I'm getting spoiled

DAY 19

After sleeping like shit after drinking way too much last night, I surprised myself by getting up at eight, (we had no wake-up call this morn for the first time all trip!) and getting ready for my run along the promenade of the French Riviera. Hangover or no hangover, (no hangover thank you very much!) I was not missing this opportunity to run along the Mediterranean. First things first though, water, water, and more water. I was def still dehydrated. Then I had to go ahead and re-check what I wrote last night at the end of yesterday's post. I had written 90 percent of it before I started drinking, but decided it would be okay to finish before going to bed. Turns out, I'm an okay drunk writer. I didn't have to fix anything. Alrighty. Since I didn't eat dinner last night, I knew I had to eat something for breakfast before my run. And because I am in France, I had a croissant. But of course. And a piece of cheese. Look how French I am! Both were fabulous. Then I drank some more water and headed out for my run. Our hotel is literally across the street from the Mediterranean Sea and the Riviera promenade. There was no shade or water to be found along the way, but the scenery was unreal. It put my gorgeous Hudson River runs to shame. I am getting spoiled here. 

After my run, I did a quick hand wash of some clothes and then headed out to the beach. Although the hotel has a great roof deck pool, I wanted to hit the beach and take full advantage of being here. How could I not? I  could have either lied on the rocks on a towel (um...yeah...no thanks!) or rent a chair with a cushion and an umbrella for 19 euro. (For the record, in South Beach its $10 to rent a cushioned chair and an extra $15 for an umbrella so this wasn't bad at all. Especially because my mom and I buy the chairs for the day in SoBe every time we go.) I know it's sounds a little expensive but I am on vacay! And besides the additional excursions I have paid for, I have spent very little money thus far. A majority the money spent has been on meals. And a girl's gotta eat. Especially this girl! So I went for the chair!! I got out there at 10:15 and had to leave around 1:30 (since we are leaving for an excursion at 2:00) so it was worth it to me. In case anyone doesn't know me well, I LOVE the beach so I couldn't not do this. I passed up the opportunity to go into town to just chill at the beach all day. My first relaxing day all trip and I welcomed it. It was heaven. I had a solid three hours out there and loved every minute of it. And as long as I was treating myself to the beach day, I ordered lunch too delivered right to my beach chair (Beef carpaccio with pesto and parmesan cheese hunks. Ummm, yum!). Living it up a bit today. If not today, then when? You know? That's why I went on this trip after all; to do things I haven't ever done or wouldn't necessarily normally do. 

While at the beach I mostly laid out but I did go in the water a couple of times. It was so refreshing since it was so hot out.The water itself could have been a bit cooler but it was so blue and welcoming. The beach here is just rocks. No sand. Yesterday in Monaco it was like little pebbles instead of sand, but here it's actual rocks. I had to wear my flip flops everywhere, including in the water. Since we are in the French Riviera, of course I saw some boobies. I however, opted to keep my top on. I'm not living it up that much! 

After my beach time, I had to go and shower before our excursion. I almost wished I hadn't signed up for it because I was just enjoying the free day. But who could have known?! We went to St. Paul De Vence, a small Provential town on the Riviera. This area is known for lavendar and for tapenade. I do not like olives so that didn't particularly interest me. Also, the artist Marc Chagall is buried in St. Paul. I don't know if it was the heat or the fact I had such a great morning and didn't want to leave the beach, but I just wasn't feeling it this time. I was bored. And hot. We had two hours in this town that could have been covered in 30 minutes. It also didn't help that I fell asleep on the bus ride there and missed all the info that probably would have added to the experience of being there. Oooops. After walking around for about 20 minutes, Jenny and I decided we had enough and went to watch some local men play Petanque, the French version of Bocce. The only time I have ever heard of Petanque before was an episode of the Cosby Show. Cliff had a French Carribbean friend over and they just kept talking shit to each other about playing. Anyone else remember that ep?

From St. Paul De Vence,  we went back to Nice to Fragonard, a French parfumerie, but not before I fell asleep again. Oy.  Between last night's drinking and the heat, I must have been exhausted. Before hitting Fragonard, we made another scenic stop to see the Riviera coastline from another angle. Gorgeous. Between that view and the Tuscan view, there have been some pretty incredible sights that I will never forget. I love them. After the nap and seeing the view, I was in a far better mood. At the parfumerie, we got a mini tour and then looked around. I was thisclose to buying a little perfume for myself, but didn't want to buy just for the sake of it. I am not a perfume wearer so I didn't feel I needed it. And if I change my mind, there will always be Paris. 

We then took the Gran Corniche up to our restaurant for dinner. It was a typical Provencial dinner with yet another set menu, but everything was delicious. I refrained from the pre-dinner drink, the wine during the meal, and the post dinner shot this time around. For the meal, I started with a tomato salad with chorizo and pork belly. It was followed by duck for my entree, and then a roasted peach with ice cream for dessert. It was all delicious and to make things even better, our restaurant sat on a cliff on the Riviera. Be-A-U-tiful. 

Finally it was back to the hotel and we took the scenic route home which was nice as the sun was setting. We even made one more picture stop of the sun setting over the Riviera and the Mediterranean Sea. Tomorrow we are off to Switzerland where hopefully it will be a bit cooler. I am hoping, and am sure I won't be disappointed, that we see the Swiss Alps on the way in. Should be pretty sweet!