Onto the next…

Spain was such an amazing experience that really took my breathe away. I could not wait to get to our next destination. The hours in between leaving Barcelona and arriving in Provence were long and tiring. My school traveled on a tremendous coach bus to get from location to location and it was painful. On the bright side I was able to talk to my friends and we had a really energetic tour guide that always kept us on our feet. In addition I was glad I was able to see the countryside of these different countries, it was a huge difference between the city life we were going to be occupying. I loved when the driver would take a break and we got to go into the different rest stops because they were nothing like the ones in America, they definitely felt much cleaner. I did not have high hopes for France because I was not going to be immersed into the major cities I was familiar with. My predictions were true about Provence sadly, but different when we arrived in Nice (pronounced niece). The two cities varied from each other quite substantially but I was grateful to experience traveling to both of them.

Provence did not hold the big city energy I was looking for. It was more of a hidden location in a countryside setting and had a more antique presence to it. There were cobblestone castles when you first enter and it held a strong medieval times vibe. I felt very bored in this city sadly and just felt there was nothing to see or do. I had never heard of the city of Nice before so I did not know what to expect there either. Nice was more of a comfortable and familiar setting for me. The food there was exquisite and the scenery was stunning. The buildings were so brightly colored and the people present in the atmosphere were so kind. One sight that really stuck out to me here was the beach. Now this was not your conventional beach that you would be used to on the east or west coast. Instead of sand, they were rocks, which may lead you to believe it was not comfortable to lay on but honestly quite the opposite. The light gray rocks were so smooth and comforting to lay down on, the ocean was glistening a light blue, so aesthetically pleasing to look at. Standing on the edge of the ocean offered you a background of the city’s skyline and it was quite mesmerizing.