Nice, France

August 31, 2013
by Stephanie Pellett
4 min read
2 Comments

It has to be said: Nice was nice. I spent three nights there en route to Italy, and really enjoyed it. It’s beautiful, and it feels small and welcoming. The hostel I was staying at helped to create those feelings, it was a very small apartment-style place and everyone was friendly and hung out together. What a relief after the not-so-great hostel in Montpellier!

I couldn’t get over the coastline in Nice. Standing in the centre, both ways you looked you’d have a beautiful view of the coast petering off, and it looked beautiful at any time of day or night. It was an especially great view from the hill that once housed the old fortress (now just ruins) – you can take the elevator to the top and then walk down (so good in the scorching heat!). The sunsets in Nice were absolutely amazing, just very subtle layers of colour, hardly ever any clouds in the sky. I took a million photos, and watching it one night I remember saying “is this real?”. Just blue, blue water and pale pink sky.

The Nice old town was pretty touristy, but there were still some really lovely restaurants, churches, stores, squares, and of course ice cream shops. The central market was awesome, just full of lots of different fruit and veggie vendors. One of the days, we got a picnic of bread and cheese and tomatoes and fruit (what else?!) and ate it the hot sun. The only thing I didn’t like about Nice was that I found the beaches a bit dirty: lots of garbage on the shore and in the water. After being lucky enough to see some truly gorgeous beaches on my trip, these ones weren’t up to snuff. The water was still beautiful though, and the view from the water even better.

I was lucky to see some friends (old coworkers from my job in Montreal): one was vacationing there for the summer, another came for a visit (I’d seen him in Paris when I was there!) and a third still was living there for a while with her boyfriend. It was such a random occurrence to have four people who all worked together in Montreal at the same time to meet up in Nice. But so great too! Jean and I drove out to Monaco/Montecarlo one afternoon, and explored the old city of Monaco with its beautiful windy streets and pretty garden, and toured around Montecarlo inside the casino (where I had to stop myself from gasping at how much money totally normal -looking [ie. didn’t *look* rich] people were gambling with at the blackjack table) and wandering past the luxury stores. It was fun but I’m glad I only went for a visit: there doesn’t seem to be much to do there besides spend money!

All in all, I really enjoyed my time in Nice. I was thrilled to be able to meet up with friends, and happy to find that I made lots of friends at the hostel too. The atmosphere in Nice was pretty relaxed and I had a lovely time wandering around there.

Favourites:

  • Lou Pilha Leva: this little restaurant is delicious, cheap and authentic. It’s on one of the twisty little streets in the old town, with lots of outdoor tables. You order at the counter, get your delicious dishes and cheap wine, and sit at the big communal tables. It’s lovely. I recommend the zucchini tart and the eggplant beignets. Yummo.
  • Victoria Meuble Hostel: such a great place! It’s small, so everyone is friendly with one another, and its very close to the old town and the beach. I really liked my stay there.

Montpellier, France

August 26, 2013
by Stephanie Pellett
4 min read
2 Comments
Montpellier is a really sweet, quaint city in the south of France. It’s not a typical backpacker destination, but I had it recommended to me by a few different people (including my friend and co-podcaster Laura!), and it was the perfect place to stop to break up the long train rides from Spain to Italy, so I stopped in for a few nights. I’m happy I did, because I really enjoyed my time there! After Barcelona, it was nice to stay somewhere small, friendly, and not at all overwhelming, with good vibes. And it had a lot to offer!
I arrived (purposely) on a Friday afternoon, just in time for Les Estivales, a big street festival held every Friday in the summer on the esplanade just off the main square in Montpellier. The whole promenade is lined with food stalls and wine booths, there are a few different stages with live music or dancing, and it just gives off the most happy, summery ambience. For 5 euro, you get three wine tasting tickets and a wine glass, and you can go around and sample from different booths. 3 tickets was more than enough for me, and I was very content all night, wandering up and down the esplanade, back and forth between the stages (I especially loved the band playing fun Irish music, everyone was dancing in the crowd), eating sweet onion beignets (outstanding), taking in all the different food options on display, looking at jewellery, and walking down to the main square to watch one of the many street performances that went all night.
I found the street performance culture in Montpellier completely impressive. There seems to be a huge community of talented dancers there, and they put on shows every night in the main square. It’s such a cool atmosphere because the shows are such high energy with good music, and the dancers come to see each others shows. All of them are so talented, I’ve never experienced anything like it: there were shows all evening, barely ten minutes apart, sometimes two at once in different parts of the square. I watched them every night, and I’m guilty of watching the same show two or three times. It never got old!
The only downside to my stay in Montpellier was staying at the hostel there. It’s the only hostel in the town, the only other options being pricey hotels. It was the worst I’ve stayed in on my trip: the dirtiest, the shabbiest, the worst facilities (no lockers, for example), the least communal, the worst for meeting other travellers. Ironically, it was also the only hostel I’ve stayed at so far that is a part of Hostelling International, and they charge membership fees to stay in their hostels. You’d think the fees would mean it was a nicer place to stay, but I found that was not the case. I made the most of it by just spending most of my days out exploring, but it was a shame. I wish they’d spruce it up a bit.
I also found Montpellier strangely expensive. I guess it’s a popular vacation destination, but I was surprised at how all the restaurants seemed to be charging exorbitant prices for mediocre food. At the Estivales you could get really reasonably priced and delicious street food and drink, but less so in the town.
All in all, I had a wonderful stay. I explored, I read, I thought a lot. I visited the botanical gardens and the cathedral, and I sat in the park that had wonderful views. My last day I went to the beach and then took myself out to a movie at the theatre in the square: my first time watching a movie or TV show or anything in almost two months! I saw Now You See Me and was practically giddy with excitement the whole time. That was really fun.
Favourites:
  • Les Estivales: I’ve probably already talked it up enough, but go for a Friday! It’s absolutely worth it, my time at the Estivales made my entire trip to Montpellier worthwhile, it was that good.
  • BagelsandU: a little bagel shop right down the road from the hostel. It had a real NYC, gourmet feel to it, which was a pleasant surprise. I went twice and had the same thing each time, the Soho, a cheese bagel with with goats cheese, fried onions, fresh tomatoes, and a delicious green pesto. So, so good.

Paris, France

July 30, 2013
by Stephanie Pellett
5 min read
3 Comments

I wound up having some truly amazing adventures in Paris, but I have to be honest and say that some of the days were hard, especially the very first one. After my trip, I'll write a post about my reflections on solo travel (for the most part, great so far) but I think these posts with all the pretty pictures tend to glamorize my travel a little bit. Which is not to say that I'm not having a really amazing time, most of the time, but I'll also try to be honest when it's not as easy as pie.

My first day in Paris was a toughie. Going from travelling with your best friend to travelling alone is HARD, man. It didn't help that Paris was sticky and very, very hot. Plus, lets not mince words: Paris, while beautiful, can also be very overwhelming. Luckily, Snapchat! Honestly, I can say that snap chatting with my friends and sisters was a lifesaver when I felt really lonely that first day, and other days since. But that first evening I dragged myself out to Sacre Coeur, the gorgeous cathedral on the hill with views of Paris spread out in front of you, and ate a horrible tourist sandwich (it had fake eggs in it, I'm not joking..) and drank Fanta (which I had never been fond of before Paris but which I drank an obscene amount of while there…so refreshing!) and felt a little better but still lonely. Then I stumbled onto an absolutely amazing soccer juggling and acrobatics street performance that I can hardly describe (see the second photo from the top) which I watched three times and inexplicably made me feel much better.

And not all my days in Paris were as hard. My French exchange student from high school lives in Paris now and we had a lovely evening drinking rosé and eating gazpacho and zucchini gratin in her tiny, adorable apartment. I caught the end of the Tour de France with a few Australians I met on a tour, which was busy and fun. I wandered around by myself and had the best fallafel, and then sat in a park and figured out the rest of my trip. I knew two coworkers from Montreal, and met up with both.. it was so lovely to see a friendly face both times. I got to get driven around in a car and see lots of different castles around the outskirts of Paris. I tried macarons from two different shops and a croissant from one. I had a lemonade at the cafe Les Deux Moulins from the film Amelie and it felt so cool! I got to (sort of..) learn how to dance West Coast style swing on the quais of the Seine. On another night I felt a bit lonely (ironically the night I got upgraded to a hotel room from a 12-bed dorm due to an administrative error..ironic because it was so cool at first! And then I felt isolated..) I did what I do best: sought out food. This time from a very popular food truck that serves, strangely. burgers and fries. I figured I'd eaten enough Camembert sandwiches and French picnics, plus I was in line among exclusively Parisians, it was not a tourist attraction in the slightest (so I must have been doing something right).

So I got to make a lot of really fantastic memories. I got to talk to real Parisians in French. I got to experience solo travel while I still had friends nearby. I slept in my first hostel, and in my first hotel room alone. I made friends. Even though there were lots of ups and downs, the general trajectory was up, and it was the perfect place to start my trip.

I am now in the absolutely stunning San Sebastián, Spain and loving it completely.

Favourites:

  • L'As du Fallafel: I don't even like fallafel normally, but this one was so good I went back the next day. So tasty, not expensive (for Paris), and tucked onto this adorable street in Le Marais neighbourhood. Can we talk about how their caramelized eggplant was the first eggplant I think I've ever enjoyed??
  • Pierre Hermé: I tried both this shop and Ladurée, and although I think I was more charmed by the actual shop of Ladurée, I think I liked the macaron from Pierre Hermé better. It was a close call though, so you'd better try both just in case.
  • Shakespeare and Company bookstore: an adorable English bookstore close to Notre Dame, it is so quaint and has such a rich history. Despite my tiny bag, I bought a souvenir. (I am officially much too much of a sucker for books..)
  • Place des Vosges: the perfect little park in Le Marais. It's clean and quiet with beautiful fountains and is the perfect place to eat some fruit and enjoy la belle vie.
  • Montmartre: the most charming area of Paris in my books. Just wandering down the streets or checking out the amazing street art, or exploring the big, old, beautiful, creepy cemetery, it's just wonderful.