Tuesday, May 15, 2012

trying to be like Grace Kelly

Every girl dreams of being a princess.  I dream of being Grace Kelly.  So when my plane touched down in Nice, France, I fully intended to live out this dream.  Although it was a bit of a process to get there, Alexis and I finally arrived at Villa Saint-Exupery, our hostel for the duration of our stay in the Cote d'Azur.   With just the name of our accommodation, I was already in love with the south of France, for it reminded me of my days reading Le Petit Prince as a high school French student.

In order to profiter from our time in France, we rose early on Saturday morning to leave on a day long tour to Eze Village and Monaco.  Our first stop was in Eze, a medieval walled city that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.  Alexis and I enjoyed climbing up the hill to the fortress so that we could gaze out at the beautiful water.  It was quite windy once we reached the top though.
We also wandered through the stone caverns, stopping occasionally to drop into the cute boutiques that sold interesting crafts, accessories, and homeware.


When we descended down the hill again, I stopped at a boulangerie to buy my first of many authentic French baguettes of the trip.
From here, we hopped back on the bus to continue our journey to Monaco.  When I caught my first glimpse of the principality, I knew that I liked this place.  I simply could not help but feel like royalty as I soaked in the sites of the casino and the Cafe de Paris.  

We then walked toward the pier so that we could admire all of the lovely ships and yachts docked at the shore.  

By this time, the sun had also risen high in the sky, so Alexis took some time to soak up some rays and people watch.

Before returning to our base in Nice, we also walked through the streets of Monte Carlo, gazing into the windows of the many art galleries and designer boutiques - Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, and more. As we walked again toward the bus station, I thought to myself, I could seriously live here forever.  On a gorgeous day like today, this was probably not an original thought, but I still cannot seem to get Monaco out of my mind.  Perhaps, one day, my prince will come, and he will carry me away to his castle overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.  I think that I would make a very good Grace Kelly.