Justine goes to Scotland!

Today we woke up to just beautiful weather. We decided that this is the perfect day for the beach. After slowly waking up and waiting for the bus, we headed for the beaches in Nice in the afternoon. When we go there, we realized that this beach is different from most of the other beaches we have seen because there is no sand just small, smooth rocks and pebbles. It was nice that we did not end up leaving with sandy feet and clothes. When we got there, unfortunately the clouds were rolling in at that time, but it was nice to relax and read by the Mediterranean. My sister and I put our feet in when we first got there, but we decided not to go swimming because the waves were too big for us. As I was looking out onto the water, I kept seeing these small white birds skiming the water and then diving straight in! They were trying to catch fish and we actually saw one catch a fish. It was funny watching them because they would first fly higher and nose dive right into the water. I have never seen a bird do that. We all of the sudden heard some fighter planes shoot out from the airport and display a short show for everyone on the beach. Then the colors red, white, and blue shot out from the tailpipes of the planes. They were celebrating the 150th birthday of Nice becoming part of France.

Around 5:30 we decided to head to the old town of Nice and look for a restaurant for dinner since we did not have lunch. This part of Nice was beautiful. There were narrow alleyways with high buildings connected by lines of laundry hanging out the windows. The green shutters against the yellow walls just made the area look so wonderful. A lot of the architecture we have seen reminds us more of Italy. We recently found out that Nice used to be a part of Italy until the 1800s when it became a part of France. After enjoying a nice dinner in the heart of the old town, we decided to walk around and explore. We saw some touristy shops that we loved looking around. Do you know how they have all different souveniers with peoples names? Well, my mom and I always look for my name, Justine, and never find it. We found it two times back in the United States and had to buy those two things. This time I looked, like I always do, and I found my name!! I found my name on a ruler and then on a pen, and then on a coin purse…it was everywhere! We asked the person who worked there if “Justine” was a common name in France. He said yes it is very common because it is a French name. I found a necklace with my name on it and I had to buy it. I was meant to come to France!

I wish we had more time to just wander and get lost in Nice, but we had to get back to the bus station to go back to Vence. Unfortunately we missed the bus and had to take a taxi back. I am planning to go back to Nice some other time this week and explore the old town and other districts.