2022 World Tour – Nice, France
Hello from Nice, my seventh stop on the trip. Below is the standard summary:
– Cool Ranch Doritos: No
– Thai ATM Card Works: Didn’t try
– Thai Debit Card Works: Yes
– Thai Internet Purchase Works: Yes but no SMS authentication message
– USA Credit Card Works: Didn’t try
– Worldwide Telephone/Data/SMS eSIM Works: Didn’t try
– Magic Jack Works: Didn’t try
– VPN Works: Yes
– COVID Compliance Chronicles: Masks on public transport
– Internet Works: Yes
– Drone Flights: Didn’t investigate
– Cost of Living: $$$
– Currency: EUR 1 = USD $1.07
– Language Issues: Eh, zee French…
– City-Wide Wifi: No
I wrapped up the last few days in Barcelona with my AirBnB family, grilling myself on the beach and walking and walking and walking and eating and drinking and drinking. We still chat in our Whatsapp group. Sniff!
In preparation to fly over to Nice, because the surface train and bus service is too painful, I booked a flight with EasyJet, filled out a web site and got a European Digital Passenger Locator Form (dPLF). Turns out nobody asked for it. Ugh.
I got to the airport and in the line for EasyJet. Now, if you don’t know, EasyJet is a discount airline that ends up nickel-and-diming you for every damn little thing. I paid extra to have my backpack and overhead-bin-sized roller bag in the cabin. I had heard they really jerk you around at the airport and charge you on the spot. And I saw it with my own eyes, almost everyone in the line pulled out a credit card during check-in. When it was my turn the guy said my bag is too big, I said it’s industry-standard overhead bin size and when I put it into their well-used bag-sizer metal frame, the wheels stuck out 1″. With a smile he started into his standard line but I stopped him and said no, this bag is fine. It fits in every Airbus and Boeing aircraft in the sky and I’m not paying extra on top of the extra I already paid. He was about my age and maybe in a bit of old guy solidarity said “OK, but you may have trouble at the gate.” I gave him a bro nod and rolled away. At the gate, nobody was checking the size of anything and it slid in the bin like it was designed for it, BECAUSE IT WAS. Later EasyJet sent me a customer satisfaction survey, I’m sure they regret that decision now.
I arrived in Nice and walked out to the taxi line, and I see a white Tesla Model 3 but I’m two customers behind it, ugh. I get into mine, which looks like a regular car without any labels or signs, but has a digital rear-view mirror thing. As we pull away I see the mirror says â¬32. Mon dieu! I’ve been in the country for less than 5 minutes and I’m already fucked over. I could have almost rolled my bag to the AirBnB but I resign myself that France will be France and getting into a taxi is the transportation equivalent of stepping in the ever-present dog shit. When we get to the location I pull out my card to pay and the guy flips out! He doesn’t have a card machine! He says cash only with a smile in mildly accented English. I show him I have only â¬10 in my wallet and he starts screaming at me in French. Oh now this is where I get my payback. I just smiled and let him rage. Turns out it’s mandatory for taxis to take cards since 2015 to avoid tourist rip-offs and tax evasion. The guy finally shouts “I go back to airport now!” I smile and say “Great!” He zooms up about 30 feet, slams on the brakes and says “Get out!” He knows he’s busted. I get out and he’s takes my bag from the trunk and I hand him the â¬10 and say “You need to get the machine”. Refer back to my trip to France and Spain with Jim Pardue when I again say I hate hate hate fucking French taxi drivers.
So, this is a big build-up to my actual AirBnB, and it’s a boat in the Nice harbour! I saw it on AirBnB and couldn’t resist the unique opportunity. From the pictures it’s a good size power boat, a Four Winns 258 Vista for those of you who know such things, 28 feet long with a cabin underneath that can easily fit one person or very cozy for two people. I’m past the host’s très généreux 3pm – 7pm check-in window – wow France you really know how to make your customers feel welcome! Luckily I previously got the location, the key code to get into the dock, the slip number… all except the lockbox code to get the key to get into the cabin. It’s 11pm, it’s dark and there’s no answer when I call or text the two phone numbers I have for this host. Hmmm. I have one more thing to try before I abandon this and find a hotel or a comfortable ditch – I walked out to the row of restaurants in the marina and have the guy from the Japanese restaurant call. It’s answered on the first try! He explains the problem and the Laos lady who cleans the boat meets me in 10 minutes. She also helpfully showed me how to turn on the electricity, water, operate the toilet, etc. All very necessary skills. I got settled in and collapsed after a long day of fighting the French.
I woke up at 6am with light streaming in at least 47 portholes. I did my best to get ready for my huge day of going to Monaco! I’ll write that up in a separate post because that’s what it deserves.
The boat has no Wifi anywhere near so I had to set up Tethering from my phone to do just enough on my laptop to write and edit the May Hua Hin train line drone video. I walked to the Sanitaire laundry / toilets / shower unit on shore for a shower. It’s all run via stored credit on an RFID card on the boat, but the shower control system belongs on the Space Station. I had to press a button every 10 SECONDS to keep the water flowing. And then it timed out when I was half rinsed. Jeez. Got the laptop and walked to an Italian restaurant and pleaded my case to use their Wifi while I had lunch to upload the video. They were young Italian guys, and very nicely said of course. Well, what I didn’t realize is it took 5 HOURS to upload that video. Normally takes about 5 minutes to upload 1.1GB at home, but we’re not at home anymore are we Toto? They actually closed up the restaurant at 4:30 and opened again at 6pm and I’m still there as they took pity on me. They were curious about the video so I explained the whole thing and now they’re subscribers on my channel… :^)
I went back to the boat and searched for things to do tomorrow in Nice. A ‘Top 10’ list I saw had 9 things to do in Monaco, and one to go to Old Nice! So the next day I walked about 20 minutes to the closest bus stop. I see the bus turn the corner but it stops a good 20 feet before the little bench where we’re all sitting. I strolled down to the bus and waved my ticket with a “What’s up?” expression. The driver has no English but got off, walked around the front of the bus and pointed up. I followed his finger and no merde, it’s a freaking electric bus that’s getting a massive high-speed charge from an overhead ABB charging system. I think I squealed a little and with no common language we became best buddies when I told him about the Tesla. He showed me the charging station and let me get a close-up look at the digital dashboard, with the charge indicator literally moving up as I watched it. Full charge in 4 minutes baby!
I sat in the front seat all the way to Old Nice and damn that bus was great – quiet, smooth acceleration, no gear jerking, regenerative braking to a gentle stop. Fantastic and the clear path to the future! I hopped off in Old Nice and immediately the narrow streets, tiny shops and restaurants and cafes instantly reminded me of Barcelona. I wandered aimlessly until I walked past an Irish pub and went inside. A genuine Irish lady bartender, knows her stuff and working hard in at least 5 languages. I ordered a Kilkenny and chatted with a couple of young guys about Tesla, the stock market and their careers. Then a pub quiz starts up! Oooh, sweet! This happens every week apparently and I was there at exactly the right time. 4 rounds of 10 questions. 3 big tables, two smaller tables and me alone. I got 34/40 and won the whole thing! I lost 3 questions on Pop Culture which I’m actually proud of. My winning prize was 10 shots of different flavours so I offered them up to the rest of the players. I caught the 12:24AM bus home to the boat and guess what – it’s my best friend in the same bus!
So… Nice. I really liked Old Nice, and the marina was pretty. The Côte d’Azur coastline is beautiful. Too bad it’s in France.
Next up – Monaco two days after the Formula 1 race!
