We left Marseille this morning and took a 2 ½ hour train ride to Nice. The terrain has changed so much from up north in Paris. We went through miles and miles of vineyards and green lush trees with fields galore. The train cruised along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and out the window was water lined to the horizon with shores of beaches. It reminds me a bit of Mexico with a mix of Miami. The houses are all stucco and there are tropical palm trees and even agave and cactuses . You know this place has already won my heart!
Our hotel in Nice was “nice” and had a large balcony. The “lift” to get up to the 3rd floor was an old-style pulley system elevator that you would imagine in an old ancient house. I was hesitant to get on it but it worked out ok. We immediately went to the beach and there was miles and miles of shore with hotels, restaurants and shops. We witnessed several speedos and topless women. People were swimming, para-sailing, intertubing, boating and soaking up the sun. I dipped my toes into the Mediterranean but that is as far as it went as it felt cold to me!
We saw a little open-air street train cruising around and decided to catch the next one for a tour. The train drove around in the city past several old architectural buildings and streets. The city of Nice is very old and has several very cool narrow streets with big tall European style buildings enclosing the street. The train then made its way to the top of Castle Hill. It was such a beautiful lookout onto the beach and city of Nice. There was a little restaurant and gift shop at the top of the hill and we wondered around for about a half an hour before getting back on the next train.
We decided to have something different than the usual salad or sandwich for dinner and went to a little Mexican restaurant (I called it a Frexican restaurant). The owner was very nice and was from San Diego and the food was definitely not bad. It was different than Mexican food at home but we had chips and salsa, guacamole, and shared chicken fajitas. Needless to say it was a good change and we both had been craving Mexican food. After dinner we went back to the hotel so we could get an early start the next day. Luckily this room had a few more English speaking channels rather than just CNN and we were able to choose from a few different shows.
We woke up early and went to the train station to book our next train to Venice, Italy. We wanted to do a night train since it is an 8 hour trip but unfortunately there weren’t any. We left the station in Nice at 1pm today and are currently on the train to Venice, with a 1 hour stop in Milan. We only had one day in Nice but it was definitely worth it and I would recommend it to anyone. The train ride pretty much wastes an entire day traveling but it is worth it to get to Italy.
This train is not as nice as the others we have traveled on including cafes inside, clean seats, nice bathrooms, etc. This is definitely an older train and is very stuffy, no air conditioning, dirty, and little rooms that you have to share with other people. We picked up lunch to bring on the train at the station and after taking a few bites of the cardboard pizza and the smelly sandwich I reverted back to my peanut M&Ms J Trevor is fast asleep right now and I am thinking I will do the same so I can wake up in beautiful Venice. We have a hotel booked right on the water.
Bon Voyage!
XO
Shawnie
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