July 17th - Au Revior Paris, Bonjour Nice

We weren't sure if we were going to wake up in time to make our plane today as we were out so late last night we missed the last train and had to walk home. We spent about a half hour chatting with a nice couple from Atlanta on the Pont Neuf. At one point they told us that they tried to rent bikes but were unsuccessful. That made us feel a little better about our failure, but not much because they seemed pretty clueless. Thankfully, we woke up and made it to the airport (Orly) in plenty of time for the cattle rush that is Europe's version of Southwest Airlines, Easyjet. April was able to wedge in and race to the exit row so we had nice roomy seats for the short flight.

When we got to Nice, it was hot! We had to walk about a mile to the car rental station (why is National always the furthest away?). We rented a Citroen C3. It kind of looks like an egg, which April approves of. It's not the fastest car, I'm not sure if I'm working it properly as it feels like I'm riding with the parking brake on (I'm not). After about 20 minutes of driving around in circles of 1 way unmarked streets with crazy pedestrians, other drivers, and motorcyclists trying to get hit we made it to the hotel which is very nice and not too far from the beach, and the have a bidet!

We immediately went out to grab some food and head down to the beach to swim. The water is crystal clear and not too cold (probably low 70's if your body is tuned to tell the exact temp - Nathan). The beach is actually pebbles and small rocks - no sand. It looks really cool and is probably great fun if you aren't barefoot. OUCH. We usually take a while to get used to the water, but the pain of cold water was nothing compared to the pain of those damn rocks, so we jumped right in. It's very salty, so you can float really well.

Nice is a beautiful city with a much different feel than Paris. The same types of apartment buildings with elaborate iron railings in front of the windows but several of the buildings are painted in pastel colors. It really gives the area a tropical feel. We are here just until tomorrow when we head to Marseilles to check out the Tour de France.