One day, my sister and I were bored and just began browsing flights (I literally do this in my spare time), and we saw some cheap flights to Nice. Neither of us had ever been to the South of France before and the flights were only 40GBP each so we booked them there and then! (I have a tendency to always do this as well – I’m working on it). As we landed at Aeroport Nice Cote d’Azur, we were humoured by a huge billboard stating ‘Nice to Meet You’ – it actually made us laugh. When the UK was still in the EU, we technically weren’t allowed passports stamps from other EU nations. Filling the pages of my passport is an ongoing mission of mine so this rule was the only thing I hated about travelling across Europe. But me being me, I always ask for a stamp at every EU border. Sometimes they look at me funny and deny me a stamp, but at other times they just laugh and agree to it. In this case, it was the latter so yay, another stamp!

Our accommodation was in the heart of Nice and our first mission was to locate the #ILoveNice sign – I love these kinds of signs and I always seek them out in cities which have them – my favourite one to date is the Toronto sign (and no, not just because I live here!). We began strolling down Avenue Jean Medecin where we got a real sense of the city – this street is the city’s main shopping street. European architecture is the world’s most varied and it’s usually quite distinctive from city to city. Each European city gives off its own vibe and character, and it’s usually due to the building colours and architectural designs. Even in France itself, the south is a lot different to Paris, for example. Anyway, we continued strolling along The Avenue and soon ended up in Place Massena, an iconic square in the historical quarter of Nice. Some call it the jewel of Nice – it’s a charming little area with a large public garden, sculptures, and a landmark water fountain. It’s a cute spot to stop for some ice-cream or a coffee! There’s another fountain, Fountain du Soileil nearby, which is an iconic foundation with a statue of Apollo. After spending some time here and and walking the cobblestone streets of Vieille Ville (Old Town), we continued heading south and ended up by the coast at Ponchettes Beach – we even found a mini Statue of Liberty! Not many people know this, but the Statue of Liberty in America was actually a gift from the French. If you have time, head west from Massena Square and check out Jardin Albert 1er. It’s a seafront public garden with palm trees, pools, more fountains and even a carousel (so it’s great for kids too). You can ride bikes, go jogging or even take a short train tour of the city with Trains Touristiques de Nice! It’s right next to Promenade des Anglais and the beach, so it’s perfectly situated.  

We walked along the beach and finally spotted the #ILoveNice sign. We didn’t realize it was higher above ground and overlooked the stretch of the French Riviera, aka Cote d’Azur, and the Mediterranean Sea! It was breath-taking! We took a few pictures of the sign – on the sign, in the sign, next to the sign – the whole shebang, and then we noticed a staircase which we later learnt was in the Le Vieux quarter. We couldn’t see where it led but once we reached the first level we realized we were at the Bellanda Tower, which is on the way to the gardens at Castle Hill. We were just amazed by the view – it was so scenic and gave a panoramic view of the “Bay of Angels” – it felt like we were standing on top of Nice. Honestly, I haven’t seen many viewpoints as magnificent as this one. It’s also probably the best place to catch the sunset! There was also a man with a guitar playing the instrumentals of Despacito and Shape of You and this really set the tone and atmosphere. We admired the view for a while and then spotted a waterfall much higher up and we were determined to find it. We continued up the stairs but as we did, a thunderstorm hit! Heavy pouring rain, thunder, and lightning. It kind of ruined our afternoon as it was too wet to continue exploring. I’d imagine the view from Castle Hill would be even better though! Hard Rock Café was nearby-ish on Promenade Des Anglais and if you know me at all, you’ll know that I visit every HRC in every single city I visit (because I collect their shot glasses). Most major cities have a HRC so I thought it would be a unique souvenir collection to have, and one that could be added to from almost everywhere I go! We ordered some cocktails to wait out the rain but it didn’t let up so we eventually had to soldier up and head back in the storm. That, unfortunately, concluded the adventures of Day 1, but we had some quality time together indoors.  

The next day we were woken up by the sounds of loud sirens, loud distorted music and loud bangs. Quite confused, we peered out the window and saw a huge cloud of smoke. In light of recent events across Europe during that time, we didn’t rule out an attack of some sort, especially since it had become so prevalent. But we weren’t asked to evacuate or anything so we got on with our morning, got ready, and headed out. Our plan was to spend the second day exploring the rest of Nice but we ended up getting a little sidetracked. We went into Bershka (okay, I never usually spend much time abroad shopping, but Berksha is one of my favourite stores and there aren’t many of them in London). Before we realised, it was already 5pm and we still had a whole list of places we wanted to visit! Oops! We were pondering on what to do next and realized we were feeling spontaneous so instead, we decided to just jump on a bus to Cannes! Because why not? Any opportunity to tick off another city, right?! 

The ride was along the coast, along Promenade des Anglais, and it was beau-ti-ful! – the turquoise waters of the Cote d’Azur, the palm trees, the pedestrians and traffic passing by – it was all so picturesque. The bus ride was just under an hour and when we arrived, we noticed a bunch of crowds, red carpets and a lot of officers patrolling the streets. Little did we know we had walked right into the annual Cannes Film Festival! We were so surprised. As unexpected as it was, it was quite exciting to see all the action! We also found a mini Walk of Fame which was cool (obviously nothing like the main one in Hollywood). There were only a small handful of tiles were of celebrities such as Cameron Diaz. It was by the Promenade de la Croisette, a prominent street that stretches along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The streets were so busy that we weren’t actually able to see much, and all the surrounding bars and restaurants were overflowing with people. We did manage to stroll along Le Vieux Port where boats and yachts were docked, we saw the Casino Barriere Le Croisette, and then just spent a little time taking pictures and taking it all in. Cannes is the only place in France with three casinos. It was starting to get dark so we figured we should head back to the Nice. We thought we’d get a train back but you won’t believe what happened! All trains were cancelled! We honestly had no clue what to do so we just burst out laughing. An Uber back to Nice was almost 100 Euros so we decided to walk for a while. It was difficult and expensive to get an Uber from where we were due to the Film Festival. It got darker and the streets got quieter, and at one point it felt like the walking path ended. That’s when we called a car.

On day 3, we felt even more spontaneous. As we had no concrete plans, we decided to jump on another bus but in the other direction – straight to Monaco! My next article will be about our Monaco trip so make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss it! Irrespective of the minor mishaps, it was definitely worth the impromptu trips to both Nice and Cannes! If we had an extra day, we probably would’ve hit up St. Tropez as well (which is only a 1.5-hour drive from Nice!).