DAY 24: Naughty or Nice?

Ohhhh naughty. Definitely naughty... poaching train and bus tickets left and right... lock me up and throw away the keys... but let Luigi and Roo go... they're just along for the ride...


After saying good-bye to Simon, Marion and all the chillin, I fed Luigi, threw on clothes and ran out the door, down the hill to the bus stop... I was literally running... ok scratch that, I was attempting a semi-gallop, with a slight limp since my "purse" (which should have a name now since it is gaining weight along with the rest of Team Blond Voyage) drags me down a bit. If I drove by me, I would laugh. And pull over. And take pictures. And put them on stupidamericantourists.com. So... as I was galloopigating to the bus stop, the !@#$ metal fart coffin drove right by me! Good start...


I don't count walking along the highway in Montana, in a bikini after floating the river to get a ride to my car hitch hiking- c'mon, that's too easy. But I DO count carrying Luigi, Roo and "No Name" down a street out in the French country side, with my thumb out, and getting picked up by "Nobama" the pot smoking Algerian, HITCH HIKING. They say when you can sit in silence with someone comfortably, you know you are great friends... Nobama and I must be thick as thieves because we sat in utter silence for 20 minutes. He offered me a joint. I said "bus" (the windows didn't work, so I got a buzz from the hot box anyway...). Nobama no comprende, so I tried different pronunciations a few octaves higher... "BUSSSSS, BUUUUUS, BOOOOSSSSSS." How I got there is a mystery, but the real riddle continues... as you all know, my credit card doesn't have a "chip," so I can't buy train tickets (they don't take coins or bills- just chips cards- I'm going to call them Doritos...). So since I couldn't pay with Doritos, I was naughty and hopped behind security and got on the wrong bus. Serves me right- thank God I asked before it left... Back to Dijon? Shoot me in the face. I realized I needed to get to Platform 2, which was 8 feet away, across the tracks, but couldn't find the stairs. Luigi and Roo are too outa' shape to defend themselves in jail, so jumping the gap was out of the question... A man watching me this entire time, motioned to the stairs... around the building... just in time, I found my way. For free. And I rode the bus last night for free... What a rebel am I! I hope they serve chilled Vouvray in Hell....


I had an hour to kill before my train to Nice left, so I found a little cafe, grabbed an eggplant, lettuce and feta sammie on a poppy seed baguette, and I just HAD to try a tart. I've seen people eating them everywhere, so pomme tarte it is... I would have rather consumed a hot apple pie from McDonalds unfortunately... mediocre at best. My mid-day entertainment was a guy asking me for money for a train ticket... after he had been staring at me for 5 minutes through the window while talking on his cell phone... I said, "If you can afford a cell phone, you can afford a train ticket... Good-Bye!" and shooed him away. He kneeled next to Luigi as if he wanted to steal something... I challenge anyone, to not only get the green monster unzipped, but find room to stick your thieving hands in, and pull something useful out. I triple-boca-dog dare you... Once on the train, I regretted sitting in the same cab with "Darla," a British woman who was more annoying than her so-not-darling son. There should really be extensive testing of one's knowledge and ability to bring another person into the world. "Darla" would have failed miserably... a woman sitting between us, stood up and told her to shut the front door because she was disturbing everyone around her, acting out more than her child. You Go Girl... everyone wanted to Hi-5 her.


Three hours later, I arrived in Nice and because the station employees were on strike, the lockers were closed (I couldn't meet the guy I'm staying with until later...) so I had no where to keep my bags safe. Luckily there was a hotel nearby that locked up Luigi and Roo for a few hours while I did my usual walking tour. Ten minutes to the beach and along the promenade I meandered, into Designer Central where I checked out some Louis V and Hermes... I just want an Hermes english saddle...screw 1200 euro beach towels... I don't ask for much. P.S. Doc Martins are in- not sure they ever left- and Eastpack backpacks are ALL the rage. Weird... There is a HUGE festival/parade/Dance off-Pants off in Nice every year.  People take the whole week off to get crazy. They transform the city- as there are stadium seats lining the streets, stages being set up with lights and speakers- and there are HUGE, amazing parade floats and themed insanity. It's like a way cooler Macy's Day Parade meets Disneyland meets Burning Man... sign me up.


I got a call from Nicolas "Nico" and met him at the hotel to pick up Lu and Roo and headed to his flat. I met him on couchsurfers.com- works as a key grip on films, has a good humor about him, strong accent, but speaks English well and has a sweet flat right in the city. We hung out there for a while and he introduced me to strong Belgian beer and cable wake boarding- maybe I am the last person to hear about this, but it sounds like a blast! Youtube it... We then met his Swedish friend from film school, Sophia, who speaks fluent French and English, VERY well, at a local spot called Chez Pipo- one of the oldest restaurants in Nice, boasting the best "socca"  and no menu's- you should know what you're in for after waiting in line for a table- food from the early 1900's when the poor had very little ingredients to work with or afford. We shared a bottle of Rose, olive tapenade and bruschetta, onion tarts (savory) and Socca- a chickpea flour pancake. It is a Nicoise speciality, baked in giant wood fired ovens on extra large pizza-style crepe pans- great with pepper and anchovy mustard. Very simple, but delicious- rich flavors and interesting combos. They ordered me a tiramisu as if they knew it was my mission in life to find the most delectable... it was decent- lacked coffee flavor and creamy texture... but I didn't send it back... I asked them questions all night and they responded willingly... and paid for my meal! It is so refreshing and relieving to meet people that are sincere and open to complete strangers... it's what makes the world go round and my trip that much richer.


The weather is overcast and grey, but warm... hopefully tomorrow will be bright and beautiful! More from Nice manana~ Ciao!