We took off at the glorious hour of 5:00a.m., and I can now say I have perfected the art form of sleeping on buses. Not gonna say that I enjoy it, but you gotta do what you gotta do working on four hours of sleep.
Our first stop was the Principality of Monaco. We were greeted by gorgeous weather as we walked over to our first site, which was the church where Grace Kelly and Prince Albert are buried. The church was really pretty, and Grace Kelly's tomb had the most flowers on it.
After that, we got to see the noontime changing of the guard. It was held right in front on the palace, which is also the spot where Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier were married.
After that, we got lunch and a chance to take pictures of the amazing views. However, I really wish we could have had more time to see the city. We didn't get to see the Monte Carlo casino, which was a bummer. I wanted to see how it stacks up to the one in Vegas (haha)! But all the more reason to return here someday :)
Our next stop was the city of Nice. And needless to say...Nice is nice! It is positioned right on the water, and is exactly how you'd picture a French city to look like. We ditched our tour group and explored the city on our own. Sitting on the beaches of Nice was a thing of beauty, and I was positive I never wanted to leave.
I explored the city with new friends from New Jersey, who have reinstated my faith in the state. Cause I didn't want to think that ALL people from that state are like those on Jersey Shore, Jerseylicious, The Real Housewives of New Jersey. They are all normal and awesome! We hit the town together that night...and by hit the town, I mean tried two bars and called it a night. We were sooooo beat down from the long day we had, and we had to be up really early. But one of the girls in the group introduced me to ordering a Stella with raspberry sauce in it. The amazing result looked like this:
The next day can be summarized in one word: RUSHED. We saw three cities in one day, which was not enough time to see anything. Our first stop was one we were not expecting, which was to the medival city of St. Paul de Vence. While the city was kind of adorable, we were in NO MOOD to see a place where pretty much nothing was open. And for some odd reason, we got two and a half hours there, when we could easily cover the city in an hour. But we explored anyways, and went to a street fair where they were offering free samples of cheeses, olive oils (the city is noted for it), spreads, and wines. But St. Paul really is a cute little town, and I probably would've appreciated it more had I not been such a tired grouch.
After St. Paul, we headed out to Cannes, where I'm sure we have all heard about the famous Cannes film festival. However, the building where the festival is held is extremely underwelming.
Nothing special, right? But much like Grauman's in Hollywood, there are handprints of people in the movie industry who have visited the film festival. Other than that, Cannes is a pretty nice city with lots of yachts parked in its harbor. I'm sure my rich husband and I will be cruising through this area on a whim one day.
After boarding the bus for the umpteenth time, we departed for Eze. Eze was a MAJOR letdown, because our guide said that we had ONE HOUR there. Yes, one whole hour in this wonderful city in the French Riviera. Even better, we had a choice of either seeing the Fragonard Perfume Factory of the actual village. And you all know what a body lotion-lover I am (not), so guess which one I picked?
Sigh. I went to the perfume factory.
But it really wasn't that bad. Making perfume is fun-with-chemistry, and the people who test-smell the perfumes are called professional "noses." Their job is to smell EVERYTHING that factory produces. They can't drink or smoke or eat spicy food, but I guess they get paid a ton of money. I will pass on this job opportunity though, because after smelling six different perfumes, I got light headed. And I like two out of three of those things two much.
Here's the next surprise: I actually BOUGHT French perfume. Yes, I, Kara Rutkin, am now the proud owner of Juste un Baiser (Just a Kiss), straight from the Fragonard factory. It smells lovely, and we got it at a factory discount. Aaaand our guide showed us where the "sexy spots" to put it on are ;) Tehehehehe.
So as you can tell, we saw a LOT this weekend. It was sooo much to take in, but fun nonetheless. I hope to return to France later this semester....my friends and I are in the works of a Paris trip :)
Well, that's all I got for now. But this week is midterms, so pray for my soul. Yes, I have to go to school here! Fall break is the light at the end of my tunnel, and I will be going to IRELAND!!!! And then Mommy and Daddy come :) Life is good. La vita รจ bella!
Je'taime!
Kara
OH MY GOD this is so amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletei like the part about your rich husband yachting. hahahahah you are so hilarious.
miss you but Italy/France/Ireland/the whole of Europe is was better than cloudy small HB :(
smoochies!!!