Nice (Part One):

Let me take a moment to sing the praises of Swiss Air, if you don't mind. The attendants were all so incredibly friendly (as well as multi-lingual!), they serve yummy sandwiches and Swiss chocolates on every flight no matter it's length, and can you say "Free Heineken."? Even though we didn't indulge in that last perk due to our complete and utter exhaustion, it just seems to be a true testament towards their customer service to me. Okay, off the soap box I come...

After a connection in Zürich, Switzerland, we arrived in France late in the afternoon. After scrambling to replace my flat iron (which had fried in Spain due to voltage discrepancies) with a European one and stocking up on snacks from the market across the street, we watched as the sun set over Nice from our tiny balcony and called it an early night so that we would be ultimately refreshed for our first full day of exploring the Riviera! This was the view down our narrow street...

We woke with the sun the following day to leisurely walk around the town with no real agenda other than to really get a feel for France.

When I encountered a steep staircase that seemed to reach into the clouds, I insisted that we ignore the wills our of weary legs in hopes of some epic views of Nice...

I made sure to point out how right I was about the amazing views when we finally reached the top. Wow was it amazing up there! Turned out that at the top of the staircases and paths was the site of the former fort that had protected the city for centuries. After being destroyed during warfare, some elements still remain while the rest of the space has been converted into beautiful parks, where there must have been hundreds of children playing games in the sunshine. 

To be completely honest I had originally felt quite uncomfortable in France... Not knowing any more than the most basic of formalities in French was a huge source of insecurity for me, especially since Spain was such a breeze with it's overly friendly people and my proficiency in the language. By this time in the day though, I was feeling infinitely more relaxed and at ease. The sea breezes and warm sun just melted all of those stresses away!

My wonderful boyfriend also taught me a simple trick to filling the language gap: Watch their hands and use yours more freely to describe what you want! I am so accustom to looking people in the eyes while speaking so as to be polite that I was missing some international gestures that helped to tell the story they were trying to get across. Europeans are known for speaking with their hands, and it all makes sense given that there are so many languages spoken on one continent! I just hadn't thought of it that way. As soon as I did this, I never had another instance of miscommunication. Thank goodness for his traveling wisdom!

I'll share the second half of our day in Nice, France tomorrow. See you then!!