A Nice Break (because puns are the highest form of humor)

The travel day between Chamonix and Nice (door-to-door, 14 hours) was by no means the longest travel day I've ever had, and I have no doubt that I'll have a (much) longer one again soon, but nonetheless, a long walk with our packs followed by four separate trains, ending in what unfortunately was the worst hostel we've encountered so far, was not one of my most favorite days ever.

Our directions to the hostel were the vaguest yet, and Evie unfortunately took a tumble-with-pack outside the station, which was made ever so much more hilarious my my crouching down to help her and then not being able to get up again myself.  Like two giant beached turtles.  I don't know if that ever even happens, but the mental image you undoubtedly have right now is correct.


Hotel Baccarat in Nice is deliciously close to the train station, which is stupendous after a 14-hour travel day, and it's about a 20-minute walk to the beach.  That's about all it has to recommend it.  Our 8-bunk room had no windows, was terribly hot and stuffy, and we found our first cockroach of the trip dead in the bathroom.  Arriving at about 11:00 at night, we were not exactly blown away with joy.

With all my sink-washed undies proudly on display.

The next day, after of course both sleeping horribly, we woke up for our day of touring Nice.  Museums and churches.  Woo.  But first we walked down and took a look at the Mediterranean.  Nice's beach is pebbly, so that's not the greatest for bare feet.  The morning started out cloudy, but slowly the clouds burned away and we walked on the beach a while, collecting bits of sea glass and taking pictures.

YAY!  Church 463!

Anyone else note how the American flag is not quite asked to be in the cool group?

And then I just sort of suggested that we skip all the museums and churches and go back to the hostel for our bathing suits before spending the rest of the day on the beach.  Eve looked about the happiest I'd seen her in 48 hours.

Round-trip to the hostel and back, including a stop for snacks and drinks and another to buy these bamboo mat things, took under an hour and a half.  And by 1:30 we were sunscreened up and stretched out next to the Mediterranean Sea.

Of course, our afternoon was not entirely without excitement, because (after several hours of repeated trying), I managed to convince Eve that we should go parasailing.

Only a little bit out-of-my-mind happy.

This has to be, hands-down, one of the awesomest things I have ever done.  I actually think it even beats out parachuting, which I did (tandem) for my 30th birthday.  Parasailing was just so effortless.  We walked forward on the beach until our harness lifted us up and then we sat in these comfy little swings for the duration of our ride.  We got a truly stellar view of Nice, got gently dunked in the water twice, and after seven or eight too-short minutes, the boat landed us in the water near the shore.  Utterly.  Loved.  This.

Then it was just back out to our mats.  We swam, snacked, Eve napped, I people-watched, and towards the end of the afternoon we shared a bottle of white wine.

Spending the afternoon on the Mediterranean was incredible.  I got to fly, swim, and rest.  Amazing, and exactly what we needed to wind down a little from our crazy self-imposed madness.