The time has come to finally set foot on foreign soil…well soil that isn’t Italian. For those who don’t know me, I long for a life of class and sophistication; full of glamour. What could be better than a weekend in the French Riviera?! Living the lifestyle (the closest I could get to it…not even close). Regardless, it was a must to visit the French Riviera and Monte Carlo, Monaco was one of the places I absolutely had to visit while I was abroad. Around Florence, there are student trip agencies that make trips so convenient because they do everything for you, which make it nice so I don’t have to worry about finding flights and hostels. All I had to do was pay the agency and call it a day. Super convenient, no?

The first ‘must’ item I should have added onto my bucket list was eating Petit Dejeuner (French Breakfast) at a cute little café outside in France (YES, France!). I would have never imagined I would have done that but now I can say I have. Plus it literally was the best breakfast I had while abroad, seeing as Italian breakfast consists of bread and marmalade and tea/coffee.  This heavenly breakfast was followed by an extravagant day in Monaco; which included a trip to the fabulous and famous casino: Monte Carlo.

Naturally, on a day that we were going to my future honeymoon spot so I could scope out good hotels and the like, there would be a train strike and I was worried a train would never come so I couldn’t scout anything out. Fortunately, an hour later came a train and we were off to a life only for the rich and famous. As we walked around the small country, I was in awe how amazing and beautiful it was! It completely lived up to the hype; fancy cars here, beautiful yachts there, and expensive things everywhere. I was in paradise! Material things can’t buy you happiness but for the time being I’m sure I would be quite happy living in Monaco.

For a 10 euro fee, we had the chance to go into the Casino Monte Carlo. “Ya, I feel lucky. I’m in Monte Carlo, I’m sure I’ll have some good luck…Well 20 more euros doesn’t hurt…last 20 I promise…I want to but I shouldn’t, I’m out of cash…I’m tapping out.” This was pretty much what I said while my time at the Casino. I honestly have the worst luck at any type of gambling so clearly the 80 euros (roughly around 100$) lost was never won back. Still the experience of being surrounding by people who could actually afford a bottle of water in the casino was the best part!

Monaco

The remaining of the weekend was spent in France in the cities of Cannes (another beach day) and Eze (medieval town perched onto of a mountain) with a tour of a perfume factory; while our hostel was centrally located in Nice. After experiencing the nightlife of Nice, twice and living the French lifestyle for a weekend, I wished I studied in France instead of Italy but it was a nice getaway for sure; which allowed me to kind of practice and brush up on my French (there would still be more opportunities for that).

Nice, France