A day on the Mediterranean

The Mediterranean Sea is a very pretty body of water. It's a lot like the Caribbean in terms of how clear and calm the water is. It's very blue and changes colors and is gorgeous to look at. Today we saw it from Villefranche-sur-Mer, a small town west of Nice that sits on a cove of the Mediterranean surrounded by the hills of the Alps.

One of the views of the cove and part of the town.

Ana, Alex (Ana's friend), and I got up and walked over the bus stop and took the bus over the Villefranche. The bus was packed with tourists (we barely made it on) heading to Monaco, but luckily our trip wasn't too long. Villefranche is an old village right on the water; it's full of tiny streets and shops - not unlike Périgueux, except it's set on the Mediterranean and all of the buildings are brightly colored. Sooo a little cooler!

There were tons and tons of restaurants. When we arrived (around noon) it was fairly quiet, but by 2pm or 3pm it was packed with tourists. 

Some of the little colorful streets of the old city. 

I just really liked this street.

We also walked along the beach and around the cape a bit. There were plenty of topless sunbathers - as there are in Nice as well. Lots of them. Young and old. It's just not a big deal here; there were kids on the beach running around and I saw a mother sunbathing topless next to her daughter, but no one seems to notice. That's cool for them, but I, however, will not be partaking in the experience.

The beach was really pretty though. The water was beautiful and it was a nice little place to walk around. We felt the water (it's cold) and sat and looked at the setting for a bit. I'm a little bit sunburned from sitting - though I have funny strap tans from both my shirt and my purse.

Beach - but I made sure there were no topless sunbathers in this one.

More beach - look how clear the water is. It's very blue but it other parts it looks a bit green and you can see all the seashells and algae and rocks.

With Ana! We had a really fun time today - it's so cool that it worked out like this!

The town of Villefranche from across the cove.

Today was mostly just a lot of walking, but that was okay. I love being in the warm sun and the warm weather - I have not gotten enough sunlight in Périgueux! I will also be totally ready for summer when I get home to D.C. It's going to be hard to transition from this weather to some of the other weather on this trip - mainly the weather of Iceland. It probably won't get above the 40s.

We walked through an old citadel in Villefranche as well. It was built in the 16th-century and helped overlook the town. Now it's a public space and you can walk around in some gardens and in the fortress. Of course, as all places in this town, it has lovely views of the Mediterranean.

The citadel that we walked back over to see.

Gardens of the citadel.

Looking out through many of the points with views of the Alps/coast/Mediterranean. This was a seriously nice little town. I really liked it.

Another little garden area within the citadel. It's flowers were dedicated to the Resistance fighters and deportees of WWII, which of course interested me because of my thesis.

We headed back to Nice in the afternoon - and almost didn't make it onto the buses that came through. They were packed with tourists again and we were sardined into them. On the way back the driver pulled over and let a few more passengers on and the one French lady who got one went off on him about how the buses are too crowded and she needs to get to Nice. He argued with her and told her that he had stopped for her, so what was she complaining about? This went on and on and I almost burst out laughing when she said that it should be up to the passengers to decide if the buses were too full, not the bus drivers and that it's ridiculous that they don't stop when they're "full" because this is France, and is not the motto of France "liberté, égalité, fraternité" (freedom, equality, brotherhood)? She ultimately thanked the driver for picking her up, but not until after a 10 minute rant on the Nice area bus system. It was entertaining, to say the least.

I also went into a perfume shop (this is the capital of the perfume world) and bought Fragonard perfume that I had worn in high school/early college and had loved. A friend got me some one time in France and I had never seen it in the States. It was super cheap here, so I bought two bottles. I'm very excited about this find.

Tomorrow evening I'll have to pack up and make sure everything is in my suitcases again. I need to be ready to get on a plane on Saturday morning! I know that I'll definitely be sad to miss this area - I would definitely come back here!