That is when with all desperateness i stop shem and make him promise me we will eat something -anything from the first place we see. He gives me his word and we march on. As a little background info on shem , he tends to be quite indecisive when it comes to eating sometimes passes place after place and ends up walking away with nothing. This cannot and will not happen tonight or i will cry.
20 more minutes of walking and there glowed in the distance a sign lighting up the whole whole street- maybe the whole sky- a pizza place was still open. We ordered a ham cheese artichoke pizza and a niçoise salad ( tuna, anchovies and egg; options were limited). It was amazing and with a full stomach while sharing a snickers bar from a vending machine we marched on happily, making it home in less than hour and zonked right out. The beast is gone and hopefully never returns.
So we wake up feeling good and are greated with our usual two eggs and bacon croissants and fruit. Today we had breakfast with another couple who was staying in a room on the main floor. They said that they were going to try and wakeboard that day and we thought that sounded like a great idea and decided we would try and do the same. As we head out the door Anu reminds us to visit the market in Antibes for it is a must. I was so happy she reminded us because that was something I was really looking forward to. Shem thought it was something to pass and we should just get on with the day. It was obvious that he had never visited a real market from that comment. I had expressed a few times that I wanted to visit a real market but Shem didn't seem to realize that this was a strong attraction for me.
You see to me a true market is a place bustling with locals selling their region specialties, fruits, vegetables, olives, pates, meats and cheeses of all kinds and all sorts of goodies. Mixed with that are the people busy chattering and doing their daily shopping. The whole atmosphere is cheery and lively. It is a great place to get a real sense for a culture and sample some of their local cuisine. But if shem doesn't want it, it ain't gonna happen; maybe he's the real diva ;).
Well guess what - after going to the wakeboard place and reading the sign that stated 10 minutes of watertime equaled 29 euros and 50 minutes was a wooping 120 euros we decided to just wakeboard in our minds and skip that activity. Its too bad because the sea is so still and crystal clear that wakeboarding would have been glorious!
Lucky for me old antibes, which is a medieval village on the coast, was right down the street and shem wanted to check it out, and guess what... That is where the market is! You know what shem did the whole time we were in the market? He filmed and took picture after picture because it completely captivated him and caused his creative film junkie juices to start racing! Yahoo! This is fantastic.
At the market we tried all sorts of neat things such ad fig sausage, lavender honey, truffles, olives and tomato pates, all sorts of cheeses and a few other types of meats seasoned in a variety of spices. Everything we tried was something for the very first time.
I had one euro on me and asked how many figs i could get with it and the guy started filling a paper bag ( i was confused because the sign said 10 euros per pound). He then hands me the bag and refuses my euro. I gesture for him to take it again and he refuses and says in French to kiss his friend as pay and I laugh, point to my ring finger and then to shem and say " no way!" and they both bust up laughing as i walk away with my 10 euros worth of figs. Suckers.
It was a lot of fun and shem tells me he wants to come back tomorrow! Woohoo what an accomplishment! Time to head to Nice. Nice is 9 miles away but takes 45 minutes to get there. It was blazing hot but we were lucky enough to get seats and pass out for almost the whole ride.
We immediately head to the sea to go for a dip and cool off but it was so crowded it became a little unappealing. We saw a little cove in the distance that looked a little less crowded and decided to check that out. Over there local boys were jumping the cliffs similar to what the kids do at waimea and so we decided to join them. For me it was actually pretty scary and the only thing that was motivating was how clear and refreshing the water looked and so I launched myself off and it was so refreshing and fun! Shem went next and he walked up all submissive but then turns around and does a backflip. All the local boys were really impressed or they just kept staring because he is so dang handsome ;).
Anyway we did that for a while and it turned into a bit of a competition between the kids who could do the fanciest dive. It was alot of fun but it was time to move on. We climbed up to the top of these palace grounds that overlooks Nice and the sea. It was beautiful and cool how up there you were distanced from the fast pace of the rest of the city.
When we were up there shem cut his leg pretty bad and this japanese man saw it happen and immediately called for his wife to fix him up and she whipped out her little first aid kit and fixed him up. It was really sweet. Its people like that that inspire me to be a better person!
After shem was all bandaged up i got hit by a car. Just kidding- just seeing if you are still paying attention. After that we went and ate at a little cafe in Old Nice. I got fish and yellow rice and shem got mussels and steak frites. We finished the night with a stroll through Old Nice downing two servings consisting of eight flavors of our staple food group- gelato. Our experience in Nice together is complete and we hop on the last bus of the day and head home for the night. Bonne Soir!
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