Well, Hi Guys! Welcome back to my little online diary.
So, it’s been a couple of weeks since my first blog, I know. But, I have a REALLY good excuse…. Even better than the dog throwing up on my computer.
I am in France. Like, I am literally writing this in my hotel room bed in the South of France.
I am currently on vacation with my mom, my grandma, my friend, and her mom. We are THE merriest little party and we look so darn tootin' cute walking around Niçe. We got to Le Cote d'Azur two mornings ago, and we adventured in the old town, visited beautiful olive parks, and journeyed through some very charming markets.
I’ve had pasta and risotto, fresh seafood, PERFECT bread, and delightful (like I mean AMAZING) Rosé and Aperitifs. The view and cuisine may be picturesque, but I assure you that getting here was NOT.
It all started at the Chicago airport. So, we are boarding the plane in O'hare when the flight attendant informs me that they "ran out of room in the upper stowing away bins", so I will simply have to check my carry-on. Now, friends and foes, I ask you. If I were to sell X amount of tickets on a plane, and each ticket comes with 2 stow-on bags (because each person gets a carry-on and a personal bag so long as it fits under the seat). Doesn't this equate to a nice simple 2X = N, where N = to the number of bags in the cabin of the plane???
Now, full disclosure, I retook Algebra 1 three different times and actually saw two different math tutors before my parents just gave up and said "Yeah, her SAT score isn't going to get any better than this" and just let me move on. So, this little algebraic equation may seem rudimentary, but it's actually a huge deal for Bianca (who then went on to college and studied two degrees with no algebra requirement, and then cried through two semesters of statistics.)
But doesn't this equation kinda, sorta indicate that at no point in time should an airline RUN OUT OF OVERHEAD BINS?? Like, If each passenger gets a carry-on and a personal bag, shouldn't I, a passenger, have had space for a carry-on bag??? Like isn't that why I pay an airline? To carry me and my luggage from point A to point B??
But you know what, let's not dwell on the distant past of two days ago. I am currently in France…. And, we didn't really NEED the carry-on anyway. It's just all incredibly vexing.
So, flashback, we arrive at the JFK airport for our delightful four-hour layover, and it is upon our walking into the gate area where a charming gate attendant is making her informative speech about the details of whatever flight was boarding there, that my mother realized I had no carry-on with me. Just my personal bag.
This is an issue because my carry-on bag was shared between my mother and me so that we could limit the amount of bags to keep track of as my mother actually had my grandma's carry-on bag. So every time I say my carry-on, I mean our carry-on. It's actually a shared asset, you know, like how the government classifies your paycheck??? Side note…. Why does the federal government think I need to pay them taxes??? Just because we have the largest federal defense budget in the world, which I actually personally benefit from does NOT mean that I intend to pay for it.
But anywho….. I digress.
It was in the middle of the lovely gate attendant's speech that my mother realized that I had in fact checked my carry-on and we would not have it back until the Niçe airport. I say in the middle because the attendant was still holding the intercom button when my mother began freaking out about it. A cool result of this is that I have now been yelled at by my mother over the airport intercom system in one of the largest airports in the world!! So yeah, safe to say, I am a superstar, and my name is known internationally…..
But, you know what, we got to Niçe, the carry-on was here, and all is well in love, war, international travel, and mother-daughter relationships.
So, we get to Niçe airport, we retrieve our jilted luggage, and we board the coach (our tour guide is British so the busses are coaches for the next week, sorry guys), only to find out that the hotel check-in is in fact at 3 pm, and less than half of our tour groups rooms are ready.
Ok, next side rant. Say that you, an individual, booked a tour. Now, further say that this tour company was responsible for all travel to your destination, all programming at the destination (including local tours and food and drinks), and travel from the destination. Wouldn't YOU expect the arrival time THAT YOU DID NOT SET to be oh I don't know, around when you can check into the hotel and put your stuff in your room?
Yeah, me too.
But that's ok! Because our little group is full of overcomers, and one of our rooms was ready. So, we simply put all our stuff in one room and got ready to go until another one became available.
We then took the tram, an electric driverless bullet train (sans the mayhem in the hit 2022 film), to the coast of the sea where we saw a gorgeous coastline and amazing seaside architecture.
In Niçe, the seaside promenade is in the "old town," and this is because it was originally mostly inhabited by the Italians. So, the food, the architecture, and the general aesthetic are all very Italian.
Because of this, you can actually get pasta at one restaurant, and then walk two doors down and get a macaron. It's a truly delightful place. I would totally live here! If apartments weren't a couple thousand a month... (If you want to support this dream, you can!! just dm me, and I will be happy to give you my Venmo account!
We ended day 1 with a tour dinner where we had delightful appetizers, mediocre entrees, and great desserts. But we also took very cute pictures, so, as far as my Instagram knows, everything has gone perfectly.
Shhhhh….. Don't tell them.
I'll be back tomorrow (maybe) with more details about the upcoming visit to Monaco and whether or not I meet a handsome prince willing to pay for graduate school. Fingers crossed!!
~ Bianca LeAnn
p.s. here's a photo of Heidi and me, moments before takeoff at the Chicago airport. Notably, after I was tooken right out of my carry-on bag and about an hour before I became a global sensation at JFK.
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