It rains...It shines...

The day started out just beautiful.  I had a lovely lie in and didn't wake up until around 10.  It was heavenly.  I can't tell you the last time I have done that without feeling guilty.  Another friend I have met here in Nice, Mariapaula, was coming to pick me up for a day excursion to the medieval town of St. Paul De Vence.  I had been told by many people in London that I needed to go to this great little town while I was in Nice so I was very excited for this outing.  She picked me up at my little place at 1pm and we headed up to the town.  It was not to far of a drive and she pointed out little interesting bits as we drove up so it was really nice.  As we wound around through all the little roads on our way up to the town I just kept thinking that all this has been here for thousands of years.  That is nothing in comparison to the majority of anything you will find in the US.

Medieval Street 

We parked and began our walk into the lovely town.  It was nothing like I have ever seen.  There were tiny cobblestone streets that you could only fit maybe 3 people on if you were really small on the interior of town.  The outer streets were a bit wider which is what you see in my photo.  These wider streets were where the 300 actual residents of town lived and all us tourists were normally swamped into the center of town.  Walking through the town was so lovely.  There were tons of little art galleries and boutiques that had very interesting and innovative items.  Nothing like what I have been accustomed to seeing in Nice.  The most amazing part of this town for me was the fact that it was still surrounded by a fortress wall.  I am really sorry I was unable to get a good photos of it but it was so great.  It was just like you would picture an old city with the wall around to protect it from invading parties....this wall can't keep out tourists though!!!  We wandered around the city for about 45min then looked off in the distance and saw a few threatening clouds.  We thought no big deal...it has been doing this all week.  Ok...we were really wrong.  Within a few moments of the first sprinkles of rain it was a full on down pour!  Now I am not afraid of a few little sprinkles of rain but this was

Torrential Rain 

torrential!  Sheets of rain totally drenching us.  Such a bummer because we had driven up here with the intention of just spending the afternoon but alas the weather had the last laugh on us.  We tried to wait it out in a small tunnel in the middle of the town...It's a medieval town, of course there is a tunnel in the middle of it..Duh!  Much to our dismay it didn't let up so we made the rain soaked run to the car which was not really close so we were dripping wet by the time we made it back.  Oh by the way did I mention we also had Mariapaula's son with us in the pram..ya add that to everything we just went through and you will get the real picture.  When we finally got into the car all we could do was laugh.  On the drive back to Nice It continued to rain so she took me on a driving tour of all the little villages along the way home.  It was really great to see the villages.  They are all so cute and quaint.  I love them.  I am looking forward to going back and walking through them on a day where I am not in need of an umbrella and wellies...I did leave London right?  As we pulled back into Nice we started to crack up because the weather was beautiful and it looked like it had never even rained.  The sky was so beautiful too.  You know that really crisp feeling you get in the air and how clear the sky looks just after a rain....That's what it was like.  I bid Mariapaula good bye at my home and she headed out to pick her older son up from school.  Since it was all of a sudden nice out I felt I should make the most of

Nice Port

it so I walked down to the Nice Port. I had never made it down that far yet on my wanders and it was really nice.  It was later in the day...probably around 6 or 7 in the evening and I realized that the placement of this port makes it the last place that the sun sets.  It was absolutely lovely.  I just walked around and took in all the beauty that I could.  I am so loving discovering all the different little hidden bits of beauty this city has to offer.  All the nervousness and unsettled feelings I had at the beginning are being replaced with admiration for what this city does have to offer.  It might not be a perfect fit for me long term but that doesn't mean that there isn't so much that I can get out of it and learn from.  Everyday I feel like I learn a bit more about who I am and how I want to live the next day.