OK, reality check: Our flight to Nice is at 1pm so Jill has us up at 7:15am to finish packing and make sure that the apartment is in perfect condition. Our MO is "no impact renting" so we must leave this apartment better than we found it upon arrival. We have succeeded. Mary, the owner's niece, arrives at 9:30, pronounces the apartment in perfect condition and returns our security deposit check. Marty phones our taxi driver, Michel, the one who picked us up from CDG six weeks ago, to confirm his arrival at 9:45. With Mary's help we lug our considerable luggage down to the street to await Michel.
Although we have programmed considerable time to get to CDG, Michel arrives a half our late and Jill is nervous about the time. However, Michel is an excellent driver. He chats us up, in French of course, about American politics, of which he has considerable knowledge from listening to French radio. Impressive!
CDG is a madhouse and we need help obtaining our boarding passes, but we get them and proceed to check in. The agent bumps up our baggage limit to Elite statue (but not us), so we can get 4 big bags on at no extra charge, saving us about $200 in fees. We'll take it. The plane ride is a quick one hour ride and we can already feel the difference in temperature and bright sunlight.
Checking in at Europcar is another challenge. Our agent gets us a brand new Renault four door, but denies us a free second driver upgrade, which we told her we have gotten in the past...Oh well, we pay the extra fee. After packing our bags into the car, Jill asks Marty for the new GPS we bought for this trip, and he can't find it. More on that later. The drive to Beaulieu-sur-Mer isn't too bad since it's on a main road just a few miles outside of Nice. Jill phoned ahead to Silvie and Jean-Luc, the owner and his girlfriend, to advise that we're on our way and to get driving directions. We drove through downtown Nice to get to the Basse Corniche, the low road along the Mediterranean Sea which goes from Nice to Monte Carlo. We arrived at our destination in about half an hour and actually saw Silvie and Jean-Luc waving to us from the balcony of our new apartment. There is a parking area for about fifty cars along the main road and we pulled into a spot. Another challenge: It took four adults to get our bags to our first floor apartment...including a small, snail's pace elevator that took us up one level, and then schlepping over a stone walkway to another elevator to take us to the apartment level, with many little tiny steps along the way...it's quirky!
This couple is not married but they have an arrangement since they each have two kids from prior marriages. Peculiar laws in France and Monaco prevent them from living together so Jean-Luc lives in Nice and Silvie lives and works in Monaco (more or less), so they don't really live in this apartment that we are renting. We are briefed at length about the apartment, utilities, heating, parking, washer, no dryer just a clothes line outside on the way to their private garden, bath, laundry, maid services, etc. They are mid fiftyish and Jean-Luc is the actual apartment owner. The place is a little quirky, but by far the largest of all the apartments we have rented. We'll get used to the quirks, we're sure.
We are so exhausted from sleep deprivation but we press on and finally they leave. They are honest, helpful and comforting people and we feel very lucky that we found this apartment. They even suggest we do a picnic with them while we are here...how sweet is that! The view from the long terrace that faces the sea and Villefranche, another small town, is spectacular day or night.
After unpacking, we head out to find the super market in Beaulieu-sur-Mer to stock up on supplies. It's a large and beautiful store and we're done and out in short order. At home we decide to head into the village of Beaulieu for dinner...we have virtually no idea where we are or where to eat. Jill announces she wants pizza, oooohhh kaayyy...We haven't had any Italian food in a month and a half! That's deprivation!! Luck is with us as we find a very nice Italian restaurant that serves pizza, a very popular item here. The place is perfect and the thin crust pizza, excellent.
By now sleep deprivation has tightened its grip on both of us, so we return home and crash.
With the warmer temps and swaying palm trees, the Cote D'Azur (literally coast of the blue sea) feels like another country.
We'll see what tomorrow brings...
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