I spent most of the night solving the world's problems. Fortunately, all my foot knew is that I was lying down and it was not being asked to do any work, so it was much happier this morning. After breakfast in the village, we set out for a day trip to Nice. The day started with a bang. When we walked out of the apartment, we noticed a gaggle (I think that's the correct term) of older French women standing in the hall talking loudly and looking out at the parking lot. When we walked outside, we realized why. Someone had parked right behind our car. Uh, oh.
When the women discovered we were the owners of the car, one of them explained (mostly in English) that we were in her reserved parking space. We then explained (mostly in English) that this was where the owners of our apartment had told us to park. Apparently this was not the first time this has happened. She told us the owners had not explained it correctly and showed us our actual reserved space, which was an even fancier, uber reserved space. (Apparently we've been doing this wrong for five days, but she just got in today.) Crisis averted. She moved her car and we were on our way.
We knew Nice was nearby, but we had not driven west of our little harbor. We drove about two minutes to the end of the harbor, rounded the corner and voilà! Nice. We probably could have walked. Instead, we maneuvered through the jam-packed streets and got to an underground public parking lot. (Shout out to my patient, long-suffering husband for making that happen with no permanent injury to the vehicle or its passengers.) We emerged in the middle of their daily food market, which was thrilling and overwhelming at the same time. Even on a Thursday morning, it was overrun with visitors and with all the different colors, sounds, and smells, it was a bit of a sensory overload. After a few minutes, we adjusted to the pace and had a great tour.
There was also a flower market and fish market and we visited both of them. Then we started wandering through the streets, checking out wine vendors, patisseries, and other local shops. It was another incredibly hot day - supposedly the last one - and it was nice to be able to duck into shops periodically. We also toured a few churches we passed along the way. (I must admit, every time I tour a church in Europe, I am torn between admiration for the beauty, artistry, and craftsmanship and concern over whether the money invested could have been more well spent assisting those in need. Ah, the joys of being a life-long Protestant.)
We had a late lunch reservation at a very modern bistro with "haute cusine" takes on local classics, courtesy of my patient, long-suffering husband. It was perhaps the best meal we've had so far, and that is saying a lot. After lunch, we took a much-needed walk on the "Promenade" that followed the beach through town. Mid-afternoon, we ducked into a bar in a famous old hotel that is well known for its classic cocktails.
A bit of shopping for our dinner snacks, and we were on our way back to the apartment in the village, where a contractor came to measure the broken glass in the patio door and provide an estimate. He arrived on a motorcycle and took all of two minutes to take the necessary measurements. No idea what the total will be, but fingers crossed that it is less than our security deposit.
Do you want to know the crazy thing about today? The people in Nice really are nice. We have enjoyed our stay in our village, but for the most part, the inhabitants are what you would expect from the "typical" French. Very professional, service-oriented, and efficient, but quick to roll their eyes and sigh heavily when it takes me too long to respond or count my change correctly. I feel a bit like a child who has disappointed her mother by not studying enough. (And as my mother can tell you, I am not okay with that!) Our experience in Nice was very different, which I did not expect from a big city. Almost without fail, everyone with whom we interacted was friendly and gregarious, and although they all spoke very good English, they patiently allowed me to practice my French without too much correction.
Tomorrow is our last full day in the village. We have laundry to do, errands to run, final "can't miss" meals to eat, and memories to make. I will miss this place terribly and the only reason I am willing to leave is that we are going to another place I love. I will leave you with a terrible picture of the view tonight. Feel free to roll your eyes and sigh heavily at my lack of photographic skills.
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