The French Riviera

Saying adieu to Switzerland, Amy and I took a train from Bern to Nice, France.  We were thrilled with the Swiss hospitality but the numbness in our hands and toes sent us in search of sunshine and warmer weather.

We arrived in the evening, after the 7 hour ride, and were pleased to find what we were searching for.  We headed to our bags at our hotel (Comte de Nice), which was surprisingly full of German guests and staff, and checked in for the night.  

The next morning we were scheduled to pick up our rental car so we grabbed some food at the local street market (60 cents for a bag of dates and a pear) and took a walk through the city towards the Mediterranean.



Nice is a "Nice" place, had to throw that in there.  The streets are clean, the air smells of the sea, the people are friendly, and the city feels like an actual city instead of a strip mall of tourist shops.  I can see why the rich flock to the French Riviera.





We finally arrived at the beach and spent some time walking along the Boulevard towards the rental company.  And now for my plug for the rental car company "Sixt".  First off, super friendly staff and good prices.  Secondly, free upgrade to a Mercedes!!!  The only downside was the driver had to be the person whose credit card we used which meant Amy was driving.  She was not too pleased and I don't blame her because driving a big car down narrow European streets with motorbikes cuttin in and out of traffic is not enjoyable.


Big pimpin'

Anyways, we picked up our bags from our hotel and started driving along the coast.  Our first stop was on an empty beach on a peninsula dominated by million dollar homes.  The beach was loaded with sea glass (we filled a glove with it due to our lack of any other suitable container) and we enjoyed the view of the sea with Nice and the mountains in the background.  





We drove the entire day, taking in the scenic views and met up with our first couchsurfers, a younger couple living in Aubagne.  

Joel and Hortense (our CS hosts) recommended that we visit the Cap de Caneille cliffs so Amy and I left in the morning and headed that way.  We were glad we decided to go because the views were spectacular.


Amy hanging her feet over the edge.  No thanks!  I got as far as laying on my stomache and peeking over the edge.









A strange cave in the rock nearby.





After the cliffs we drove to Aix-En-Provence and walked around the city before driving a good ways to our next couch surfers in a small town called Virages.  


They were setting up for a Christmas festival which made us miss Chriskindlemart in Chicago.




We met our hosts at a bar and they treated us to a drink before taking us to a local spot with a view of the entire town.

  

We then headed to their place where they cooked us a delicious dinner (aperitif, salad, truffle eggs, a baked pumpkin dish, and pears simmered in red wine).  Stuffed and full of wine we turned in for the night.

One of Amy's attractions that she wanted to visit was the Fraganard perfume factory so the next morning we headed straight there for a tour.


The essence use to be extracted by laying the flowers face down in animal fat and changing them everyday for up to 3 months.  Now they just use chemicals to extract the essence.



This is where the "Nose" sits and makes perfumes from over 250 essences.  There are only 50 "Noses" in the world and it takes 9+ years of training to become one.

After a long drive back towards Nice we arrived in St. Paul de Vence, a hill top town full of nothing but art galleries and cafes targetting tourists.  



We spent some time walking around and then drove to the top of a nearby mountain where we relaxed for a couple of hours and took in the view.

We met up with our final couchsurfers later that night (A young couple who spoke very little English).  We tried our best to communicate, and although it was a little ackward at times, we enjoyed the stay.

The next morning we dropped off our car in Nice, booked a room for the night, and toured Nice.


Hotel Negresco where Amy's grandpa played chess during WWII.

A great street market we strolled through.  

Candied fruit, mmmm.  Amy didn't like them but I thought they were good.

Nice from the city Chateau.

Relaxin' on the beach.  The weather was beautiful.

There were nude sunbathers all around the beach.  We tried to leave them out of the pics, this is a "PG" blog ya know.

Our French Riviera excursion had to come to an end so we took a train the next morning to our next workaway in a little village north of Toulouse.

A Quick Trip to Switzerland!

At the end of our visit to the Italian cities we decided that we would like to take a quick trip into the mountains of Switzerland. After reading through our handy-dandy Europe guide (thanks Lauren!) we chose, based on what appealed to us to go to Lucerne and then move onto the capitol city, Bern.

We were very lucky and able to find couchsurfers for all four nights we were spending in Switzerland. We left from Venice and after a very scenic, but very long train ride we arrived in Switzerland.


View from the train window, somewhere around Lugano.

We got in around 8 pm and met up with our couchsurfers. The next day we were up bright and early to wander around the city. The weather in the mountains was a far cry from the warm weather we had in Italy!


Fall was in full swing... across that lake is a really beautiful view of the mountains that we never got to see.





Very quaint city.

The famous Kapellbrucke that burned down in 1993, but has been rebuilt and partially restored.

Everything looks like a ski chalet!

"The Dying Lion Of Lucerne"

I think this is a whomping willow.

From the top looking down at the city.

Kurtis holding the roasted chestnuts, which are very popular and we felt we needed to try.



At the wine tasting with our couchsurfers and some friends.

The next day we took a beautiful 1 hour train ride through the Swiss countryside and ended up in Bern. We headed straight to our couchsurfers apartment where we were greeted and shown to our room. We would be staying with Thomas and Nia for the next two days. When we arrived in Bern, we had great, clear weather, so Thomas suggested that we head out for a nice walk along the river to the famous Barengraben (Bear Pit) to see Bern's most famous residents.


Nice view of the bridges.

Amy with the bears!

Kurtis and Thomas with the bears.

Momma and one of her babies!

View of the other side of the river from the Bear pit.

Bear themed stuff all over Bern... It is the cities mascot.

After seeing the bears we hiked up the hill to the Rose Garden for a spectacular view of the sunset, we also met up with Nia!



After watching most of the sunset, we wandered towards the grocery store by way of the main strip in Bern. Most of the shops we closed or closing, but it was still awesome to see.


We stopped at the grocery store and Nia and Thomas picked up the ingredients for a traditional Swiss fondue. We met up with Nia's friend Sophie and headed back to the apartment where we were treated to fondue. The Swiss dip the bread into a cherry flavored liqueur before dipping it into the cheese, both Kurtis and I thought it was a little too strong! It is supposed to help with the digestion of all of the cheese!


The next day Kurtis and I walked down to the old town and got to see the city in the light.

Fountain featuring giants eating children. Bern has a small river that runs through the middle of the main street that comes up in many fountains.

And we had to visit the Einstein museum! Did you know that Einstein left his wife for his cousin? Well now you do!

On our last evening, Kurtis and I made tacos for our hosts and then we all headed out to the light show on the capitol building. The light show was intense and awesome... the photos really don't do it justice.






The next morning, we hopped on yet another train, this time to the south of France. We arrived in Nice after about 7 hours on two different trains.