south of france

Ah, yes—the region outside of the UK that was probably most affected by Brexit because of the sheer number of Britons who own holiday homes here. We were fortunate enough to avoid peak season but still enjoy warm and sunny days in the French Riviera.

nice

Nice was just that: nice. The true beat of the city was hard to access behind its polished and upscale appearance, and the price of everything sat annoyingly a few pegs too high. In any case, it felt good to finally stretch out my French muscles in the numerous cafés and boutiques and catch snippets of conversation on the street.

France was funnily enough where we’d first have Indian food during our European tour. We totally fell for an extravagantly decorated Indian restaurant with its lights and tassels and outdoor booths. It wasn’t until that first bite of palak paneer that I realized how much I had missed food from home.

Just when I thought Nice wouldn’t get interesting, we were met with blaring dance music at 10:00 on our last morning. We saw a procession from about 5 blocks away and attributed it to the Rugby World Cup that was currently being hosted by France. As the procession crept closer, we realized it was a manifestation syndicale, a union protest.

Protest culture in France is something I find incredibly fascinating. Manifestations are widespread, frequent, and typically very well-organized. And they have a good track record when it comes to impacting public policy. Based on the average age of these protestors landing around 60, I assumed that the calls for increased salaries and benefits were tied to the recent rise in the retirement age in France. We saw union after union march by in cohesive gear and a personal DJ in the back of a truck. We left Nice with their chants still in our ears.

menton

One of our day trips from Nice was to the pastel village of Menton. There, we visited an old fort called the Bastion that now houses an ever-changing exhibition of the works of Jean Cocteau. Though the cult following of the abstract artist would become extremely apparent throughout France from that point on, I was initially drawn to him for a trivial reason. One of my favorite bands is named the Cocteau Twins, and I was thrilled to find that the two were related in a niche series of references. They’re named after a song by fellow Scotsmen Simple Minds, which is supposedly about two fictitious film snobs in Glasgow with a fondness for the works of Jean Cocteau.

marseille

Another day trip from Nice was to its foil, the lively and scrappy Marseille. For centuries, the city has been characterized by a strong presence of immigrants living together in a tradition of tolerance—Italians, Spaniards, Armenians, and then people from France’s former African colonies. However, it’s also known for its poverty, high crime rates, and lack of social services. The reputation is a little overplayed, though—we were told we’d have to ignore a series of glaring red flags to end up in a remotely dangerous part of the city.

Graffiti and street art appear on almost every surface of Marseille, contributing to an equally artsy and blemished ambiance.

Google Maps isn’t always clear about elevation changes, so we unknowingly made a trek of over 150 meters to the most stunning landmark of the city, the Notre Dame de la Garde. We caught our breaths seated on the benches in one of the most unique naves I’d ever seen. The gilded interior appeared nautical with heavy Mediterranean influences. Countless paintings decorated the walls and model ships and planes hung from the ceiling; these were ex-votos, a public offering given to fulfill a vow that was made in a time of need or danger.

Then, we took in views from the highest point in Marseille on a cloudless day.

montpellier

The college town of Montpellier promised to be very exciting as we planned to reunite with our dear friend we’d made in Innsbruck. Iasmina joined us at the Airbnb we’d booked together, and we spent the next few days exploring countless cafés and bookstores, and crawled through Sunday flea markets.

Because of its situation on the Mediterranean Sea, there’s a beautiful exchange of French and North African culture in this town. I tried my first thé à la menthe, Moroccan mint tea, at a restaurant and never passed up on an opportunity to have another glass since then.

Montpellier boasts gorgeous traditional French architecture, including its own Arc de Triomphe and even an ancient Roman aqueduct. Even more impressive, in my opinion, are the hyper-realistic street art illusions of architecture that blend in but don’t actually exist.

Iasmina stayed in Montpellier a day longer but informed us that the rainclouds had finally rolled into town the moment we left.

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