Forties Revisited

I just returned from four nights in Nice with Mademoiselle. I had missed Nice and the Côte d'Azur, last having been there the year I got married, i.e. in Spring 2022. Since my first vacation there with Mademoiselle back in 2009 I had returned many summers and in my forties I was there almost every August for at least a week with her and a growing number of other sun-seeking ladies. Mademoiselle and I even went during the first year of the pandemic, when wearing masks outside (!) was mandatory in the city centre despite the summer heat. I have become quite familiar with most villages (and also the state of Monaco) within easy reach of the regional bus and train network, but Nice will always remain my favourite. It is among the top ten of my happy places even though I vividly remember more than one visit when I was glued to my phone (i.e. more than I am normally), obsessing over a certain somebody's messages. I did not like this desperately needy version of myself, even then, but I am still grateful for this "phase" that made me hone my values and non-negotiables.

This was only the second time I stayed in a hotel versus the apartment of Mademoiselle's friend and it was great to get to know a different part of town and thus introduce a new twist to what I like to call an "autopilot vacation". I don't have any concrete plans for my next trip to Nice, but I'm definitely planning not to have a four-year hiatus again.