On Friday, after nine hours of traveling, we made it to Nice. The train ride there was gorgeous. On the way down, we could see snow-capped mountains to the East. We had a small stop in Lyon, and we went to look at the mall across the street from the train station. (That's one thing that is nice about train stations- you can leave them during your "layovers.") Anyways, I managed to find a nice spring weight coat and Kyle got a shirt. After grabbing a couple baguette sandwiches for the train, we were on our way once again. Somehow, we ended up in first class on the trains there. Definitely wasn't going to ask any questions... After another bit (3 hours) of traveling we made it to Marseille. The train station there was absolutely gorgeous. Since we had an hour, we went for a little walk and came across a beautiful church in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, the tram went right by it so there were tram lines in the way of our pictures. Sad.
The next leg of the journey was pretty enjoyable. For the second half of the train ride, we could see the water on one side and the mountains on the other. It made for more interesting scenery than the fields that we had been traveling through before then.
Finally, we arrived in Nice. After checking into our hostel, we walked down to the water and took the boardwalk down close to the area where Carnival would be taking place. We found a cute little restaurant with a heated outdoor patio. Kyle had escargot for the first time and I had mussels for my first time. Both were absolutely delicious. After eating, we headed over to the opening ceremony of Carnival. Much to our surprise, when we arrived there were 4 women floating/dancing over the crowd strapped to clear, helium-filled balloons. There is no better way to describe it. I had never seen anything like it before. The crowd was crazy. Confetti and silly string were flying in every direction. The next event was cute for a little bit. The children of Nice sang and danced. Unfortunately, they lost interest after the first two minutes and so did the crowd. The finale was were staying for though. It was a huge fireworks display, in the middle of the square. I have never been that close to fireworks that large before. We could feel the heat of them against our faces.
After that, the crowd started to disperse. On our way back to the hostel, we went through the concessions area and got cotton candy. For 2 euros, we got a cotton candy that was at least 4 times the size of one that you would get in the States, and that was just a size small!
Saturday to come when I have internet access again!
