The end of April/beginning of May (yes, I realize I am way behind on blog posts!) started off with me heading to the sunshine! As I mentioned before, here in Holland we hardly get to see the sun and when we do we are 99% of the time still in our coat when the sun is out. Planning my trip to the French Riviera my first thoughts were sunshine, beach days, and lots of French wine. That wasn’t exactly how it worked out… but there was lots of wine!
We (my friend Stephanie and myself) flew into Nice, France and had booked our AirBnb there for a few days. Our trip started with us being in freak out mode when we realized as we were going through security at the airport that we both forgot our passports. How we both forgot them is random! We ended up getting very lucky and them letting us on our flight and through passport check with just our Netherlands Resident Cards/Visas. Going to France you usually don’t have to go through passport check but due to all the recent terrorist attacks they have a passport check at every airport in France now. Thankfully we were prepared and had our resident cards/Visa and also a copy of our passports on our phones and had a nice guy at the passport check line and he let us through. Something always has to go wrong on every trip so I thought this was our one thing. Our AirBnb host offered to pick us up from the airport and drop us off at the villa we were renting which we thought was so nice of her. Come to find out after walking out of departures that she was actually a HE and really creepy looking to be honest. I was a bit nervous getting into a car with him at night in a city we didn’t know, but he ended up being so friendly and nice. Never judge a book by its cover right! But, you can never be too safe being female travelers in another country. Also, this is a good time to add that reading the reviews before booking your AirBnb is SO IMPORTANT! I’ve had some good experiences and some not so great experiences. Those reviews are what makes me pick the place and host.The reviews for this villa all had great things to say about the host, location and villa itself.
The only plan we had for our trip was to one day take the bus (#100) that runs all along the coast from Nice to Monaco to Menton. The journey is only 1.50€! Super cheap right!?!! So we decided to go all the way to Menton and work our way back. The bus ride was absolutely beautiful. The bus drives along the coast and the views of the water is gorgeous! Traveler Tip: sit on the right side of the bus on the trip from Nice to Monaco to Menton if you want to be on the side of the bus to view the water. After touring Menton, eating lunch right on the water, and getting some gelato we were ready to get back on the bus and go to Monte Carlo/Monaco. We walked around the town but honestly to me it wasn’t anything special. It was very ritzy of course but that’s about it. Nothing really set it apart from any other city. Then it was back to Nice for dinner and more wine and a finding really good mojito bar where we stopped and had a great view of the water.
The weather wasn’t amazing in Nice so we weren’t really able to put on our suits and lay out by the water. I was pretty bummed. The sun was shining but it was SO WINDY and a bit chilly! Nice was such a fun city though. It reminded me of a small Italian village with the small cobblestone streets and outdoor restaurants. There are few places I’ve been on my travels that I would like to go back to (there is too much of the world to see to visit the same places over and over). So far only New York City, Ireland and Nice make my list. The pebble beaches and crystal clear water in Nice were beautiful! I’d definitely add it to your must see list! I wish I was able to actually have some nice warm sunny beach days, but that is all part of travel I guess. You change plans and adapt to whatever is given to you. When traveling if you aren’t adaptable it can completely ruin your trip. I’ve learned this year to go with the flow and just enjoy whatever comes my way.
We spent our days drinking lots of French wine (by the bottle, not the glass. It’s actually cheaper that way if you are drinking a bit more than just a single glass which we totally were ), walking the Promenade des Anglais, and taking naps. It was a pretty great time!
Our last day Steph was headed to Cannes, while I had to head back to The Hague to work for two days then we were meeting back up in Marseille. Fast forward 45 minutes and I was in a grocery store freezer van sharing a front seat with two strangers heading to the airport. I love random travel adventures! Haha! Let me explain. When Stephanie and me left and went our separate ways, I headed toward the bus stop to catch the bus to the airport. When I arrived there was a big group of people all waiting with their luggage to go to the airport. One lady told me that the bus to the airport wasn’t running that day. Surprisingly I stayed calm and didn’t go into instant freak out mode. I didn’t have a working phone to call a taxi (which I really couldn’t afford. It would be uber expensive to taxi it to the airport). So I asked the lady if she had called a cab and if she would like to split it. She informed me that she called a friend and he was coming to pick her up and take her. Being that I was totally stuck I asked if there was room for me to also ride with them. A bit bold on my part, but seeing as I didn’t have any other options I just went for it. I figured the worst she could do was say no. But lucky for me, she was so kind and said yes. Her friend shows up and he happens to be a guy she met that works for the grocery store Monte Prix. He is in his work freezer van. Me and the lady both start giggling but were so thankful to have a ride we threw our luggage into the back freezer and jumped in to share the front seat. Can I just say that this is what happens on random travel adventures. You end up riding in some strangers car, listening to them speak only french to each other while the lady in the middle tries to translate back and forth to each of us, and you make some instant friends. I learned so much in our 30 minute car ride about the French Riviera and also my next destination Marseille, and how much Europeans love hearing that people take what they call gap years (when you take a break between high school and college, or a break after college before joining the workforce, or taking a break in your career and all of these breaks are to travel). It was such a nice ride and it hit me while being squished in that front seat that God is seriously so good! This crazy roller coaster of life is sure fun. HE doesn’t say it’ll always be easy, which is 100% true. It isn’t always easy. But, I’ve come to realize over this past year that some of my favorite stories and lesson learned moments are the ones that happen when you least expect them and usually when you are in sticky situations. Being outside of our comfort zones is tough. Taking that leap off over the edge is something I’ll never regret doing. I’m not sure what comes next for me in my life adventure…. but this year will be something I talk about for the rest of my life. I encourage anyone thinking they can’t do something to just go do it! I’m living proof that you just have to jump, trust in God, and ride the curves and spins to create your story and find your happiness.
Until next time,
Trista
the person I am TODAY 
Reblogged this on Journal Edge.
LikeLike