A very Nice day (16th August)

Like last night -it's fricken hot today so we decide not to do anything too too energetic until our bodies acclimatise from Switzerland to the 30 degrees of the French Riviera. First up we scare ourselves by thinking we have lost 250 euros. After the initial stress we realise we haven't lost it, we've just spent it! Our first stop is at Monoprix, a department store, for an 8GB USB port to back up our expanding photo collection plus breakfast and lunch. Chocolate croissants, baguette, ham and brie cheese is all we need in Nice. It is hot and sticky as we slowly make our way up castle hill. It used to be a castle, but now is a lovely park with awesome views across the Riviera and a pleasant waterfall to cool us down. At 2pm we head down to the beach and find ourselves a spot on the pebbles with all the other revellers. There were a few people making their way along the boardwalk, but most people were lying on the beach baking in the sun. A pebbled beach is surprisingly comfortable to lie on, you just have to rearrange the hot stones a little. When in France do as the French do, so Shona sunbathed topless front up for part of the day! We alternate between sunbathing and swimming in the 22 degree water. It's lovely and refreshing. After 2.5 hours we head back for a cold shower at the hostel. We then realise that once again Mike's pasty skin sizzles far faster than normal people, but no where near as bad as in NZ (at least he was smart enough to protect his face and neck). Hopefully the after sun we packed will work it's magic. It's washing time again and check our emails while we wait. As you've realised food is a big part of travelling and tonight we dined on cheese royal burgers, pomme fritz with mayo washed down with beer, courtesy of the local restaurant McDonald's. We allowed ourselves to have McD's in France because of the scene from Pulp Fiction, plus the ability to have beer. Mike said it tastes so much better with a Kronenburg!