Good Company, Good Places.

Wow, the last couple of days have been so much fun! I started out yesterday just wandering around Nice. Went to their flower market, wandered around by the beach, took in the town a little. Everything here is so clean and nice. Even though it was a little overcast, the water was still azure blue, and there were quite a few people milling about.
At around three, Anne and I met Claire, our third roommate from Sydney, back in the room. We had talked earlier in the day about going up the hill to the Chateau together. What a view. We tried to get up for the sunset, but unfortunately a large cloud obscured any sunset we may have seen. However, there was time to wander down by the point and in towards the port for a while, and on top of the hill we could just see the tips of the two mountain ranges, one we think is the very southern tip of the Alps, though we can't be sure.
After sunset, we wandered around in Old Town. Found a bar for a drink, and then wandered looking for food. We ended up getting these fabulous pizzas, and they gave us some sparkling raspberry wine to go with it. So delicious. Their ploy worked and we ended up buying a container of it for the rest of our meal.
When we got back, we all sat around talking for awhile. Really the last couple nights have been like slumber parties. We've been all girls just sitting up gossiping all night. It has been so much fun!
Claire was leaving us this afternoon, but she decided to join us for our morning jaunt to Villefranche-sur-mer, the next small town over. It was a picturesque morning. We sat in a harbor, two feet from the Mediterranean, drinking cappucinos and chatting all morning. And with the sun, it was so warm and wonderful. Completely peaceful. After that, we went back to Nice to send Claire on her way.
Anne and I continued on the road a couple more town down. Ese, is known for their perfumeries. We got a free tour of how they distill, press, and blend scents to create all their perfumes, before they introduced us to their many scents and gave us really good deals. I only bought soap, but Anne got a fabulous mixture of samples. Once we were overwhelmed with scent, we wandered up the hill to see the view. Gorgeous, and the whole time we kept running into the family from Redmond, WA who had joined us on the tour. We all had a good time laughing about our regular passing-bys. Their daughter had been invited over to play piano, and is on her way to India next for the same purpose. It was really quite amazing to hear about.
Eventually we had to get down to Eze-de-mer, (we had been in Eze Ville) and since we missed the only bus for an hour, decided to walk the only path down ourselves. Wow was it a bit of a hike. Very steep and rocky, in the valley between the hills. Staring at the sea the entire time, and somewhere to our left there was a waterfall we could hear, but never see. It was worth every second of the hour hike, and we spent the whole time talking about, comparing, and recommending favorite authors. It was so fabulous.
When we got to the bottom, we were just exactly on time to catch our bus to Monaco. We were racing the sunset, which we had heard was wonderful to see there. Unfortunately we didn't really make it in time, as we got lost in the city/county. Eventually we found our way onto the port wall and caught the last glimmer or red and orange that glowed around Nice down the coast. There wasn't a lot to do here though, so fairly soon we were on our way back to the bus stop.
Overall, both days were so much fun. Especially hanging out with Anne and Claire. We had so much fun together, and saw some amazing places. I don't see how people could not like Southern France, though I have run into people who don't. I'm very glad I extended my stay here another couple days. It has already been worth it!