Cote D'Azur

Our good friends from Austin, Allison and Jordan Gristy, made their first trip to Europe this summer! Allison is a teacher and Jordan is a day trader so they were able to take five weeks away from the daily grind to soak up some European culture.

The Gristys started their trip about two weeks ago in Italy and then moved on to their next destination, the Cote D’Azur. Amy is getting married at the end of July so we are not going to be in London when Allison and Jordan arrive but we had to fit in some Gristy-time! So we figured this was the perfect place to meet – the beautiful, sunny French Riviera!

Allison and Jordan, like the Sylestines, are huge fans of HomeAway so they used a similar service called Riviera Pebbles to book us an apartment in Nice near the beach and old town. It was the perfect location. Six years ago while I was studying abroad in Paris, my classmates and I took a long weekend trip to Nice and Cannes.  That was my first and last hostel experience. Needless to say, this trip’s living arrangements were much, much better! A lot has changed in the past six years, so I was not the best navigator around the city. But it was great to see the coast again and experience new things like the awesome tram system and farmer’s market!

On Friday night we met the Gristys at the apartment, dropped off our bags, and headed to the city square for a late dinner. July hosts the European Handball Tournament and Nice Jazz Festival in downtown Nice so the city was buzzing. The Gristys had already eaten, but Allison ordered some delicious profiteroles to share and I had a croque monsieur while David tried the salmon pasta. We walked around a bit more and then decided to turn in early. I know, we’re so boring, but David and I were exhausted from work and Allison and Jordan were tired from travelling.

On Saturday we relaxed all day on the beach. After walking through old town and stopping at some shops for beach mats and towels (where we also considered purchasing some plastic swim shoes that we later regretted not buying), we had lunch at a traditional Nicoise (or Nice-style) restaurant. David and I split the beignets de croquettes (fried zucchini) and socca (chickpea crepe). The Gristys had the poulet frites (chicken with French fries). After that heavy meal, it was the perfect time to go to the beach… :)

The one thing I did remember about the Cote D’Azur from my previous vacation was the rock beaches. Almost every single beach along the coast is rocks and the ones that are sand, I wouldn’t even consider real sand. Those dang rocks are so uncomfortable to walk on! I definitely did not look graceful getting into or out of the water. At one point, David threw me a flip flop, which flew past my head. I must’ve looked like a beached whale rolling around in the surf (to avoid running on the rocks) trying to get that stupid shoe. I’m glad the Flip wasn’t out to capture that moment!

The waves were surprisingly big on Saturday. Allison even got crushed by one and lost her bottoms and her sunglasses! Luckily she pulled up her swimsuit from around her ankles in time and Jordan found the washed-up sunglasses along the beach. Before that, we had been having a great time jumping the waves. So afterwards, while Allison and Jordan napped and read on the beach, David and I continued hanging out in the water.  

When we first got to the beach, I noticed some people cliff jumping at a little peninsula of rocks. So I convinced David it would be fun to swim over there and check it out. I told David I wouldn’t peer-pressure him into anything because he has a great fear of heights, but he said he wasn’t swimming all the way over there for nothing!  

First, we had to figure out how to get to the top of the rocks. So we treaded water for a while, watching some kids jump to see how they’d get back up. Those little monkeys literally scaled the cliff face to get back to the top! “So how else do we get up there?” I wondered out loud. There was NO WAY I was scaling a rock wall. We noticed a policeman monitoring the jumps, so he pointed to a cluster of mossy rocks that we managed to crawl up. Once at the very top, I tried to reassure David by telling him he just needed to pretend to be Bella and I’d be Jacob coming to his rescue after his daring cliff dive! The French girl in front of us who spoke very little English knew exactly what I was referencing and turned around laughing at us. Then she effortlessly jumped and we made our move!

Obviously we didn’t have our camera with us, so we went back later and took a picture.

 We were very proud of ourselves.

After soaking up a lot of sun, we headed back to the apartment and got cleaned up before dinner that night at Chez Juliette, a French restaurant in the heart of old town that was recommended by almost all of the other apartment guests. 

 David always likes to think he’s Italian like me and doesn’t burn, but now we have this picture and his ridiculous Frenglish video from Paris to prove otherwise! 

Dinner was sooo yummy! All of the tables outside were full, so the hostess sat us inside and we had the whole place to ourselves. We started off with French onion soup (even though it was hotter than hell outside). Allison and I had chicken with herbs de Provence and potatoes. Jordan had meat stuffed vegetables, also traditional Nicoise food, and David had pork with a delicious mustard sauce. We finished the meal off with peaches and cream covered in rich melted chocolate. 

I loved this adorable sign outside the restaurant - my kind of place!

  

When David and I confirmed our trip with the Gristys earlier this year, David immediately had this idea in his head of us renting a boat and sailing around the Cote D’Azur eating wine and cheese like a bunch of yuppies. I didn’t really think this would ever happen and left all of the planning up to David. He surprised us all by arranging a sailboat trip for us on Sunday!

So Sunday morning, we woke up early to head to the main harbor to meet our skipper. I was the only one that had never been sailing before, so I was a bit nervous, but our skipper did a great job of explaining things. I even successfully steered the boat! Unfortunately there was no wind on Sunday so it wasn’t truly sailing, more like trolling. But we had the sails up to pretend!

We left from Nice and sailed past Antibes, a small resort town, towards Cannes. We saw some gorgeous mansions on the water and plenty of ridiculous million-dollar yachts. We stopped for a quick swim to cool off and then continued to Ile Sainte Marguerite. Here, we dropped anchor and enjoyed lunch of rice with jambon (ham) and pizza with olives and pesto. For dessert, we had tourte des blettes sucre. We were all a little scared to try this because it looked like a spinach tart. I’ve never heard of this dessert before, which surprised me since this was my third time to France in the past couple of months. But apparently it’s really popular and it’s actually made from Swiss chard, raisins, pine nuts, and rum. I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it. I could eat it as long as I didn’t look at it.

After we chowed down on lunch (we were hungry from all that swimming and sailing!) we got a nearby boatman to row us to shore. Ile Sainte Marguerite is a tiny island about half a mile offshore from Cannes and across from Ile Sainte Honorat, home to a monastery founded in 410 AD. Sainte Marguerite is famous for its fortress prison, Fort Royal, where the Man in the Iron Mask was kept captive.

Most of the island, though, is heavily wooded. So David and I only made it about a third of the way to the fort before I got half a dozen mosquito bites and turned around.

So instead of exploring we spent most of our time on the island snorkeling and tanning on the beach.

On the way back to Nice, David’s dream came true as we “sailed” across the water enjoying our glasses of French wine.  

 "I'm on a boat!"

After about 10 hours in the sun sailing and eating and swimming, we came back to harbor and went home to rent a movie and veg out on the couch the rest of the night.

On Monday, we slept in a bit and then took the bus to Monaco. It was a gorgeous drive along the coast, just a bit bumpy and HOT. Apparently we passed Bono’s house (though I had no idea which one was his) and Cap Ferrat, a very Ritzy area home to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Monte Carlo Casino

When we got to Monaco, we were starving and soooo thirsty from the sans A/C bus ride. So we booked it over to the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco’s convention center, for lunch at a new trendy restaurant on the beach. Jordan had the best lamb of his life, David had fish, and Allison and I had ravioli. It was also Allison’s first time trying lamb – whaaat?! I couldn’t believe that Allison had never had a lamb chop before, so I gave her my favorite recipe to try when she gets home! :)

 We found this picture frame outside the Forum and had to strike a pose.

Then David found this sculpture in the Japanese garden and had to pose!

After lunch we walked to one of the only “sand” beaches on the Cote D’Azur. They claim to import the sand, but once there we discovered the sand was really just teeny tiny pebbles.

 Lies!

So we quickly left and walked along the Formula 1 race route to the Monte Carlo casino. We looked around inside, but did not pay the entrance fee to actually gamble at a table. We were a bit disappointed (but not surprised) there was a cover charge, but our moods were lightened when we found a Laduree at the nearby Metropole shopping center. We got an assortment of macaroons for the Gristys to try (and David and me to share of course). 

I had to get some Carmex at the health store inside the mall and guess what they charged?? Keep in mind this is Monaco, one of the smallest, but richest countries in the world. 4 Euros! 4 Euros for a tube of Carmex. That’s almost $6! I was really desperate though, especially after my poor lips had been in the sun for three days straight, so I ate the cost.

Then we took the Bateau (or ship) bus across the Hercules harbor to the other end of Monaco. We passed between even more ridiculous yachts (some with their own helipads!) and debarked in front of the Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium. This is one of the best aquariums in the world and is beautifully built into the side of a cliff against the sea.

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go in before catching the last bus back to Nice, so instead we walked through a scenic park overlooking the harbor and Monaco coastline. We ended the day walking along the palace walls back to the bus stop.

On our last day in the French Riviera, we grabbed breakfast at the Cours Saleya market. David and Jordan had fresh, juicy peaches from a fruit stand and Allison and I had pain au chocolat and almond croissants with chocolate filling. After browsing through the market stalls, we headed to the beach for one last swim.

David has never been parasailing before, so we decided to go. It was deja vue for me because the only other time I’ve parasailed was in the same spot six years ago! This time was much more fun experiencing it with my hubby!

I’m so proud of David for conquering his fear of heights more and more on each trip we take. Whether it’s riding the roller coasters on top of the Stratosphere in Vegas or taking a funicular to the top of a mountain outside Barcelona or parasailing in Nice, he’s more and more confident with each new adventure! 

We realized it was getting pretty late, so we had a fast lunch at a delicious pizza place in old town and then literally ran back to the apartment to grab our suitcase before heading to the airport. When we boarded the plane, my hair was still wet and there was salt all over me from the Mediterranean. It was a very uncomfortable plane ride, but I was glad we made the most of our trip.  

Only one more summer trip to go – Amy’s wedding! And don’t worry, for all those looking forward to Jeff’s graduation and the Kurzweg’s European Adventure blogs, they’re coming… but I’m waiting on pics for Jeff and it’s going to take a long time to put together the Kurzweg blogs so I wanted to get this one out first. But stay tuned!