So sorry I've been extremely MIA for the last month. So in big life news, I started work a month ago in Germany. I have been half working in Hamburg and half in Bochum which is 3 hours southwest of Hamburg. It's been quite the adventure and I'm still trying to get adjusted. It really is true that when you do not work for awhile you get a bit out of practice. I'm still very thankful that I finally got the opportunity to work over here though and overall it will be a great experience for me to get international work experience. Enough about that...
Last weekend, Nick and I planned an incredible weekend to Nice, France and Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was perfect. The French Riviera is exquisite. I want to go back to Cannes and Marseilles before we head back to the States. On Saturday it was sunny and the temperature was ok but Sunday it actually was very warm! I have really missed warm weather and could definitely move to this part of Europe...
On Friday we flew in connecting through Frankfurt. We found the most AMAZING French restaurant called
Fine Gueule. We got bone marrow, beef stew, duck and a chocolate éclair. Yummy, yum, yum. I actually tried the bone marrow even though I really did not want to and it was pretty good. It could literally not have been more amazing food. Afterwards, we went to a wine bar and it was so much fun to just hang out and enjoy nice French wine.
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| view over Frankfurt |
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| the French alps descending down into Nice |
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| bone marrow.. i actually tried some! |
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| chocolate éclair |
On Saturday, Nick did his usual tour of the city bright and early taking pictures. Then we headed over to Monaco for the day. Wow, land of the rich and famous. Gorgeous scenery and ritzy yachts. There were lines of store with nice Ferrari's and other cars. I had definitely never seen anything quite like it. When we arrived we walked around the harbour some then climbed up to where an old fortress used to be for a view of the city, harbour and sea. We then headed over to the
Prince's Palace and watched the changing of the guards. We checked out a few churches and then head back down the hill for a late lunch. Afterwards we had to check out the famous
Monte Carlo Casino. It was soooo ritzy. Since we went in at 2pm it wasn't crowded. Nick played a few rounds of roulette and we called it a day, haha. I see how people lose money gambling :) Unfortunately you cannot take pictures so I did not get to capture any but hopefully one day each of you can check it out as well because it was quite the sight.
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| view from the fortress + an elementary school's playground, hah! |
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| the Prince's Palace |
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| pictures do not do the gorgeous water color justice... |
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| i love the rooftops! |
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| yes, that is a Jeep on a yacht... |
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| yacht club... not like ours at Lake Alatoona... haha |
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| Monte Carlo Casino! |
After we wrapped up our day in Monaco we headed back to Nice. We caught the very tail end of the Flower Parade that was finishing up. Carnival just started in Nice and the people get really into it. Some women even fight over how many flowers they can get. We climbed up Castel Hill to watch the sunset over the water. Absolutely beautiful! We then headed to a tapas place for dinner that was very good and then to Carnival! We had tickets for the Lights Parade and it was awesome. It lasted for about two hours and they had the most exquisite floats I've ever seen in my entire life. All the floats had to do with something that is in media today.. so politics, social media, etc. It was very interesting and captivating. See below for a
ton of pictures - even though pictures don't really do it justice! After the parade we were pretty exhausted so we just headed back to our hotel.
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| streamers for days.. |
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| flower parade! |
On Sunday, we walked around the old town in Nice. There was the most intense market in the middle. It's a flower market and there were just rows and rows of never ending flowers. The architecture is beautiful in Nice. Everything is built up into the hills and the corridors are so narrow in between the streets. Nick and I slowly climbed up the hills through the quaint streets and back up Castel Hill but went even further up than the night before. We saw a gorgeous waterfall and the best view of Nice. The water is the clearest blue color and really does take your breathe away. The Mediterrenean Sea knows how to do it....We then headed back down into the city and went to
Frog for our Valentine's lunch. I tried frog legs for the first time and they were not nearly as bad as I thought they'd be :) By the time we finished up a long lunch we grabbed our bags and went by the
Russian church before heading back to the airport.
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| flower market...my happy place! |
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| gorgeous waterfall on our walk |
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| nick checking out the Mediterranean sea |
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| Russian church |
I
highly highly highly recommend travelling to the French Riviera if you come to Europe. It is so worth seeing the gorgeous Mediterranean Sea and spending a few relaxing days soaking in the view and sunshine.
