Nice 5/20 – 5/21

As I write this blog update we are on the train from Barcelona to Nice and it is 11:45am. So far today hasn’t quite gone as planned. We got up early to try and reserve more trains for later in the trip at the station before we left for Nice. The man at the station told us that we couldn’t make reservations because all of the places reserved for Eurail travelers had already been sold out, for most of the trains that we need to take on the rest of our trip. That makes me more than a little nervous but I’m not going to worry about it until we get to France. Then Caitlin and I looked at our tickets and realized that we were at the wrong train station. We needed to be at Barcelona Franca station, rather than the main rail station. So, with an hour before our train left we hopped back on the metro and rode it across the city to the correct train station. We got there with 10 minutes to spare and boarded our train without any more problems. The trip has thus far been less exciting, and the scenery outside the windows is incredible! The train runs right alongside the ocean so we have a perfect view of the coast, cliffs, and all of the tiny red-roofed pueblos we pass through. Neither Caitlin nor I have ever been to France so we’re excited to get there and explore someplace new. Hopefully not speaking French won’t be too much of an issue! We still have 2 hours on this train and about 4 hours on the connecting train after Montpellier but we should arrive in Nice this evening in time to watch the sunset on the beach and find some good food for dinner.
The rest of Nice: our train took a 40-minute delay in some tiny town between Barcelona and Montpellier which appeared to me to be a big smoke break for all of the passengers and train crew, so as a result we pulled into the Montpellier station 9 minutes before our connecting train was supposed to leave for Nice. Caitlin and I ran through the train station, found our train and jumped aboard with exactly 2 minutes to spare before it pulled out of the station. That added just a little bit more excitement to our otherwise long, boring day. We arrived in Nice, found our way to the hostel and headed out to get something to eat. We had forgotten to pick up groceries in Barcelona, and we left before the hostel started serving breakfast so all we had to eat was half of a granola bar. The plan was to grab lunch at the station during our hour in Montpellier but since we ended up with 9 minutes to get to the train we skipped lunch as well. We did split an overpriced and rather disgusting sandwich from the trolley on the train but we were definitely ready for some real food. We walked down the main street in Nice towards the ocean and stopped at a kebab restaurant along the way. I ate a “kebab burger” that was bigger than my head and then we continued down to watch the sunset from the water.
The beaches at Nice aren’t nice sand beaches, they actually look a lot like the North Shore. The beach we were at was covered with big, rounded rocks that made a really cool sound as they rolled over each other when the waves rolled in. After checking out the beach situation we walked up a big hill to a tiny plaza on top of the hill that has built-in marble benches that are perfect for ocean/sunset watching.
Nice is a beautiful city full of plazas and fountains, and at night everything lights up. In the main plaza there are these weird statues of people sitting on top of tall posts that line the streets. At night the statues light up from inside with colored lights that change every few minutes. They kind of look like big gummy bears. Also, strung across the main street above the metro cables are strings of light blue and dark blue lights. In the dark of the night the street looks stunning.
The next day we got up late, walked around town, found a grocery store to make ourselves a picnic lunch and headed out to the beach to soak up some sun. Like I said, the beaches aren’t very sandy but we made due with the rocks. After we’d had enough sun we made a stop at the gelato stand and then headed back to the hostel for showers and a nap. The night before we had walked through a square that was full of people, street markets and tiny restaurants. For dinner we headed back down there to find some legit French cuisine. We ended up at a very cute small restaurant that had tables outside. They had a special on 3-course meals so of course we had to try it. Caitlin’s dinner consisted of a plate of fried zucchini and eggplant (delicious) with salmon and rice. I had a Nice salad (anchovies and tuna on top of lettuce and all kinds of vegetables), and beef stew that came served over noodles. I liked everything that I tasted, but the best part was yet to come. For dessert Caitlin and I split chocolate mousse and crème brule. As most of you know I have always been a huge fan of dessert, but I think it’s safe to say that this might have been the best dessert I have ever experienced. I know, it’s a bold statement but I’m sticking by it. I’ve never really liked crème brule before but this was SO good. The shell or crust or whatever you call it on top was the perfect crispness and the whole thing just melted in your mouth. And the chocolate mousse was rich and light all at the same time so we ate the whole thing but didn’t feel sick. It was beautiful. After dinner we went back up the hill for another sunset, then walked a bit further and sat by the ocean listening to the waves roll in until it was time for bed. I’m not sure that Nice is a place that I would go back to, nor someplace that I would want to spend a long period of time, but it was great for a short visit.