Nice spelled N-I-C-E

I find it hilarious that Nice (pronounced niece for those in doubt) is spelled n-i-c-e. I just do. I’m sure it’s not funny to most but to me it’s hilarious. All I knew of this place was what I had heard on TV, about it being full of people with money and by the sea. Cote d’Azur, the total high life! And to be honest, I had some reservations in the beginning about meeting Nisarga there, because it’s not really my style. But then again, with a place to stay and the beach a 2 minute walk away, I couldn’t exactly bring myself to say no.

I asked Nisarga if he would be picking me up from the airport in Nice. He said yes. Then I asked him if I should go all the way outside of the airport or where I should wait, just in case he was late or something. He said I should look for a tall guy with dark hair holding a placard with my name and go straight to him. Ha! And what would he like to see me in I asked? A blue dress he responded. Less then a week later, there I was in the bathroom of the Nice airport terminal 2, doing a full makeover. Thank you Conway (for those who have lived or shopped in NYC you know what place I’m referring to) for that cheapo mini hippie blue dress. One rose in hand and a couple dozen waiting back in the apartment, a beautiful set of earrings from Poland, tight hugs, and lots of giggling.

That night Nisarga had a picnic ready to go: wine, fruit, cheese, bread. We originally were going to drive out to Cannes and have the picnic on a sandy beach out there, but we weren’t sure of the way to go and as we were lost we got pulled over by the cops – with whom Nisarga had a little ego tug of war for not wearing shoes while driving – so we scrapped the idea and just stayed in Nice. It was marvellous! We settled close by some guys who were playing music and we sat there under the stars and moon by the water catching up until after 2am. We were not the last to leave. Loved it!

This is a good representation of most of our time in Nice actually. We woke up late, he made brunch consisting of cheese, salad, bread, wine, olives, we would venture out around 3 not going far from home, basically crossing the street to get to the beach, stay there until 6 or 7, come back, nap. Yes, basically we were bums for a week. Totally! It got to the point that his father asked if we usually live like this and Nisarga clarified that there have been times when we woke up at 5am with the sun and the birds, meditated, did some cleansings and breathing exercises, a couple of hours of yoga and then went to eat at noon. His father was relieved I think.

Towards the end of the week we actually made the effort of going to Cannes again, after our usual late start, and this time we made it. Sandy beaches were a nice change to Nice’s rocky shore, but it had less of a town feeling to it (no this is not a complaint, we enjoyed our little excursion very much). And we went walking around one day around Nice’s old town and up the look out point… without a camera unfortunately.

That day we got Nisarga’s ears pierced! His father had looked at him a few days before and commented that he would look nice with an earring, and then I mentioned that I had thought it but didn’t say anything, and then Nisarga said he had also thought about it. So that was it, it was time! We found a place that was open on a Sunday and got Nisarga a new look. The earrings look splendid. Sexy actually, really sexy. When we got home his father looked at him and said that he couldn’t believe it, that Nisarga had actually done it. He said that he had always wanted to do it but hadn’t. We tried to convince him to go the next day to get it done and that we would go with him, but he wouldn’t go for it.

So Nice lived up to its reputation. Lots of sun and beach, lots of doing not much, lots of good food and wine. This was a lovely start to our summer vacation – yes, I know, vacation from what? Its not like we are going back to a job or something… but we can just call it a vacation from our vacation!

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