3 countries,10 days,1 home - Nice(France)

While traveling, there's nothing better than a Panini Sandwhich at 4am in the morning during transits. In reality, I hate transits. I hate waiting, I hate hopping onto another plane. I just wanna arrive at the destination a.s.a.p! OK fine, if the airport has a theme park, I wouldn't mind so much y'know  =P

I think it was my second time at Dubai Airport. Know the place too well thanks to all the time spent during transits there it ain't funny anymore. I know the exact location of McDonalds, and the toilet, and what shops were available. However, it's one of those airports where it's very much alive, even at wee hours in the morning. KLIA's awfully quiet nowadays. Shops closes by 1am sigh.

Finally reached our destination country at 2pm their local time. Just nice for lunch. The first thing I thought when I saw this signboard was, "Did I board the wrong plane?" but no, it's just the name of the beach. In fact, I wasn't in America, I was in Nice, France. Just outside Monaco. Why Nice? Well, to stay in Monaco would mean that you HAVE to be rich and famous. Not really...maybe just plain filthy rich.

Nice has been a famous tourist spot during summertime, since the early 50's. Facing the French Riviera, the views are nothing short of stunning. People from all over Europe (and the world) flock this area during summer and mild winters to sunbathe, swim and do all sorts of beach activities. There's even casinos, retails shops, churches and old2 buildings for photography enthusiasts.

The stretch facing the French Riviera called Promenade des Anglais, has loads to offer to tourists and locals alike. During other seasons, the stretch would be bustling with activities. Strolling along the beach with loved ones, tanning with friends, just chillin at the benches eating ice-cream or even have a cuppa at nearby little cafes.

Apparently, one of Nice's big attractions is their Flower Market - Cours Saleya. I was there in the evening and in winter so there weren't much stalls open. However, those that were open offered a myriad of flowers, beautifully blooming with bountiful choices of colours. I'm not a flower person, but they were beautiful that I don't mind getting a stalk =P

They open 6 days a week and on Mondays it will be replaced with Antiques and Flea Market. If you're not planning to buy anything, you can opt to sit at one of the cafes at the sides, have the famous European Cappuccino or Espresso and do some people watching  ;)

During winter, the city is a bit quieter during the day so we were just walking around, checking out the shops in the middle of town. They have affordable brands, like Zara, Massimo Dutti and various others which I've never heard of. However, the street that our hotel was located has high-end designer stuff. All of these places are within walking distances so there's no problem regarding transportation if you're planning to stay around there.

Since it was near Christmas, there were Christmas Markets, Ice-skating rinks, and also trees with fake snow on it all over the place. They've really decorated the town with fancy lights to be lit up come night time.

I can say that the nights were the coldest, but it's also the liveliest where people go out for dinners and last minute shopping, or just having Churros or Crepes at the nearby market. The streets would be adorned with pretty lights, ornaments, trees and the best part, the ambiance itself is almost perfect to sum up the holiday season.

We were on some photo opp rampage, snap here snap there non stop. It's also prolly cause I was really diggin my new Zara coat in the photo below ;)

Christmas markets are very common at this time, seeing that the big day is only 5 days away when I was there. Wooden stalls would be erected near a skating rink selling trinkets and simple food. It would be fun, but the cold was really biting through my gloves. Imagine me standing at one corner, covered from head to toe, standing like I was holding in my pee. Not pretty  -_-

There's plenty of Indo-Chine cuisine around Europe, seeing that a lot of the immigrants were from countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Since I was still jetlagged, I knocked out right after dinner. In fact, I was already dozing off come dinnertime. Oh, and one thing, do NOT expect Free WiFi at the hotel. They charge like a dowry man! Nonsense T_T

Even the McDonalds toilet in France, has passwords for you to enter. Meaning you're gonna have to buy something and the password will be printed on the receipt, THEN only you can use their toilet. FML

What I wore underneath the jacket, in the nice warmth of my hotel room lol:

Tank: Topshop

Outerwear: Zara TRF

Muffler: Forever21

Pants: JayJays

Shoes: Nike Dunk SB boots, Warped

oohhh and one thing I love about French hotels? They always have the cutest set of toiletries EVER!

If you're planning to visit Nice, here are the Top 10 attractions Nice has to offer.



Next blog post - Cannes and Monte Carlo  ;)