February 18, 2017 – February 19, 2017

It’s been a dreary few weeks in the Dam, so we headed south for the weekend to the beautiful French Riviera. The weather was absolutely perfect – not a cloud in the sky and no jacket necessary. Thank goodness I dug my sunglasses out of the bottom of my drawer for the occasion.

The French Riviera is somewhere I’ve always wanted to go, although I have to admit I wasn’t really sure where it was. I just thought it sounded cool, and it was.

I have become obsessed with cactus since moving here ^^

Hiking Leisurely walking to the top of Castle Hill was one of the highlights of the trip. The views were amazing and up at the top was a cool little park. I also liked that there was a sign saying that the whole area was organic and no pesticides are used on the greenery.

Since the weather was so nice we also decided to hang out on the rock bed beach for a little bit as well.

That’s the most sun my tootsies have seen in ages.

Although we were very excited to enjoy the nice weather, the main reason we came to Nice was for Carnival. The Nice Carnival is one of the largest in the world behind the Carnivals in Brazil and Venice. It’s basically like the Mardi Gras of Europe (having never been to Mardi Gras I can’t verify this assumption). I have to admit I was a little nervous about going to this crowded event due to certain events that have happened lately, however I had read that the officials stepped up security this year. That was very evident by the thorough pat down and airport grade metal detectors we were subjected to. Not to mention, there were several soldiers armed with machine guns marching around and I even spotted a few snipers on top of a building. Talk about nerve wrecking. I’m happy to say that everything went smoothly, and I did feel very safe.

The Carnival itself was really amazing, with outrageous floats and dancers in intricate costumes. During the day, all of the floats had flowers that the participants threw to the crowd.

During the night, the main thing thrown was confetti.

Hey, Mr. President

I know you’ve heard of Sharknado, but how about Snakenado??

Since Nice is only a short train ride from Monaco, we decided to spend our Sunday with the high rollers in Monte Carlo. It was definitely a place you should go see, but there wasn’t a ton to do, besides drink a 6 Euro cappuccino while watching Bentleys, Maseratis, Porches, and Ferraris drive by.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) the casino was closed, so we didn’t get to try our luck at the tables.

It was truly a great first trip to France, and I can’t wait to go to Spain next weekend!

Recommendations:
Pop-o-Thym – I read a review on TripAdvisor that someone got the best crepes they had ever had in their life at this place. And, I concur, the BEST CREPES I’VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE! Get the one with white chocolate, peanut butter, and bananas. YUM!
Hotel Rossetti – We stayed in this boutique hotel that was only 60 Euro for the night, and it felt like a 200 Euro a night place. It was also really conveniently located in the middle of the city. The only downside was that it was a little noisy.
Dinner – I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the place we had dinner at. It was outside of the touristy area because we wanted to check out the other parts of town, but it wasn’t worth it. The server didn’t know any English, not even how to say water. We managed to get by with Tyler’s limited French, but the Asians sitting beside us weren’t as lucky.