A post to one of my favorite places, France! The original plan had only Paris as our stop but I mentioned how much I enjoyed Nice beforehand so it was added to our itinerary. I had plenty of opportunities to practice my French but not as much as I would've liked. I really need to return to just this one country and devote more time to speaking with the locals. In any case, I was still the tour guide for the group and we enjoyed some planned and unplanned surprises while in Paris. Nice, on the other hand, was the the break we all needed from the walking we did in the previous cities.

PARIS.









The train from London to Paris, as I said before, was very short. I was trying to catch up on sleep since I grabbed maybe an hour at the hostel before we took an uber to St. Pancras station. I would've taken the opportunity to explore the dining cart but sleep invariably triumphs over everything else. Check-in was later than when we had arrived so we decided to wait at the Gare du Nord. After dropping our stuff off at the airbnb, I set a path towards the two remaining natural islands in the Seine, with the idea of heading towards the Île de la Cité. We grabbed our first meal at a restaurant called Auberge Deux Ponts, where we ordered plates of steak and duck. The clouds threatened rain but nothing a rain jacket and umbrella couldn't fix. I led us towards the Notre-Dame de Paris and we joined the line since it was moving very fast. I didn't have the opportunity to check it out last time in Paris so it was a nice treat to see it this time. The stone and stained glass were beautiful. I picked up a simple wooden rosary from inside. There was a collective desire for dessert, so I found the closest Berthillon and we sat outside enjoying the cold treat while waiting for the rain to die down a little.

I continued our walk towards the Louvre, with the intent of taking them through the Jardin des Tuileries because I heard there was a festival going on there. We stopped in front of the Louvre for a photo but I realized there was no line! I told them I've never seen such a thing so we decided to venture closer and found that there really was no line. Of course, we didn't realize it at the time but the whole museum closed in a little more than an hour... Deciding not to pass up on the chance, we purchased tickets and decided the least we could do was see the Mona Lisa. Along the way, I pointed out famous paintings that I had read about before. By this point, they had grown accustomed to exuberance when it came to art. Maybe I can work as a museum tour guide on the side? I had no idea The Wedding at Cana was housed in the Louvre so I was quick to snap a picture in front of the gargantuan painting. Eventually, we ended at the Mona Lisa herself. It was as small as I had heard but still very interesting to see in person!

We still had some time to kill before dinner when we left the museum. L asked if we could see the Arc de Triomphe and since it was technically still on a direct path from our location, I agreed. An easy stroll through the Jardin des Tuileries and a short train ride later, we stood in front of the Arc. I was leery of paying the fee to climb up the stairs to see the city but maybe another day. I did recommend that the view would be even better at sunset or after the sunset. Maybe something I can do in the next Europe trip? Anyway, we took more photos of the monument and began another search for dinner. We ended up at La Belle Armée, where we split a bottle of wine and I feasted on a massive charcuterie board. All in all, a good start to our first day in Paris.

The next day, I led them to one of the boulangeries on my special croissant trail (more on that someday!) called Boulangerie Terroirs d'Avenir. Delicious croissants, unlike any croissant I've had before. Flaky, buttery, and perfect. There was a general call for caffeine so I led the sleepy-eyed group to the Rue Montorgueil, an excellent street with many cafes, fromageries, boulangeries, etc. We people-watched at the cafe while sipping our cafe noisettes and cafe au laits—utter contentment. I could definitely picture myself doing this if I lived in Paris. The threat of rain continued to hang overhead on this second day, but I was prepared with a couple of locations that would be covered. My plan? Visiting some of the famous covered arcades in Paris. There wasn't enough time to visit all of them, but I took them to the Passage du Grand Cerf and Galerie Vivienne. Apart from me, everyone was really keen on jewelry so I would say it was a nice stop for perusing the shops and avoiding the rain. Eventually, I took them over to the Galeries Lafayette for more souvenir shopping and avoiding the rain. I think we learned from our expensive purchases at Harrods, so no outrageous purchases this time. I did grab a small box of Valrhona chocolate, one of Ben and I's favorite chocolate brands. There was also a Pierre Hermé in the basement of the department store so everyone got to try a fancy macaron. My favorite is still Ladurée, but I would never turn down an opportunity to buy from Pierre Hermé.

The rain cleared a little so we made a trek towards La Tour Eiffel. The original plan was to have a picnic of bread, cheese, fruit, and wine on the grass but the weather just didn't allow it. We had sun for about 15 minutes, just enough to take some photos and sit, before we had to leave when the rain started up again. We decided to visit one more tourist stop, Montmartre, so we could walk up to the Sacré-Cœur and also visit the Moulin Rouge. A very friendly Filipino family took some candid photos of us, one of the highlights of that night. Since we had yet to have our planned picnic of bread and cheese, we decided to just buy it outside and bring it back to our bnb while playing cards. I thought it was a genius plan! Two baguettes, two blocks of cheese, two bars of chocolate, and a whopping six bottles of wine later (reds, whites, and rosé), we toasted our last night in Paris and prepared for our flight to Nice the next day.

NICE.








Ah, Nice. Our vacation from our vacation. No long treks, no real tourist stops, just beach and the beautiful Vieille Ville. I ate nothing but Moules Marinières, croissants, and dessert for this brief stay. Our airbnb was right by the beach but very far from Vieille Ville so we had to figure out the tricky bus system. Everyone wanted to tan at the beach so we spent a good amount of hours there. Unlike them, I laid out with a book (been reading the fantasy series by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski) and an umbrella. In our second day in Nice, our group split up since D had family to see in the city, so I took M and J up the Ascenseur du Château, pastries in hand of course, and we enjoyed the view of the beaches. I can almost hear the sound of the waters now.

Not much to say in terms of activities. Lazy afternoons strolling and enjoying the beach. Lots of mussels. A few of the girls grabbed some paintings and more jewelry from the market in the square. All in all, it was a good few days to recharge from all the walking we did in the previous cities.

Two more cities left, one more post, and then...? Who knows! Until next time!