Beach Day on the French Riviera!

Today we had a complete free day to enjoy Nice. We took our time getting up this morning (that meant about 8:30am) and went down to the beach by about 10. We went to a local shop to buy straw mats to make the beach more comfortable. The beaches here in Nice are composed mainly of rocks and pebbles… not sand. It’s pretty much impossible to walk on the beach without shoes/flip flops of some kind. I tried and it’s killer on your feet! The mats actually helped a ton though with my comfort level while laying on the rocks! I also bought a Nice beach towel as a souvenir, and it came in handy as a beach pillow.

The water was so blue but soooo cold! I went in a few times, mainly to cool off from the hot sun which was beating down on us all day today. Actually quite a lot of our study abroad group made it out to the beach today that is located right in front of our hotel. I laid out there from about 10am to 3pm, or 5 hours. I got a little sun, but I was already relatively tan, so the sun didn’t affect me too much. It was so nice however just to lay on the beach, doze off and on, listen to music, and relax with friends. It was a much needed rest day from the hectic schedule that we had been enduring in Paris and London!


After we left the beach in the afternoon, we headed out to explore Nice a little more. We walked around and shopped some in Nice’s main shopping district. Nice is such a cute little town, because yes its touristy, but not overwhelmingly so. You still get to experience the small town feel of a southern French city. I bought a few things at Zara (a very popular store in European countries), and I also bought a present for Courtney which I hope she enjoys and is able to get a lot of use out of!

For dinner, Kinsey, Sam, Caitlin, Jay, Taylor, and myself all dressed up to go out have a nice meal together. We decided on this Italian place a few blocks over from our hotel, and it was great! I loved the penne pasta I got there, and the bottle of rose wine that Caitlin, Kinsey, and I split was delectable!


After dinner, we came back to the hotel, had a small journaling party with CJ and Laura added into our girl mix, and then went and hung out with a few people before I decided to call it a night. Tomorrow, we meet downstairs in the lobby at 8:45am to head to Perfumarie Fragonard to hear all about the perfume making process and try out some of their special scents. After that, we head into the principality of Monaco, and go visit the famous grand casino and Jacque Cousteau Oceanographic Museum. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, but a fun and interesting one! More later!