Pure Bliss is a Chocolate Croissant

After our first week in Italy, we decided to pack up and head to the beach.
And not just any beach, but the French Riviera!

Nice was only about a 3 hour drive from Milan (not including traffic upon arrival) and we found our way

to the apartment we had rented for the weekend on Friday evening. We stayed only a block from the beach, and it was an easy walk to the old city center. Since I am writing this post retrospectively, I can say that so far, Nice has been my favorite place of my visit of all the cities I've seen on this trip. 

The city was beautiful and very lively. The town was filled with restaurants, shops, and markets. The beaches were filled with sunbathers and there was a large walking path along the coast. Our Saturday morning started with an obligatory trip to the boulagerie for breakfast croissants. We spent the first part of the day touring the city, and exploring the city streets and open markets. We also discovered that we happened to have arrived in Nice during the Tour de France, so there were huge tents set up for festival.

Day 2 was spent on the beach in the morning, and shopping and eating in the evening. The beach was extremely rocky, and the pebbles were pretty much straight torture to stand on barefooted. However I toughed it out because it was hot in the sun, and even though the water was a little chilly, I dove in and swam a bit, floating on the tops of the waves. The water was pretty salty (saltier than the US east coast) and the water was a perfect turquoise blue.

I am not quite sure what exactly I loved so much about it. I am very partial to beach towns in the summer, but this one was the perfect mix of lively excitement and sophisticated French vacation town that I simply adored. Now I really want to go see the rest of France!