EuroTrip - Day 18

And to a Nice Beach

We have not been doing justice to our (host) country. After having arrived on 14th of September, we have stayed in France for just three and half days. We did not even touch base with Eiffel Tower before leaving for our Scandinavian journey. So I guess it was high time that we get some more of France before we see the rest of Europe.

So the group decided to hit the Mediterranean sea in south of France and left our home in the wee hours of Thursday. Our first stop would be Nice, the heart of French Riviera. It's pebbled shores are famous for sunbathers who enjoy their sip or two of the best of French vines. The long and picturesque Promenade des Anglais consists of a number of private and public beaches from where you can get the view of the best of the French architecture. The Opera majestically sits across the promenade and is lit very beautifully in evening, making it a visual treat to take a stroll once the sun sets in.

The beaches here are pebbled thus not the most comfortable to dive into the salty water. However if your plan is to soak up some sun, then these plages have a lot to offer. The luke warm water can be quite attractive as compared to the many other beaches and sea fronts that you see up north. There is water sports etc to entice the adventure seeking soul.

The old town of Nice is called Vieille ville and is still preserved well. The restaurants there serve authentic Nacoise delicacies and are supposed to be some of the best places to indulge yourself. Alas there is nothing much for vegetarians in the Nacoise cuisine. The old market specially flower market gives an old town type feeling. You hardly get to see many crowded places in this part of world, old town is one such places. Chandani Chowk in a French colour.

The Parc de Chateu towards the end of the old town is built on top a small hill and gives a panoramic view of the town as well as the sea. It's a nice place to be towards the end of the day as you can witness sunset from the top. The hike to the top can be tiring if you have had a long day in water or on road. So while taking rest in the parc, don't forget to keep an alarm for the closing time of the parc. No prizes for guessing that we did the mistake of not keeping the closing time in mind (they are open till 7 in September and till 6 October onwards. And we reached there on 1st Oct). On our way back we found the entrance (the exit too) closed. And there was no one to man the gate. We checked the map and approached another gate. Result still the same. This time there were some people enjoying their bear sitting on the stairs just outside the gate. Very matter of factly they told us that all the gates are closed and that they will open the next day only. Only option was to call police. However, that was our last resort. We roamed around to find a church and some living souls there (there is a big burial ground next to church too) and they told us about one possible way out. We couldn't have been happier. Finally we had found the way out and within 10 minutes we were out of the Parc. Gosh, why do we end up doing such things again and again.

The promenade is even more beautiful in night. Cool breeze passes across you soothing any pain you have. The roller-scatters hit the walkways to thrill themselves as well as the passer by. People here are fitness freaks and you can find them doing jogging or running at any time of the day. In evening, they are even more out.

Our stay for the night was at the grand mension where Ankit Bajaj has rented an apartment. It was another get together of sort with a mix of IIMA and IIMB people spending rest of the night together. The walk to station and then to old city, finally back to home was a long still pleasant one. The autumn showers made it even more enjoyable (though for a moment, I felt we should have better stayed at home). As we were really tired, we hit the bed earlier than usual while others went to the beach to enjoy their day's quota of bear. Life couldn't have been better for those people.

For us, it was a good night's sleep. Pooch might not agree though. :-) Tomorrow we visit world's second smallest country and also hit the beaches in Cannes (of the film festival fame).