Bonjour de la Suisse: Sea monsters? In paradise?

Our number one priority was the beach. After checking into our hotel in Nice we found a private beach where you can rent lounge chairs & umbrellas. The beach even has its own restaurant where you can have lunch in your bathing suit! As we settled in for a relaxing day, Chica was first to head for the water.

She was not gone 5 minutes when she came running back looking very distressed! It seems that because the sea was so warm, jelly fish tend to come to the shallower waters and Chica got stung! I couldn't believe it! She was in some really bad pain! Fortunately we were quick to find a lifeguard, who sent us to the beach fire brigade (one beach down) who administered a treatment of ammonia for her wound. This was only temporary, so I had to find a pharmacy that sold crème de méduse (jellyfish cream). The pharmacist warned me that "sun & sea are bad for the sting!" Great! That is all we have on our agenda for the next few days!!!

Back at the beach I was debating for about 3 hours if I should go in the water or not (it was SO hot!!) I wasn't as scared of getting stung as I was of people saying, "So, your friend got stung and then you went in the water and got stung too?!?" I finally braved it and thankfully I came out unscathed. The good news is Chica eventually recovered with only a slight scar and I learned how to say jelly fish en Français!

The next morning, G flew in for a business meeting, and while he worked, Chica & I checked out the town and toured the Matisse Museum. I hadn't been shopping in ages, so I was eager shop the sales. (The entire country of France goes on sale in July & January, so I was trying to take advantage of some good deals.) Meanwhile, Chica went to Monaco to ogle over the unbelievable wealth there. Afterward, we met up for dinner in Nice's old town. Unfortunately I never did find anything to buy! Oh well, January is what, 6 months away??? ;)

The next day was the 27th of July (my birthday!!) and Chica and I really wanted to go to St. Tropez (to see where the famous people hang out), but it turns out that it would have taken 3-4 hours to get there and we just didn't have that kind of time. Instead we spent the day in Cannes and Antibes. It was wonderful! Cannes is, of course, known for the famous film festival, the waterfront promenade, and the beaches! But after the jelly fish incident we were done with the beach for a while, so we set out for the postcard-perfect town of Antibes.

Antibes is the home of Europe's biggest yacht harbor (and one of the oldest). It also has a cute little old town with winding, narrow cobblestone streets. We popped into a little pub and tried to mingle with the English & Aussie boaters that help crew the giant yachts of the rich and famous, but they were too busy talking among themselves. So we walked and walked and walked all around town, so much so that we got very lost and almost missed our train back to Nice! We were meeting G for dinner before catching the late flight back to Geneva.

Sitting there outside, sipping our beers, eating creeps, and playing cards at this little French sidewalk cafe with two of my favorite people in the world, I thought to myself, I couldn't be much happier than I am right now. It was a great birthday! :)