It Never Gets Old!

Well, yesterday was a bit of an adventure - not in a good way.  My flights from Venice to Rome and then from Rome to Nice were both delayed; the first one so much so that I missed my connection and had to sit in Rome airport for four extra hours.  This was all after having to disembark from the ship at 7 am so, by the time I finally arrived at Cote d'Azur airport, it was 5 hours later than I'd planned to get there and I was very tired.  That was the frustrating part.  The great part was seeing the friendly face of my friend, Elaine, who lives in Nice, meeting me with her son, Louis, in tow.  It was so much nicer than finding a taxi to get me to the apartment.  Then, as we pulled up, there was Jeffrey hanging out the window giving me a big welcoming wave!  All that plus I am back in one of my favourite spots.



After I settled in a bit, we went down to the restaurant that is directly below the apartment.  Like so many restaurants in Nice, it is Italian.  I honestly think there are more Italian ones than French ones and it does make sense as Nice was part of Italy until the latter part of the 19th century.

Joanne, Jeff and I will be staying here in Nice for a week before doing a bit of a road trip around the area.  Sitting here this morning looking out the window at the joggers, cyclists, strollers, etc. enjoying the Promenade and the Mediterranean, it is apparent that I will never tire of this view.  There is something very special about this palm tree-lined boulevard and watching everyone enjoying it.


Jo and Jeff's son arrived here last evening so they are off having some family time while I relax and recover from yesterday.  I'm shedding that memory real fast and replacing it with the stunning place where I now am.  Little did I know, that the positive vibes were going to be replaced with more negative ones later.  We'd decided to meet Elaine and Christophe for dinner at a restaurant on Place Massena.  I managed to do the 20 minute walk there but, for sure, I wasn't feeling great.  My stomach is really upset.  The restaurant was called Attimi's and they are famous for a sort of pizza made from a special dough and creamy cheese.  I honestly can't say I enjoyed it although the company was fun.  Elaine and Christophe gave me a ride back to the flat and we said our good nights.





It was several hours later when the problem began - and it was a very big one.  I became violently ill and it was worse than anything I'd ever experienced in my life, including when I laid on a bathroom floor in Puerta Vallarta for three days.  I'll spare you the details but I was sick more than 15 times during the night.  It was pretty clearly something was seriously wrong and any plans I'd had to go to Villefranche sur Mer for lunch would be cancelled.  Instead, I spend the day lying around while the Dubneys headed to Monaco for the day.  Thankfully, Elaine dropped off some meds for me and, by the end of the day, I felt I was on the road to recovery.  However, this isn't exactly how I'd pictured my first few days on the Cote d'Azur.  Hopefully, better times are ahead!

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