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My first full day in Nice wasn’t actually spent in Nice. Truth be told, I actually didn’t spend a ton of time there, instead opting to use it as a base for day trips around the Cote d’Azur (French Riviera for those of you who are uncultured).

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I took a 20 minute bus ride to Eze, a tiny medieval town set on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean. The mountain is only perhaps a kilometer or two inland, yet sits some 1,400 feet above the sea. Despite most of the shops being closed for the season, it was still nice to be able to wander the lanes taking photos without any tourists in them. The top of the hill is home to the Le Jardin Exotique (botanical gardens), which was discounted due to the time of year and the fact that half of the plants were covered up. Those that weren’t were cactuses. I’m not sure why they had such a large cactus collection, but they did.

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Eze Village high on the hill above Eze Sur Mer

After visiting the gardens, I then followed a trail called the “Path of Nietzsche” back down to Eze-Sur-Mer. There wasn’t much to do there except walk along the coast, so that’s exactly what I did. Then I just kept walking to the next town Beaulieu-sur-Mer, then to the next town after that, Villefranche-sur-Mer. I feel like they can all drop the “Sur-Mer”, we get that they are on the sea. In total, I walked over 13 miles that day, kicking off a 3 day period where I would end up walking over 36 miles. For the most part, the scenery was the same. Blue seas, large yachts, surpassed only in size by the huge villas overlooking the water. You know, boring stuff like that.

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That evening, I succumbed to the fact that Nice is filled with pizzerias and took a break from French food. I did research on which place had the best reviews. The place I chose was good, though I’ve definitely had better. After that, it was back to the hostel I was staying at to rest up for Monaco the next day.

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