Nice

I went to Nice the other weekend, and it was…nice.  Ha!  I know.  I’m sorry.  I went with two friends, Emily and Aaron, and it was great to escape the rainy Parisian weather to stroll along the beach and sit under the sun.  

We had a packed weekend and spent one day exploring Nice and the other hiking in Eze and walking around Monaco.  When we mentioned that we were taking a trip to Monaco, someone suggested stopping in Eze, a medieval village on top of a hill.  There was a path leading down to the ocean (called the Chemin de Nietzsche) that had really pretty views.  It was only an hour walk down a very rocky path, but the next day(s), we were so sore.  Hiking down can be pretty strenuous too.

We also walked around for half a day in Monaco, making sure to hit up the casino.  There were lots of tourists there, and we tried to get a drink on the terrace, but it was only available for the high rollers.   It wasn’t quite as opulent as I was expecting, and I didn’t see James Bond.  Oh well.  Monaco also had a pretty garden, a church where Grace Kelly is buried, and delicious Italian food.   And it had an ice skating rink near the port with lots of fancy boats.

In Nice, the highlight was the carnival parade.  I have always wanted to go to a carnival (Brazil has been on my list ever since my grandmother told me her wild stories), so I thought Nice would be a great idea since it has one of the largest carnivals in the world and the biggest in France.  We booked a Saturday night parade, and the lights and colors and floats were impressive.  There were also tons of people shooting silly string and throwing confetti, which made for an amusing atmosphere (except when a woman got string in her face and she freaked out at a kid and shit went down).

The floats were…interesting.  Perhaps a bit racist?  Not politically correct?  The theme was “around the world,” so lots of different countries and regions had floats.  The American float had an obese woman in a skimpy bikini as the Statue of Liberty, and she was standing on a giant hamburger, holding a scale in one arm and a diet coke in the other, and a crown of ice cream cones melting on her face.  Yay America!  There were also other ones like one with Middle Eastern people with gold teeth and turbans dangling oil over desperate people in cars and one with New Zealand tribal people riding turtles.  I didn’t understand why there was a Hawaiian hula woman on a float with aliens and a black kid on a volcano.  I also didn’t get the float with a giant red bird in a black and red striped jersey and a crown.  Points if you can explain them to me!

It was weird to see floats like that because it’s not something that would be okay in the US.  Obviously stereotypes exist, and Americans do poke fun at them, but it’s important to do so in a non-offensive manner.

Overall, I really liked Nice!  We also took the elevator up a giant hill and saw a park that had some awesome views of the city.  And we ate a lot of delicious food and wandered around the old city.  The Marc Chagall museum was also very cool (Chagall is the artist who created the stained glass windows in the cathedral in Reims and part of the ceiling of the Paris Opera).  

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26879303@N03/

Turkish Toilets

I went to Turkey last year with my mom and sister, but I never encountered a Turkish toilet.  But last night, I went to a bar in Montmartre, and there it was!  After a couple of beers, one naturally has to go to the bathroom (I have proudly taught my French roommates the common phrase “break the seal”).  So I went into the bathroom, and there was a tile floor with two raised porcelain footprints and a hole in the ground.  And an empty role of toilet paper.  So I walked back out and sat at the table, and my friend asked “Back already?”  I explained that there wasn't any toilet paper and that I was a bit overwhelmed by the squat toilet.  And it’d be especially hard for someone clumsy who doesn't balance very well.  I’m sure my camping friends or people who have been to more exotic places aren't particularly surprised, but I wasn't expecting it in a bar.  Anyway, long story short, I used it successfully!  Supposedly in Asia they have these types of toilets on the trains, and I imagine that would be very challenging. 

Prostitutes

Transvestite prostitutes.  It was beautiful in Paris the other day!  I knew I had to get outside and take advantage of it, so I pulled out my map of Paris and found a couple of parks that I still hadn’t seen yet.  I told Sabine’s boyfriend that I wanted to go to Bois du Boulogne, and he just said “Why?”  I was a little startled by the question, but I said that it looks like a really nice park – there’s a lake in the center, and it’s big, and it’d be great for a bike ride.  I had even looked it up online and found that there were boat rentals for rowing on the lake, bike rentals and some Velib stations as well.  And it’s in a really nice neighborhood in Paris.  He responded “That’s where the hookers are.” And I was confused because I had never heard that, so I thought that there might be a translation error. 

Anyway, I had already sent a text to some friends asking if they wanted to bike around there, and my friend Alette said yes, but she had class until 5.  So we made a plan to meet there around 5:30 and explore the area.  It was creepy.  It stays light here until 7pm, but the part we first biked through was full of bare dead-looking trees and men walking through the woods.  It felt like we were in a bad movie, so we looked at my map to see how to get to the lake and biked a little faster.  We then found ourselves on a dirt path biking past three Spanish-speaking men dressed like women (and in short skirts) hanging around.  And there were a couple of cars paused on the road through the park near the dirt pathways.  But eventually we found the lake!  And it was very pretty! And there were people running and biking around, including women!  

When I told other French friends I went to the park, they all told me that everyone knows the park has transvestite prostitutes.  And the other one I wanted to visit (Bois de Vincennes) is known for having prostitutes.  They were quite surprised I chose to bike around at night…the timing wasn’t intentional though! And it looked nice on the map…

Aix-les-Bains

I made it to the mountains!  My roommate Johan invited me to his house in Aix-les-Bains, a small city in south-eastern France on a lake surrounded by mountains.  It was really beautiful and great to see a new area of France!

We drove to Chamonix one day to go to the top of the mountain and see Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe.  Unfortunately, we got there and the person selling the tickets said the view was not very good that day.  We had even checked the weather before leaving!  Also, the ticket cost 50 euro to go to the top.  So we ended up going halfway up (for 15 euro) and had a nice view of lots of mountains and the village of Chamonix.  It was also freezing cold, so we didn’t last that long.  We were the only people hanging out at this stop (besides some skiers who left pretty quickly). 

The next day we went to his brother’s house for his niece’s 4^th birthday.  It was a lot of fun to be surrounded by kids, and his family was so welcoming.  I felt a little awkward meeting the kids because I wasn’t sure whether I should faire la bise or not…and so I did with some of them, but they were only expecting a cheek kiss, not two…it all worked out in the end – I think I won them over with my pillow fighting skills.

We also went skiing!  I really wanted to go this winter, so it was great to be just a short drive away from the mountains.  It was sunny and decently warm the day that we went, and the views were amazing.  I made it down the mountain without falling…but going up was a different story.  They had the t-bars where you sort of rest your legs while standing on your skis and then you’re pulled up the mountain.  But there are little bumps and other people’s tracks…anyway, I lost my balance and went on a snow bank, and despite my valiant efforts at recovering and getting back on track, I fell.  I proceeded to block the path before I could scramble to the side and grab my ski.  And then several kids sailed by and said “Are you okay?” and “Did you fall?”  What does it look like??  Luckily, Johan heard my yelp and got off the tire-fesses, and we skied down half the mountain.

I also went to a raclette party, and the food was delicious!  Potatoes and cheese…who doesn’t like that combination??

Here’s the link for pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26879303@N03/