A Well Kept Man

Since we had been in the car for about six hours, we all opted for a walking break as we strolled through the city taking in the various old buildings, gardens, and occasional church. On the highest hill in the city stands a park which used to contain a castle, but sadly it was sacked and demolished many years ago. We probably should have stuck around longer and spent more time in Nice but the combination of still having about an hour to our hotel and sleepiness of the driver and passengers led us out of the city before rush hour. After leaving Nice, we drove along the coast en route to our first overnight stop, Saint Raphaël. This would be one of the more memorable experiences of our trip...but not in a good way.

I had a great deal of difficulty finding lodging in this area due to the inflated prices created by the French Riviera, but for reasons that elude me I chose to stay at this particular bed and breakfast in Saint Raphaël. My first clue should have been the middle aged male owner's precious little purse dog which upon me trying to pet, I was scolded in French accompanied by hand gestures that could only be construed as European. After this, we were shown our rooms which were very obviously decorated by the same type of man who would carry around a dog in a purse (I mean European carry-all). The floors perhaps were covered with linoleum, the kind that starts peeling up around the edges, and the decor made me feel like I was in some seedy truck stop motel (my favorite was the framed "art" in our room, which consisted of four sticks hot glued to a piece of cork board, with a frame...I am wondering if maybe the dog was the artist and that's why I couldn't touch it...). None of us were quite sure we would make it through the night for fear of being carried away by rats, spiders, or little dogs that ride in purses.

Nevertheless, we decided to go grab some pizza and beer to try and turn our fortunes which made the evening much more memorable. Saint Raphaël is a lovely little fishing town with lots of restaurants, a casino, and a few churches, but we didn't stick around long the next day to explore them as it just seemed a bit overwhelming to stay given our experiences with the rooms and the dog the night before. I sensed my dad was comfortable with skipping breakfast at the B&B that morning when I went to knock on his door and there he was sitting patiently on his bed, suitcase packed and ready to go like he was Raymond Babbitt (from the movie Rain Man)...I agreed and we eventually found some nice pastries at a local bakery. The B&B owner again scolded me for not wanting to stay for breakfast as he had to do so much work to get up at seven in the morning to go buy bread and croissants and whatever, but at that point we didn't care. I apologized, paid our bill, and we left. I can't say this stay was a highlight on our adventure, but at least it provided some interesting memories.