Landing shenanigans.
Around this time last year, I flew over the Atlantic and landed in Nice. Nice is sandwiched between the Mediterranean Sea and the Alps and when you land, you can see the blue skies and the shimmering water stretch for miles and miles. My jaw dropped. Partly because of the bumpy landing but mostly because the landing was spectacular.
I go numb with excitement and disbelief every time I visit a new town or city and this is especially true every time I land in France. Not wanting to waste a single minute, I hustled out of the terminal to catch the airport shuttle to the bus station. Less than 20 minutes of landing my tootsie there and I already committed my first stupid act of the trip, even though I swore to myself to be extra alert and careful. In the South of France, when you get on the bus, you expected to either have a ticket or the perfect change to buy a ticket. Since I had just landed, I didn’t have Euros or coins to take the bus from the airport into town. Luckily for people like me, there is a machine near the shuttle stop which allows you to withdraw coins using a credit card. Having grown up in a developing country all my life, I was marveling at the state of over-engineering a simple need like that. I got change for 20 Euros and Snapchatted this photo while the coins poured out of the machine. Immediately after, I hopped onto the shuttle and when we were about to reach the bus station, I realized that I had forgotten to take the coins out while I was too busy Snapchatting. *Groan* I took the same shuttle back to the terminal only to discover some lucky person scored on my 20 Euros *Argh* and withdrew another twenty euros and circled back to the bus station.

Where art thou? Airbnb on Rue Bonaparte
My Airbnb host with a risque display picture texted me and asked me to get onto bus #98 to Place Garibaldi, which was close to the Airbnb. After about an hour of bouncing around and soliciting unsuspecting locals in ludicrous Franglish, I learned that the bus drivers for that route were on a strike that day. If you live in France for a few days, you quickly realize that the French people take to the streets to express their anger to effect change very often. That’s impressive but on that day, I was not feeling the inspiration. Two buses and a few alleys later, I stood on Rue Bonaparte outside the address listed on the Airbnb and I was outraged to discover that there was a butcher obnoxiously butchering meat (Butchers gotta butch I know!) where I expected my future apartment to be. :O Anyway, the butcher pointed me to my apartment (*cough* the next door *cough*) and promised me to quit his job and give up meat forever.
Well, of course, that didn’t happen but that would have been a nice twist! (P:S I’m a vegetarianism-evangelist lol. 🙂 !)
A girl has no wish
But a nice view and pizza is more of a necessity, wouldn’t you agree? 😛 The Airbnb host’s son received me and helped me settle in to my new room aka home for two weeks. The room was small and modestly furnished but but but.. it had the most amazing balcony and view.




It was 3 o clock in the afternoon and I was ravenous.
The only restaurant that was open was a stamp-sized pizzeria on my street. I was in France and I was 2 hours from Italy and Nice was briefly was a part of Italy. Pizza for lunch sounded perfect.



In minutes, I inhaled an entire pizza Bianca and a glass jar of Tiramisu.


I had no regrets. None.
Recharged, I aimlessly wandered about Rue Bonaparte.

I met a few welcoming locals.


The sidewalk cafes looked promising for my inner “flaneur”.

Rue Bonaparte opened up to Plaza Garibaldi. Our main man Garibaldi born and bred in Nice, who fought in many battles and was instrumental in the unification of Italy, is a quite a big deal in Nice.


Entering Old Town
I walked around the bustling plaza and entered the rabbit-warren of Old Town.

Winding alleys, little kids playing, and petite impressive fountains. It was lovely.

Soon, I headed back home to finish up some work and met my host Fabine before tucking in.
Fabine was not anything like her profile picture. 😛 She was middle-aged, warm and nice. Bonus for me, she spoke very little English and very rapid French. Parfait! She bustled into my room, closed the balcony door stated something, motioning to the windows and zoomed out wishing me good night. I nodded furiously, even though I had no idea what she just said. I thought to myself that day one in Nice had definitely been nice.
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France is on my bucket list! Looks great!
🙂 You are absolutely right Lisa, it is great! 🙂 I dream of the day I can move there. I hope you get to check it off your list soon Xx
P:S Some of your posts are so helpful, Pinterested them.
This seems like a really good time of year to visit. The weather looks perfect!
haha I’m not going to lie, the photos are a bit misleading. The sunny French Riviera was not so sunny at all in spring. But that didn’t take the charm away, I will say that too. 🙂 I think early autumn is the best time to visit. Cheers for stopping by Robin 🙂
Wow, it’s so nice to be able to travel and also take such amazing photos. I have never been to Europe, but am hoping that one day I’ll have the time to get off. It’s not even the cost to go there…it’s the time off of work. 🙂 Beautiful photos! <3
It is indeed really nice Sonyo and I count my blessings every day! 🙂 I sincerely hope you get time off and get to travel to places you wish Sonya <3
France is truly gorgeous. Those buildings take my breath away.
I can’t agree more Kate! 🙂 France has all of my heart.
Oh my goodness, I have dreams of exploring narrow alleys like that! Your pictures are stunning and it sounds like a great start! Keep em coming!
That is so nice of you to say that Katie 🙂 It was a wonderful start indeed (this is a post from last year!) and I dream of returning all the time.
P:S Congrats on the wedding, the photos and videos look amazing 🙂
I will be going to Italy soon, so I loved this post. I hope I can make my way to this nearby city too. Sure looks Nice 😉
Thank you so much for the blog-post love Priyadarshini 😉 Italy is one of my favorite countries and I can’t get enough. Which part are you going to? DM on insta if you need any recommendations. Bon voyage and happy travels! X
Your photos are amazing! I feel like I’m actually there! Nice really is beautiful!
Aww thank you so much Cassie 🙂 That is the best compliment!
Just checked out your blog, I have been on a quest to eat healthier and love your content. Subscribed to your posts now! X
From the photo, Nice looks like a lovely place to go. 🙂 Luckily the host lady didn’t scare you off. haha..
Heheh I’m so glad that that she didn’t chase me off! 🙂 Ah, yes! Nice is a wonderfully charming place to be. I hope you get to experience it some day!
I’ve always wanted to visit Nice. The air bnb looks like it was a great choice. I look forward to visiting here one time too.
Amanda | http://ldnrose.com
The Airbnb was indeed very simple and nice, I loved staying there during my stay in Nice. I hope you get to visit Nice and the South of France some day! Cheers Amanda <3
Day 1 has already been such a fabulous adventure! What are your plans for day 2 in Paris? =) Your airbnb looks really lovely, and I am already drooling over the food from the pizzeria. Yum! Cheers to more adventures.
Thank you so much Anike 🙂 This is an account of my travels from last year! 🙂 Day two was a day trip to Ventimiglia, a small town on the coast of France and Italy. <3 Thanks so much for stopping by X
What travelling without some adventure and loosing certain things! I loved reading your post – felt like being in a conversation with you over phone.
That is the loveliest compliment ever <3 Thanks for stopping by Ketki!
I remember being so pleasantly surprised by Nice. The architecture is just stunning, and it felt so clean to me!
I agree 🙂