Nice, not so nice

Unfortunately I don't have too many fond words about Nice except that it broke up a long train journey from Italy to France. The train ride I talked about in my last blog entry ended up taking close to 12 hours because of a train getting stuck on the line in front of my one. Been stuck in a carriage with pretty much no air flow for a few hours was far from pleasant. I'm thankful I had my baby penguin fan, it has become a real life saver on this trip! It has also caused a few odd looks when I whip it out and begin extreme fanning ;)

Baby penguin fan from Marina Bay Sands!

I had quite high expectations of my hostel in Nice because it had some great reviews and was the most expensive one I'd stayed in (finding reasonably priced accommodation in Nice was difficult). I was far from impressed, it was so dirty and I couldn't believe that's what €40 a night got me. My hostel in Bled was not great but still better than this one and that only cost me €15 per night. In fact everything in Nice seemed over priced. I know I am not painting a good picture but for me Nice had no charm, sure a lot of money but nothing particularly special that I found myself marvelling at.  

 

I had one full day there and although my first impressions were not great I wasn't going to sit in my room and feel sorry for myself wasting time so I set out exploring quite early in the morning. Nice has the biggest outdoor fruit and flower market so I went to check that out. They had a good selection of fresh produce so I got myself a fresh fruit salad to keep my energy levels up. I had a walk around the old town and headed to check out the beach (which was already packed at 9.30am).

Sunflowers!

A nice selection

A local tending to his flowers

A great selection of fruit

View from the top

 

Found the museum of contemporary art on my walk

What is this???

 

I'd noticed that my hostel ran a free walking tour that left at 11am so I made sure I was back for that. The walking tour was good. The guide was quite comical and held a baguette as his pointer. From it I learnt that Nice used to be part of Italy until Napoleon III made a secret deal with the Italians to take it for France 152 years ago. In the old town there is a huge Italian influence and it is obvious why when you know it was part of Italy.  

The guide

Streets in the old town, quite Italian looking

Small church we passed on the way, I have been following the blue sky!

Three wheeler truck

 

We ended the tour on top of one of the hills overlooking Nice. It had some great views overlooking the coast and a nice area to have a picnic on.  

From the top of the hill

Nice (nice not Nice) waterfall - we needed a splash after the climb up the hill

 

After I got back to the hostel I headed down to the beach and in the crowds of people managed to bump into a few girls I'd got friendly with in my room. It was nice to sit and talk with them. The only uncomfortable thing about the beach was that it was covered in stones - there was no sand in sight! That made it incredibly tricky when trying to get in and out of the water because it hurt your feet a lot. These aren't small pebbles I'm talking about but stones similar size to those you'd find down the Hutt River.  

The waterfront before it got packed! Past 12pm it was hard to move

 

I managed to fill my day quite well I think and my next stop I'm very excited about - Avignon! I have heard fantastic things about this place. My dad's boss who lived in France for many years told me, "My heart is in Avignon", and with a compliment like that I think it must be good!