that we had a train out of Nice to catch!
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| Our view from the bus ride along the coast. |
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| Monte Carlo. |
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| Gave this casino a donation of 10 euros :) |
It was such a lovely weekend being a backpacker again with the friends that helped me explore 5 other countries earlier that month. I did get to spend Thanksgiving in Paris, though. Our program rented out a small restaurant on Rue Mouffetard to celebrate...and eat. The program provided all of the food and the students were the ones to cook it all. I didn't have time to cook but the other students made a pretty good meal! There was turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, and a few other Thanksgiving staples. It was such a great night that I was able to spend with all the friends that I have made abroad. I'm so thankful to have them in Paris with me! I was back in Paris for only a few days then it was off to London for my final adventure of my time abroad. I will post later on my jam-packed weekend in the United Kingdom but first, it's time to start studying for my finals. This semester is going by way too quickly!
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| Thanksgiving dinner! |
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| Thankful for these people in Paris. |
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