Sisterhood of the Traveling Powells: Nice, France

We arrived in Nice on Monday evening around 8 PM and quickly located our hostel just two blocks down from the train station. We checked into Hostel Baccarat and a very kind man that we think was the owner upgraded us from our 10 bed dorm to a private room at no extra charge. After the day we spent dealing with the train delay in Paris our voyage was looking up! We rode up in the world's smallest elevator, tossed our backpacks in the room, and marveled at the attached private bathroom before heading downstairs in search of food.We stopped at the front desk again to ask for a map and restaurant suggestions. The nice man drew a line down the main street and told us to walk all the way down it until we reached the restaurants. We thanked him and headed out into the nice Nice night. 

After taking a couple of wrong turns we found ourselves on the main avenue, but couldn't see a hotbed of lights and activity at the southern end. Instead, we stumbled into the nearest Mcdonald's, trading our visions of French Riveria cuisine for familiar nuggets and an early bedtime. Embarrassed that we hadn't taken ANY suggestions from the hostel owner, we slunk back into the hostel pretending to be on the phone so he wouldn't ask us where we had decided to dine. 

We slept in the next morning and checked out of the hostel by 9:30. The owner continued to be so dang kind and said we were welcome to sleep in later as he had instructed the cleaning lady to leave our room for last. He also welcomed us to come back in the afternoon and use a room to take a shower or change clothes before our train to Rome left that evening. 

We left the hostel after stashing our packs in the luggage room and ventured to the flower market indicated on the map. We initially planned to make a day trip to Monaco, but since we had arrived in Nice 5 hours behind schedule we decided to skip Monaco. The outdoor market was absolutely adorable and we feasted our eyes on lemon trees, endless cacti, and assorted bouquets, before feasting our stomachs on breakfast al fresco. I opted for a chicken mushroom crepe with a white wine sauce and Jordan chose the pancakes, bacon, and eggs American breakfast. Fully fueled, we continued our southern stroll to the surprisingly rocky coastline. The chilly water was crystal clear and we stuck our toes in only, struggling to walk barefoot on the rocks. 

We walked along the shoreline, alternating people and wave watching. We came upon a beautiful war memorial, but couldn't decipher the French inscriptions. We turned our steps back to the market where I purchased some handmade soap just before they packed up for the day. Lunch was calling our name, so we perched at an outdoor pizzeria and split a pie, margherita style. 

Our original train was, you guessed it!, cancelled, so we were scheduled to depart Nice earlier than anticipated. We started our trek back toward the hostel to collect our packs, stopping at Hema along the way. Picture Target on a smaller scale--that's Hema. I visited a Hema four years ago in Belgium where I bought a cheap eyeliner because mine had just run out. This is a judgement free zone so I'm going to admit that I made that eyeliner last FOUR years--I loved it that much. My original Hema eyeliner from Belgium ran out just before this trip, so I bought another one in Nice! 

We hopped on a train leaving Nice at 5:38 and arrived in Ventimiglia, Italy by 7. Our original itinerary had us leaving Nice at 8, arriving in Ventimiglia at 9:30, arriving in Savona at 11:45, and then leaving for Genova at 4:30 AM before continuing to Rome. We hadn't booked a hostel for this evening and instead planned to slumber in the Savona train station. After some quick Eurail planner app research we found a train leaving Ventimiglia at 7:30 and arriving in Genova, not to be confused with Genovia, a little after 10 PM, completely skipping Savona. Instead of sleeping in the train station, I booked a last minute B&B next door to the train station as a birthday present to Jordan. Birthday girls can't wake up in a train station! That B&B was the most luxurious 6 hours we experienced the entire 13 days. 

Nice Stats

18,600 steps walked

$150 US dollars spent (ATM trip + last minute B&B)