France & Monaco

Beaujolais Wine Region
From Paris, we headed toward Beaujolais Wine Regine. (Sidenote: For now, I decided on the name "Beau" for either a boy or girl, after the serene Beaujolais of France.) The place that we went to was super cute and quaint! There was a swimming pool overlooking the wine regions, but we were not staying there long enough to swim. Just long enough to drink wine and eat cheese.

One of the funniest incidents (of course, involving Sami): He thought he was being really slick sneaking a pour of the super strong wine turned hard alcohol? (extra fermented? I was confused....but the one with the snake). We all watched as he tried to be sneaky. Then his camera hit the glass and it poured out in front of everyone. We couldn't stop laughing. Thats karma, I guess.

Lyon, France
We stayed a night in Lyon, which is supposed to be the food capital of France. I probably mentioned before in another blog about how there are random/weird things in Europe, including places we stayed at. I dont even know if some where hostels/hotels/houses/etc. Well this room had a little loft upstairs with a bed, thats it, and a little gate thing. Random.

With all the jazz of Lyon being all about food, it is definitely safe to say that my favorite meal came from Lyon. Coincidence..? I had dinner with the twins, and we always share food. I ordered the famous Lyonaise salad, which was delish. The twins each ordered a different salty crepe. I cant remember exactly what they were, all I remember is that it was the bombest food I had on the trip. And we scored in terms of the cost. Sat outside on LITTLE tiny cafe tables, seated for 4. But really...it was so small, just the three of us barely fit with all our plates. Europe is weird when it comes to small things. I guess I'm used to the BIG booths and supersized plates in the US.

Sipping on my latte

Avignon, France
Taking Western Civ right before I came to Europe helped. I knew about Avignon, the place where the pope was exiled to. Thats all I knew, lol. It was a cute little place with a church. But what I liked most about Avignon was the randomness on the street. Lots of big advertising posters for theater, music, etc. Eccentric street performers, and jewelry booths, as well as lots of shopping with a huge Sephora and H&M.

Nice, France
We arrived at the Contiki village in Nice, and Ollie had told us that there was an amusement park down the street that would could walk to. We started off the night be drinking our beers and rum that we bought at the Canadian airport, because it was SOOO much cheaper to each buy a bottle with Canadian dollars rather than Pounds or Euros. Smart thinking. The amusement park was about a 15 minute walk down this little road. It seemed kinda in the middle of nowhere, but I guess it made sense because we were in Nice, afterall. The park was really California-themed, trying to mimic Disney, but nonetheless, it was good fun. The area that we were at was outside of the city, so it was fun to go on a random adventure to the theme park. I dont know why some of the other people didnt go....it was FREE Fun! And Im pretty sure we got a little lost on the way back, typical. Once we got back, it was past dusk, and everyone was drinking at the bar. I remember several international phone calls were made that night, my bad.

The next day, we went the city part of Nice. First, we all headed toward the beach, where I saw TONS of nudies. Lots of boobs! And the beach wasn't sand, it was big rocks, but the smooth kind. But still hurt to walk on. After that, we went toward all the shopping, and there was A LOT! It was like San Francisco (in terms of shopping). We finally decided to split up, because everyone wanted to go into different stores and do different things. Liz and I ended up together because we wanted to go to Sephora, of course. And then about an hour later, we decided we wanted to eat. We walked down several side streets before deciding on a restaurant. Guess who we saw at the back of the restaurant we finally picked....the rest of our friends! Weird how we could have eaten anywhere, at any time, and we happened to pick the same random restaurant as them. And Chantel fell asleep and drooled on Peter's backpack, haha.

Fountain near the Promenade des Anglais

Monte Carlo, Monaco
Late that night in Nice, we took a bus ride to Monte Carlo, Monaco, where Le Grand Casino is. I blew a quick 40 Euros. But it was just one of those things like, "When in Rome!" I couldn't be in Monte Carlo, and NOT gamble at Le Grand Casino! The casino was definitely not like the Indian casinos or Nevada. This place had CLASS. First of all, there was a dress code. It was fun to dress up and go some where fancy. Second, the cars outside of the casino/hotel might as well be in Bond movies. Third, it was pretty quiet (no loud cheesey sounds of slot machines) with a small room of elegant looking slot machines. And I never did see what the buy-in for blackjack was. Way too much for my pockets, thats for sure.

Le Grand Casino at night