I won`t lie, coming to French Riviera I did not know what to expect out of it. I was never a big fan of “beach vacations”, not a person to be impressed by luxurious cars or anything similar, so I was afraid to leave disappointed. However,
it turned out very exciting
Our primary destination during this trip was Nice – the heart of French Riviera. You may have heard that this place is all about luxury, and while this can be, at parts, true, don`t let it mislead you. Nice has a lot to offer to anyone, from budget tourists to yacht owners
At the very beginning, it is worth mentioning that almost as soon as we arrived we bought 72 hours French Riviera Passes, which cost 59 euros and, looking back, were well worth it. Thanks to this pass for the next 3 days we got free access to a list of museums, attractions and activities. I am not usually the type of person that would prefer to spend travel time visiting museums. Don`t get me wrong, for sure there are some good ones, but I prefer to explore the destination, not the museums or tourist places. So, I doubted if we should buy this card. Nevertheless, we wanted to visit two activities worth 50 euros included in it anyway, so the choice wasn`t that hard.
While at Nice, we visited Musée Masséna, Palais Lascaris, Parc Phoenix, Musée De La Photographie Charles Nègre. Once again, I am not a museum guy, so take my opinion about them with a grain of salt. All of them were decent and beautiful, but, I would come back again only to Parc Phoenix, due to its atmosphere, zoo and herbarium (in the end, it is just a great park where you can enjoy your stay) and Musée De La Photographie Charles Nègre (Photography museum), due to.. photographs. At the time of our visit, there was an exhibition of north pole wildlife photography, and, as a big fan of wildlife photography myself, I extremely enjoyed it.
But, the main “unique selling proposition” of Nice, and other places of the French Riviera, is the Azure shore itself. Even though I am not a big fan of beach vacations, I have to admit that I really enjoyed simply walking the coastline and looking at the waves. You know, the more I travel, the more I tend to find magic in ordinary places. I won`t visit a museum or an attraction every day, but if I can truly enjoy just the atmosphere, the environment, and even the supermarket I shop for my groceries, I know it is a place I would like to come visit again. And Nice has it all, with its beautiful architecture, azure sea, and friendly people.
One big advantage of the French Riviera is that everything is situated very close, and public transportation in the region is very cheap. Like, really cheap. A ticket from one city to another by bus would cost you only around 1.5 euros, and even though the trip takes some time, the views are incredible, and I wanted it to last even longer at times. With the bus 200, our trip to Cannes started
What do we know about Cannes? Palm trees, famous movie festival, probably Cannes Lions if you are from the marketing field, but nothing more really. Frankly speaking, I was kind of disappointed by it. The well-known palace of festivals, where the Cannes film festival takes place looks.. dull? I mean, I wouldn`t consider it to be anything special without knowing something about it. The shore in the evening was filled with some games designed for children with huge prizes like playstations or bikes, there were small parties every few hundred meters with music playing out loud and it just didn`t feel right. I couldn`t really enjoy the atmosphere due to this incredible amount of disrupting factors. Sorry Cannes lovers, I guess this is not a city for me.
However, in Cannes we took a boat cruise (which was conveniently included in our French Riviera pass) to Île Saint-Honorat (an island right nearby Cannes). Actually, there are two islands, and to make it easier to distinguish between them, one is bigger, and the second one is smaller. The bigger one is generally much more touristic, so we went to a small one. It was a magical experience, with beautiful views, no people around and a magnificent church. It was very enjoyable just to sit on the rocks and understand that there are no shops, gas stations or anything similar anywhere near. And there was something special in the church there. There was almost no light, literally no people inside and around, but it just felt so.. special. For anyone who happened to be in Cannes goes my huge recommendation to visit Île Saint-Honorat.
Located in Antibes, only a few dozen kilometers from Nice, promoted as the largest marine attraction in Europe, I, as a big sea creatures lover, just couldn`t miss it. Killer whales awaited
I love marine life creatures. There is something unspeakably magical about the underwater world, its environments and inhabitants. As soon as I learned that Marineland is the biggest exhibition of marine life one can find in Europe, one day of travel was booked to it. And oh, did I enjoy it. Like, I can`t even describe how many photos I took there and how enjoyable it was to follow those adorable creatures. On the day of our visit, there were not many people around, making it even better since no queues or noises were in the surroundings. I need to admit, however, that it didn`t really feel like “the biggest” marine attraction per se, even though there were plenty of things to visit.
The main attraction of the place is, without any doubt, a daily show with dolphins, sea lions, and, as you may have already guessed, orcas. I have seen dolphins and sea lions previously, but those giant orcas, and the way those living machines were jumping around, impressed me. Also, sea lions resting is just an amazingly relaxing view, seeming so lazy, enjoying their life without any hurry. But most of my attention was stolen by penguins. Consider me strange, but in any zoo I go to, I just can`t leave those small pieces of cuteness without attention. In this park, there were a few kinds of them, and one reminded me of the main character from the “Surf`s Up” movie.
Except for marine life, there were also a few dozen of pink flamingos, which were incredibly photogenetic, and a pavilion with peacocks which are just, well, beautiful. Overall, I can`t say anything bad about the day spent in Antibes, it was so nice to surround yourself with nature and cute creatures, enjoying the way they just exist.
Sometimes it is good to approach something without many expectations and hope to be positively surprised as a result. I didn`t know what to expect from my visit to French Riviera, but it charmed me with its unique architecture, amazing views and magnificent, one-of-a-kind azure sea
The streets of Nice
Spike of the church at Île Saint-Honorat
Looking into one`s soul
