May 18/19 Nice

We spent the day on the beach here in Nice. The beaches are all made of of small round rocks, their pretty uncomfortable. However, after finding a place to lay down we quickly realized that it was a topless beach. People had warned us that nude and topless beaches in Europe were filled with old people. This is not the case in Nice. Most people on the beach were people in our demographic, and most of the girls who went topless were very pretty. We quickly put our boob gazers on and lied down. We spent the afternoon at the beach and were back at the hostel in time for happy hour. We took it a little slower this time. The hostel offers an all day yacht tour for 64 Euros, it sounded expensive but after hearing about billionaires bay, the super yachts, topless girls, tubing, and snorkeling we were convinced. Unfortunately the four of us were the only ones to sign up and we needed at least six to go. We spent the rest of the night trying to find some girls to join us, we met some from Ontario and two from Sherwood Park but they were all leaving the next day. The Aussie organizing it told us two other guys had signed up, this was good and bad. Good that we could go, bad because spending all day on a yacht with 6 guys was pretty gay. By the end of the night our guide told us it was canceled due to weather, but we could go Saturday.

Saturday ended up being one of the best days of the trip. We convinced a group from Calgary to come, a couple from Niagara Falls, another couple from Australia and a few stragglers. The P to V ratio still wasn't great, and the most of girls who were coming had boyfriends but we had a lot of fun drinking together so it'll be a good group. There was about 15 of us. The weather was pretty shit to begin with, it was raining a bit and the sun had pissed off to warmer places. The yacht was a 60 foot sailboat with a fairly spacious cabin and several bebrooms. It was freezing cold sitting on the boat, and having sea water sprayed at you was not putting us in a good mood. Soon though the clouds started to peel off and we were getting brief moments of sun. Even with some sub par weather it was a blast, riding the sailboat in some rough waters was as thrilling as any roller coaster. Plus having nothing strapping you in adds to the excitement. Most of the time the boat is sideways at an almost 45 degree angle, and waves crashing into you only increase it. There were a few times I was lying on top of the cabin but we were at such a great angle it felt like I was standing up. One girl slide across the roof only to be saved by me and an our Aussie guide grabbing her. We pulled into "Millionaires Bay" where there are houses owned by Mercedes-Benz and Warner Brothers, the houses themselves were not that large but being on a cliff overlooking the mediterranean adds to the value. There was a hotel where the cheapest room (which was just a tiny cabana) cost 600 Euros a night. A small motorboat sat nearby with some shady looking dudes in it, the captain informed us they were paparazzi spying into the hotel. The water was pretty calm in the bay so the captain said we could take a dip. The sun was now out, but the wind still kept things cool. Bryce was the only to dive in, it is now referred to as "Peasants Bay". We then headed towards Cannes where the film festival is in full swing, some of the yachts are absolutely insane. Massive ships with there own crews, one even had a helicopter pad. We were dropped off at Cannes amongst the mega yachts. We walked past a lot of blocked of area guarded by men with clipboards. Everyone was dressed to the nines, we looked like bums in our trunks and flip flops. The festival seems cool and I wish I could stay longer, apparently they show movies for free on the beach every night. I have to rush back to the hostel pack up my shit and catch a train to Caen in Normandy. I'm leaving Bryce, Colin, and Dalton to see the D-Day beaches for a few days. I'll link up with them in Italy.