I get to Nice, exhausted from traveling and in need of a place to put down my bag. I go to the tourist office and ask where there is a hostel becuase I had no where to stay for that night. I walk to the recommended hostel about 30 min. away to find that it is a members only HI hostel where rooms cost 22 euro and the membership is 15. No way. I leave, wishing that my backpack would just disappear and continue the hunt for a place to stay. I end up booking one night at a place that I should never have even walked in to by myself. The place was dark and smelled bad, but I was so exhausted I didn't even notice. I walk outside and realize that on top of the sketchy room I am now staying right next door to a sex shop. Not happening.
So I end up with a sketchy room, in a city I have never been to, by myself, with no internet. I called home hoping that they could find at least the name and address of a place in Nice. They find one and I go over there and they're full. Great. As I walk away I notice that there is another hostel on the fourth floor of the same building for 17 euro that has vacancy. I book the room which is not great, but is safe and head back to the other place to get my stuff figuring that 20 euro was not a big loss in this situation. I grab my bags and tell the owner that I have to leave. I tell him I've had a change of plans and that I have to meet someone and what does he do... he snaps at me. He demands to know if I don't like the room and why I'm not staying, he says he won't give me my money back (which I agreed to, anything to get out of there) and he continues to pelt me with useless questions that I have no obligation to answer. Feeling like I made the right decision, I bolted.
I settled in to the other place and decided to actually go see Nice, regardless of the horrible first impression. As I was walking down the stairs I ran into another girl traveling on her own. The two of us have no real plans, so we decide to go and grab a bite to eat together. We ended up at this great Tapas place where we ordered a two person sampler plate (about 7-8 different tapas) for 12 euro between the two of us. After dinner we decide that a club would be a lot of fun. We get dressed up and head out, each grateful that we don't have to be alone in Nice at night.
Nice and southern France in general are great if you are not a woman alone or even two women alone. The men can be very perverted and sketchy.
We head out to High Club, Nice's biggest dance club. We had a great time. The music was incredible. House music spun live including a nice little Michael Jackson tribute. At some point in the night the club introduces its new DJ a woman who at some point ended up DJing in nothing but stars and a pair of shorts (if I have to explain that then just don't worry about it).
Around 4 am we head out to go walk on the beach, running into some guys we had seen in the club earlier. It turns out they were from Finland. We walked on the beach with them and then headed back to crash.
The next morning Rosie and I met at the fountain in the old city and headed down to the beach. Although the beach was made of rocks and stones and not sand it was still amazing. The water is the bluest thing I have ever seen. It was incredible. All different shades of blue. We lazed about on the beach and then split up (sort of on accident) to get some stuff done.
The next morning I woke up early to catch my 7:46 am train to Milan to find out that its not coming. There was a train strike in Italy. I was stuck in Nice, again with no place to stay, and frustrated that they chose to strike today. I immediately head out towards a hostel that I knew about to see if they had room. They did and on top of that, they put me in Rosie's room. I spent the day in the park at the top of this really big hill writing, reading, and enjoying the view. I went back to the hostel and there was Rosie. We made a makeshift dinner using only a microwave since there was no stove. After dinner we wandered around Nice trying to find candy (or lollies as she kept correcting me).
I now know why women in France are so thin. 1. it is impossible to find junk food after 9:00 pm when the supermarkets close and 2. the stuff you find after 9:00pm is expensive. We bought just a few goodies to try and then decided that cheap gelato was the better way to go. We went and sat on the beach eating ice cream and listening to the most incredible street performer play violin. As we were eating on of the Finnish guys we had met the night before texted us to see if we wanted to meet up on the beach for drinks (yes, you can actually drink on the beach in France, public beaches).
We met up with them and chatted and had a few drinks before heading off to bed. I was hoping that I would get up early tomorrow and the strike would be over so that I could make it to Milan.
Next up: Milan?
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