I decided to get my bearings and head down to central Nice. I talked to Jean-Louis about walking/getting a bike/taking a bus but he said a bus might be easiest, it's a short walk and the fare is 1 euro each way. Then the language barriers came up, or my attention span faltered, not sure which. He said something about "Gauche.....deux.....pin....gibberish". My default reaction is to nod with comprehension and walk away, but I should probably get a little better at asking for clarity instead.
So, I had the following clues to work with from the fragments of the directions I understood: Left, Two, Pine Tree. So, I started with a left. Good so far. That path ended, so I figured I would mix things up a bit and go right. I walked that way for about a half mile, but it soon became clear this was the middle of nowhere. I guess I should've known it was the wrong way. It had began with a left turn, and there wasn't a pine tree in sight. I turned around, and after retracing my steps encountered a big pine tree and, more importantly, a bus stop. The bus line was 62, and the stop close to home was called "gros pin", or big pine tree. Mystery solved.
Next mystery: how much does it cost? I got on the bus, asked the driver, he said "*#&$^". I decided the nod with comprehension would not suffice here. I asked again. He said an equally incomprehensible string of French words. I stood there dumbfounded for a moment. The answer to my question should be a single number. How can this be complicated. Rather than ask again, I pulled money out of my pocket and held it out to him. He grabbed the one euro coin and turned away. I thought I was in the clear. He called after me and gave me a little paper card, which the lady sitting near me explained (comprehensibly). A euro buys you a ticket, which you then put into the machine to validate. You can get on the bus without any ticket at all, but if you get stopped by the transit authority you will get a big fine. The bus driver just lets everyone on.
Okay. Lesson learned. In retrospect I think the driver was saying "Ca ne coute qu'un euro", which means "it doesn't cost but a euro". He could've just held up one finger. Or I could learn the native tongue...
Walking around Nice was a lot of fun. There's essentially a boardwalk that runs along the coast, I think I'll go running there soon. The rest of the city is very busy, lined with every shop you can imagine, some statues, some parks, and some outdoor markets. I was pretty disoriented, but as long as I knew which direction the coast was I could get around. I was tempted to buy just about everything in the market, but thought better of it considering I wanted to walk around all day. I was especially tempted by the foie gras, but it was 18 euros so I walked away quickly.
I got hungry, so I spent a while trying to choose somewhere to eat. It seemed that every other building was a restaurant, but I didn't want to sit down (alone) and I didn't want to pay the 15 euros that every meal seemed to cost. Admittedly, the meals usually include 3 or 4 courses so it is a fair price, just much more than I wanted. I decided that I would look for a supermarket, and if I couldn't find one then I would grab a sandwich from one of the little shops lining the street.
I wandered, looking for an approachable, friendly looking store owner to ask for directions, or a supermarket, whichever came first. I found the perfect owner, an elderly woman running a bakery. I asked for directions, and she seemed to know I wasn't fluent because she held up two fingers as she said "la deuxieme" and then pointed left as she said "a la gauche". No mystery to solve there. I thanked her, and went to take the second left.
Inside the supermarket, I essentially bought a deconstructed sandwich, and ended up with a very large delicious sandwich for under 4 euros (some assembly required). I patted myself on the back and ate next to the City's christmas tree set up (fake snow and all). I then walked along the beach, which was primarily stone. For some reason I assumed it would be sandy? No matter. I skipped a few rocks and then met a puppy that belonged to a hipster looking couple. The couple was throwing rocks for the puppy, who would bound after it to find where the stone had landed, and then sniff around to try to find the one they had thrown (as it looked exactly like every other rock on the beach). He would dig for a bit and return empty handed. When he came over to me, I tried to pet him but he jumped back and wagged his tail, so I threw a rock for him. He dutifully ran over and fetched it. He brought it back to me, I'll have to trust it was the same one so I threw again and kept walking. He followed me for a while, so I would take another rock and throw it back in the direction of the couple every time he caught up to me. The hipsters didn't even seem to notice, but eventually the dog went back to them.
I made my way home before dinner, because the last bus runs around 8 PM. Spaghetti with mushroom and onion sauce.
I bought a map in town, and once I got home I marked a couple good places to eat/drink/visit later. There's plenty more to see.
I still find myself taking pictures of the skyline, I need to stop that or I will have thousands of photos of the same thing before I leave.
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