Hello Young Adventurers!

Locations: Nice, France.  Monaco
Languages Spoken: French
Words Learned: La Mer- The Sea.  L’eau- The Water

Were you able to figure out where the journey takes us next?  If you said Nice, France (pronounced like the English word niece) you’d be right!  This place is an ocean paradise.  Part of the Cote d’Azure (The Azure Coast) of France, this place did not disappoint.  The waters were crystal clear and bright blue- I had never seen anything like it, but had dreamed of seeing something like it for my entire life.  I can’t wait to show you!

Getting to Nice from Paris was an adventure in and of itself.  I had a 6 hour train ride, and I was excited to work on my computer, text my friends, maybe watch some Netflix, and just relax.  But guys… there was NO WIFI on this train.  And I had no data on my phone, so I went on walks around the train, took a nap, and read my French copy of Harry Potter to practice my French.  It was bizarre to not be able to talk with anyone, and it was a good opportunity to just be silent for a bit and enjoy the peace.  It’s hard to step away from that convenience, but it’s also really freeing.  I hope you try it one day!

Anyways, after arriving into Nice, I put my stuff in my hostel, and headed straight for the beach.  I had heard there was an old castle you could hike up and can see the whole city from- so I made my way that way!  The Castle used to stand on this hill from the 11th century until the 18th century, but was destroyed in 1706.  What stands now are some ruins, a beautiful park, and a waterfall that overlooks the city!  Here are some of the photos I took!

After, I got a pizza to go and sat overlooking the beach and watched the sunset for a bit before heading to bed.  The days with a lot of traveling between places are proving to be the most exhausting.

The next morning, I woke up and took a day-trip to the second-smallest country in the world which is located just outside of Nice, about 30 minutes away called Monaco.  Now, this place is an entire country within the area of 0.78 square miles.  That’s not much- but it’s incredibly mountainous/hilly, so every where you go, you’ll have to probably go up a bunch of steps at some point.  The country itself is a Constitutional Monarchy, which I had no idea.  Their head of state is Prince Albert II, and he lives in an actual palace on top of the mountain overlooking the city.  This country is also well known for the Formula 1 Grand Prix race that happens every year through the streets.  Needless to say, I was incredibly excited to see it!

My first goal when I arrived was to go see the Aquarium there.  You all know how much I love sharks and the beach, so I couldn’t pass up a chance to learn more about ocean creatures and see them for myself!  This aquarium was also an Oceanography (the study of the ocean) museum.  Something I learned here was that back in the early 1900’s, the Prince of Monaco at the time, Prince Albert I (known as the scholarly prince) was a big part in Oceanography being seen as a legitimate field of science.  He sent out many expeditions to learn more, and this museum was his way of sharing the information with the world!  While here, I also got to see an entire Fin Whale skeleton put together which was really cool!  I didn’t know they are the second largest animal in the world, right after the Blue Whale.  How cool!

If you look at this fish- you’ll see a black spot on it’s tail. Many smaller, tropical fish have these spots and they’re called “False eyes.”  Can you guess why they would have a spot that looks like an eye on their tail?

There was also an exhibit about protecting our oceans.  I know you guys hear about recycling and taking care of our planet.  It’s incredibly important that we are careful about what we put in the oceans in order to protect our wildlife and all the different species that live there.  Every little bit counts, and it starts with you!  Can you help me protect our Oceans by recycling and using our resources responsibly?

After the museum, I got out just in time to make my way up to the Palace and see their “Changing of the Guards” ceremony.  Many cultures have these types of ceremonies (Arlington Cemetery near D.C. has a really important one here in the United States), and they are taken very seriously.  It was incredible watching the discipline of the soldiers as they went through the process.  Afterwards I went on a tour of the Palace itself.  We were only allowed to see a small part of it, since the family still lives there, and we couldn’t take any photos sadly.  It was really beautiful, though, and it was humbling to see that there are people alive today who still live like this!  We even got to see the throne room.

Afterwards, I walked across the city to an area called “Monte Carlo.”  It’s known for being extremely wealthy and for all the beautiful cars.  It was crazy to get to see, but I definitely enjoyed it.  There even was a Japanese Garden I walked through that was designed to look just like it was in Japan!  Evidently, the previous Princess used to love to go on walks there!  One other thing I managed to do was to get my passport stamped with a Monaco stamp!  Typically, when you enter new countries, you get a stamp in your passport to prove you entered legally, but Monaco is so small that every train coming in would be foreign, so they don’t do it.  But I found online that you can go to a special office and ask for one and they’ll give it to you!  I never would have found that without doing some research beforehand, so I’m incredibly happy that I did!

After Monaco I came home a slept.  I was EXHAUSTED walking around an entire country in only a few hours.  I should have taken a bus around, but oh well. I learned.  I got to FaceTime with one of my favorite people in the world, Danielle, though! It was so nice to get to talk to a familiar face, and it made me incredibly thankful for modern technology that let me talk to my friend across the entire globe.  Made even more fun with ridiculous face-filters.

The next morning I got up and went on a run.  All of my GoFar friends know how how great it is to go on a nice run, and I don’t think I’ve ever been on a prettier run before in my life!  I made it to the top and enjoyed the view before returning home and putting on my bathing suit for a day at the beach.  I didn’t plan to stay all day, but I ended up making a friend while on the beach, and we hung out and swam for the rest of the day!  It was nice to just relax and enjoy the beautiful blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.  One thing that is so crazy here is that the beaches are all rocks!  No sand.  It’s also a big reason why the water is so clear since the sand isn’t being kicked up with every wave!

My last day in Nice basically ended up being the same.  I wanted to take a day trip to Cannes, but my friend I had met the night before wanted to hang out more.  When you travel, seeing a ton of places is great, but meeting people and hearing their stories is what makes it truly special, so I decided to not take the trip and hang out with my new friend.  We had another beach morning, walked around a local fancy mall, and had coffee.  My friend, named Erdem, is from Austria and is in Nice studying how to speak French for 4 weeks.  It was really great learning about his culture and country- and he gave me great tips for when I make my way to Vienna, Austria later this year!

Tomorrow morning I leave for my next location- Toulouse, France.  It’s a small city in Southern France that a great friend of mine recommended after living there for a few months herself.  Although I’m sad to leave the Cote d’Azure, I’m excited to see a new city and what adventures await there!  I’ll see you guys there!

Have Courage, & Be Kind

Mr. Weavil