#EasterTrippin' - Nice and Monaco.

In the Quran, there's a verse that says:

We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it (The Quran) is the truth. But is it not sufficient concerning your Lord that He is, over all things, a Witness? Al-Quran (41:53)

One of the ways this goes about then to find/explore these signs would be, to travel. And thank God, for the past four years I have been blessed with studying abroad, I have been able to do just that. This time round, I guess I really needed it. And after a lot of deliberation and travelblog reading on where to go, #EasterTrippin would comprise of The French Riviera: Nice-Antibes-Monaco, then parts of Italy: Cinque Terre-Naples-Pompeii-Capri.

So Monday the 26th, we arrived in Nice despite the drama prior to leaving. The acute case of food poisoning the night before and almost missing the flight eventhough we were at the airport almost five hours early... But, we made it. We managed to get a little sun while in the region with most of our time being spent by the beach, people and car watching and also just taking in the breath taking scenery.

Nice was very peaceful and The English Promenade, by the coastline was probably the highlight of the city. We didnt spot many beachgoers at this time of the year probably cause the weather wasnt sunbathing-mode just yet.

We also climbed about a gazillion flight of steps, which in the end was totally worth it, to get a typical panoramic view of Nice. The wind was a bit chilly and as I keep saying it ever since we got back from #EasterTrippin, here in Europe, sunny and heat are two separate elements! Such a deceiver sometimes.

We also took day trips out to Antibes and Monaco which were about an hour's bus ride from Nice town. In Antibes, Pauline suggested that we visit the Marineland which she hyped up to be amazing! Lol but apart from the Orcas, dolphins, polar bears, penguins, turtles and seals that were there, the place was pretty much deserted. In her defense, it dint take much to impress a 10 yr old at the time. Lol! We thoroughly enjoyed the dolphin show but the orca show was disappointing. The trainers dint get into the water with them, probably because of the recent spate of accidents that have been happening with orcas and their trainers. However graceful and beautiful the orcas looked, we should learn to never under estimate a creature in its element. They're arent nicknamed killer whales for nothing, y'know.

Monaco was... expensive! Seriously, the amount of flashy cars and the smell of fresh crisp money was how I would describe Monaco. We sat on a stretch of the Plage Lavrotto (the beach) where I think would be the high street shopping for cars. Bentley, Ferrari, McLaren, Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Porsches lined up like ducks waiting to be bought and driven. As for us, we could only drool.

Not only were there flashy cars for show, the boats parked at the harbor were also a testament of the luxurious lifestyle of the rich and famous. I think I'd like to own a boat. It'd be nice to be able to sail out into the middle of the ocean, whenever you felt like it, with good company and be able to have nothing but the vast, clear ocean as a view. I dont know about you guys, but there's just something about the sound of the waves thats so calming, so soothing. And I'm glad we got a lot of it on our #EasterTrippin.

We missed out on visiting Cannes and Marseille which also make up the French Riviera but a trusted French has said that there's not really much to see and that if I wanted the full-on French experience, she's offered to take me to the south-west of France. Apparently we could ride among wild horses and go scare a flock of flamingos! Lol so I'm holding her to that. I'll just need to find the right time to go!

Till next time, au revoir!
Peja xx