French Italy!

The long-awaited time of traveling all over Europe has begun! I don't think I'll end up spending more than a few days in the next four weeks actually at the Chateau. Nice, France, was the destination that started it.

Everyone had been very excited, and I really didn't know what to think. I could picture Marseilles, but Nice had never been a place I'd given much thought. What do they have there, seafood? Beaches? Well, kind of. They have delicious seafood, actually, but their beach is strip of smooth gravel with some overly yellow sand in a rectangle (I guess it was imported from who knows where, the Sahara?). Regardless, I think this place is a real winner.

Maybe I was imagining it, but were they speaking French with a sort of Italian rhythm? Does their gelato taste like the most perfect, heavenly creation? Yes. Aside from that, the Notre Dame Cathedral here looks like the Little Mermaid's palace. The open squares and wide boulevard closed into adorable little streets full of tacky tourist shops and little bars.

I think I found the missing part of the Caribbean. I'm not even mad, though. It was a pleasant surprise, and I don't care who you are, staring out into the Mediterranean Sea is never a bad experience.