Nice is Nice

Could I really title this any other way? We all know how much I love bad jokes.
This morning I slept in after that lengthy journey along the Mediterranean, and tried to say hello to my bunkmates only to discover Barcelona has stolen my voice.
Port of Nice
I took advantage of the free breakfast (seriously I need to stop writing about this, it's just a given at this point), got going early afternoon and headed down to the port. I saw more yachts than minivans in a Walmart parking lot. Got offered no less than 3 jobs aboard. The offers were definitely too good to be true--I suspect the uniform is a bikini and sunglasses. At most. Thanks, Octopussy, but I'm going to have to pass. (Really, that's the name of his boat. Parked right next to "Just For You, Love Douglas." Classy.) Really tempted to ask them what they do in order to have a yacht; I figure there's three possibilities: something risky, something illegal, or both. Either way is fascinating, but I don't fancy involuntarily becoming a part of a drug cartel's harem. Saw a wedding--everyone in attendance was good looking. Confirmed my suspicions about the French Riviera being a magical place that I need to live in. I found Narnia! Just kidding. But seriously.

Nice is a cool town because it has both the sophistication and culture I love about a lot of cities, yet it has that laid-back vibe that you need once in a while. Looking into cooking schools here immediately--if they have a good one, I'm sold. Met up with the Aussies from Darwin at my hostel for happy hour (dolla beers!) Then went downtown to Wayne's, the most popular bar in Nice. Full of foreigners (and Snoop Dogg, who apparently has partied at Wayne's too) including a Contiki tour group. I'm so glad I decided not to do one of those--apparently you spend all your time traveling and only stop at sights for like 5 minutes before you're herded back on the bus. Can you imagine being stuck on a bus with a group of people you hate, going all over Europe? They did look like they were having a good time, though; there was a lot of dancing on tables. After establishing that Sarah Palin is not the only one with geographical troubles (Apparently there are some Aussies who think Alaska is part of Canada), we split from Wayne's and walked along the coast to Ma Nolan's to check out the Irish offerings in France. It was very chill--they played some great Kings of Leon tracks. I had to leave at 1:30 to make the last tram home. So glad to be back on a normal night schedule, you have no idea--maybe my voice will come back now.