Surrounded by angels

Finally I got to Nice, the Provence region of France. It looks like you have to know some French in order to survive... and as expected, the bus ride to my hostel was a trial and error process. An old French lady on the bus was kind enough to tell me that I missed the stop, but that's the only thing I could guess in her three minutes talk. And then I got off the bus, trying to find my way back to the station, a young guy jumped off from the bus asking if I speak English, and said that he can bring me to the street I want to go... it turns out that this guy was from Ottawa, and he's here to learn French.

The hostel I stay is really good, and in general everything in France seems better than Italy =) the street is much cleaner and more organized, the French's trains are newer, has good air-conditioning, much stylish, and quieter...

Nice is pretty nice, especially the beach! It's the fifth largest city in France, so it's well developed, but it's quieter and has more open space then its Italian Riviera counterpart.

I did go to the recommended "Flo" restaurant, but found out thaht it's not a good price-quality balanced one. There are a lot of other restaurants around the square that's much worth trying. There is this restaurant at a quiet corner of the town that has a very long line! I did find the famous gelato store in the square, but I'm too full for dessert...

I went to Monaco, but since I can't check in luggage at the rail station, I didn't do much except getting a chop on the passport. I guess I will go back tomorrow morning, and then I will hop around different French Côte d'Azur, and then head to Lyon in the evening.

On Friday I will have an important meeting--a school tour of the best culinary institute in France, which is located in Lyon.

(one thing I don't like about French: they use keyboards they have non-American standard key arrangement that I have to double my time typing this....)