Trip Diary: From Paris to Nice

This morning I left Paris and it was appropriately rainy and cold.  I made it to Gare de Lyon without much difficulty, despite my backpack weighing a ton.  After waiting around for a bit, I boarded the train to Nice!

I was seated at a table with a few other people.  The girl next to me helped explain some of the train announcements to me, and commented on my English book and English writing on my computer.  She was studying English as well. She, and the mother daughter across from me, all got off at Toulons, hours before Nice.

The train ride was pretty long but I had my computer and my book.  As well, it was very scenic in some parts.  At the beginning there was a lot of farmland and lush green spaces.  I saw horses and sheep!  And then towards the end there were great views of the coast and little towns.

Our train even went through Cannes!  Though Cannes didn’t look as impressive as I thought it might…maybe the train station just goes through the sketchy part.

After a while we arrived in Nice and luckily my hostel was quite close to the train station.  It’s also really close to the main road and a little walk from the beach and Vieux Nice.

This hostel is pretty quiet and it doesn’t look like there is any common space to meet people.  The rooms are clean, but very tiny and incredibly hot.  I can imagine some of the my mom’s family absolutely melting here.  Hopefully it cools down at night but it’s already 11pm and there’s not much relief.

After I checked in and dropped off my stuff, I walked down the main road.  There are lots of cafes and stores, though most were closed because it’s Sunday.  As I got closer to the beach, the city became more alive.

The buildings became more charming, especially in Vieux Nice and the streets became filled with tourists and some locals.  There’s a particular strip, just before the beach, that just has restaurant after restaurant with tables and guests covering the entire street so you can’t even walk down it.

I made my way to the beach to appreciate the view.  Nice is really beautiful from the beach-front, despite their beach being rocks instead of sand.  Lots of people were still enjoying themselves along the coast.

From there, I walked back towards my hostel, snapping pictures of old theatres, churches and the like.  I stopped at a restaurant called Hippopotamus, that seems to be a popular chain down here.  It’s kind of like a less fancy Keg.

I got a burger, which was more like a steak and a delicious baked potato.  My waitress convinced me to indulge in dessert (though it didn’t take much convincing) so I got a chocolate lava cake thing and it was heavenly.

I came back to my hostel to check my mail, try to catch up with some writing and figure out what I’m going to do in Nice tomorrow.  I’ve recently discovered our en suite bathroom, which is in our room, doesn’t have a door.  When I checked out the showers earlier I didn’t see a toilet so I’m not exactly sure what to do about that…  My roommate has just left to shower so hopefully she finds an alternative.

So far, Nice is pretty nice!  I’m excited to explore it some more tomorrow and I look forward to shopping on the main street, wandering around Vieux Nice and hitting the beach (with my spf 50 of course)!