The French Riviera a.k.a. My Future Home

Last weekend I relived my childhood days of Madeline as I enjoyed a few days in France. (Haha, I will never stop making references to kids movies, I refuse to grow up). My roommate Tracey and I went with Bus2Alps...again, to the French Riviera. The bus rides are long but the trips are dirt cheap and soooo much fun and that's why we all keep coming back. I mean... we all know college kids can afford first class flights and all, but we'd rather watch 6 hours of teenage movies and raid gas stations in between...

We stayed in the Villa Saint Exupery. This is the best hostel I have stayed in so far. Reason number 1- they had free breakfast!!!!- 12 different cereals, toast, O.J., coffee, the works... Reason number 2- we only had a room of four people and our own bathroom! Yay for not having to share a community bathroom with 50 people with their athlete's foot and toothpaste gunk, Reason number 3- the hostel was super accommodating with shuttle rides into town and a restaurant with cheap and delicious dinner options>>> ex: my four slice pizza.

Day 1: Eze and Monaco

We went to the mid-evil town Eze where we hiked up to Le Jardin Exotique. We saw views of the ocean and looked at exotic flowers and cacti. They even had exotic cacti all the way from Arizona... now Arizona, that is some exotic paradise if you ask me. :p. The town of Eze is built into a hill with tons of cute shops and restaurants with architecture that looked like castles. I felt like I was, yet again, in a Disney movie. Look at the skirt I am wearing, my mommy made it! Yay momma!

After we saw some breathtaking views, we shopped around and smelled all the things made with lavender. There were so many lavender products, I wish I could bring 100 soaps home with me, but I was already overweight coming here. Next we went on a tour of a perfume factory. I got a ton of free samples, from strawberry with sparkles in it, to a vanilla chocolate scent. I like Grace Kelly's personal favorite, all white flowers, with Lilly of the Valley and Gardenia mmm.

After all the perfume smelling, Tracey and I got a little snack... A crepe with Nutella, banana, and whipped cream inside. Delisshhh. Look at all the other options they had! Any dessert we find in Europe, Tracey tries it.

Then we made our way over to Monaco. Now that is somewhere I would love to live! Talk about fancy- It is the most pristine, clean, upscale, and beautiful place I have ever been. There is history, the beach, amazing shopping, and little cafes and chocolate shops galore. Tracey and I went on a tour of the Palace which was really neat. We got to use those touristy listening radio things.... yay for hearing centuries of historical details that I forgot after the tour was done. I do remember, however, the visuals of the furniture, silks, and paintings. My favorite room was the room with all of the family portraits. It is sooo interesting to see decades of a family lineage that goes beyond the birth of America. The palace itself was built in the 14th century. Sadly, I did not see any Grimaldis, but if I did see any a prince, I would fall madly in love with him, name our children precious traditional names like Elizabeth and Michael, and dress our entire family in J-Crew. . . but hey, a girl can dream. Yes, I would love to be Blair on Gossip Girl- still waiting for my Prince charming. Maybe I can find him at the Louvre or in Hyde Park!

Chocolate shops and the Palace!



The Monte Carlo Casino where I lost 10 euro and Tracey won 50.... I will never get over this. Looks like someone important is driving up, perhaps Grace Kelly's grandson?



The amazing pizza I had for dinner. It's called 4 slice = 4 different slices on one pizza, what genius... ham and sausage, margherita, Hawaiian, and cheese. Only 6.50 at the hostel! Enough said...

Day 2: Antibes and Cannes! Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away..

Antibes is the nicest beach town I have ever been to. Yes Grandma, my dream house will always be waiting for me in Lanikai, but Antibes is a nice vacation and you can find European art and museums right on the beach. Antibes looks like it is from a painting. It is home of the megayachts and sailboats. Maybe Uncle Bobby can sail us there!

My favorite part about Antibes was the flea market. What more could a shabby chic loving girl want than a FRENCH FLEA MARKET!!!!

Mom, Aunties, Gma, and Gma Kathy: you guys would have died. There were so many tables with vintage things. Of course there was war stuff and guns for Grandpa. Tracey and I smelled every bushel of lavender we found and tried some fresh crepes. Emily and Emma would have been all over the jewelry tables, I wish I could have brought you all with me!



Tracey and I found a stand with vintage postcards from 1900-1930 and we decided to make collages out of them for our French Shabby Chic rooms. I didn't take a picture, but I got three and two of them have writing on them. One is from 1918 and one from 1927. They are all from different cities in France. Of course I got some for my darling sister as well. I wanted to buy more but they were a little pricey.

Next we went to the Picasso Museum. I love getting student discounts because I can go in almost any museum for under 4 euro. I was definitely inspired after leaving this museum!

Cannes, home of the famous Cannes Film Festival! Meow.

Naturally, I also loved Cannes. There was a ton of high end shopping, every designer you could imagine, pristine beaches, megayachts, flea markets, fancy restaurants.... But they also had a castle! Question: why does every European country have kitty postcards? I love them, but I'm just wondering...



The site of the film festival was closed off to the public and we couldn't see much. Maybe there were some celebs inside? Tracey and I walked around the park in the flea market. We found a carousel there and I was reminded of my Madeline days again... and Mary Poppins.



We hiked up to the Castle




I love Cannes!
Tracey and I got back to our room at the hostel and started to pack up our stuff while watching The Holiday on her Ipod.

Day 3: Nice!

The next day we got to spend the day in Nice. We roamed the flower markets, walked around the promenade, shopped, looked at ancient Roman Ruins, walked around the Matisse museum, and strolled the park which was full of families picnicking with balloons in the lovely Sunday afternoon weather.

This is for you Emily! She even looks like you! A pastry store! And insane Chanel outfits. brrrrr. And olives, for fan elegant touch.

The Matisse Museum in the garden where families are enjoying their Sunday picnics. How lovely.

Interesting plethora of snacks for the way home. German chocolate bananas, red orange juice, and bacon crackers? What are these Italian gas station owners thinking??? lolz. Everything was yucky except for the juice. No wonder the snacks were on sale... sometimes you just have to pay full price.....