
The last and final trip to end celebrating my 30th birthday was in Nice, France. It was only an hour and twenty minute plane ride from Paris, were we just had part two of my birthday. For part three, I was anticipating relaxing, taking in the scenery and sitting by the beach and that is exactly what we did, with many laughs of course.
When we landed in Nice, I caught myself walking off the plane to the beat of the song Nice from The Carters and it stayed with me throughout the remainder of the trip; yes, I know the city and the song are pronounced differently. So, let's just get that out the way; and despite the lack of money in my bank account, the song made me feel bad and boujee. With gorgeous views and vintage towns I couldn't focus on what I didn't have. So, the only option I had was to start stretching my pennies and use my credit card for "emergencies."
After we checked ourselves in, Adriene was a bit tired. So, as she rested, I decided to go to the beach. The weather wasn't the greatest the first day, but I figured it would be warmer to get into the water than to stay outside of it, which turned out to be true. The only problem was the strength of the waves from the strong currents flipped the top of my bikini inside out as I stumbled to gain balance on a rocky ocean floor. Although the beach was beautiful, you could find pebbles and jagged edged rocks from the shores of the beach covering the ocean floor often making you look like you are walking on hot coals while making your way into the ocean. You even found people laying their towels on a thick yoga mat for padding.
Later, Adriene eventually met up with me and we proceeded to get dinner, but called it an early night. The next day we decided to explore the city and have a photoshoot in the Old town of Le Vieux Nice which is recommended to explore by foot. You see very few cars as you go down narrow streets and back alleys filled with mom & pop restaurants and the alleys were so perfect for a photoshoot. I got so caught up in capturing the best photo that with eyes squinted and thinking cap on, I imagined myself knocking on one of the doors to ask if I could use their balcony to get a good picture. Of course I didn't act on my thoughts, but ...it was just a thought. Pics here so you understand where I was coming from.
As we continued to explore the old town, we eventually made our way up to a waterfall that I was kind of obsessed to see since we could see it from our hostel. Once there, we found that the waterfall wasn't natural and in fact it was turn off. Booooo!!! However, 30 minutes later the waterfall turned on. It was quite beautiful especially because the view from the top of the waterfall showed the entire city which you can see in the first picture above.

After a long day of walking, we got sushi as the sun set and walked around some more. While walking, Adriene heard music and suggested to see where it was coming from. The music ended up leading us to a park in which a concert was taking place, but we ended up behind the stage when trying to find the entrance, which could have gone one of two ways: Us stumbling onto the stage like deer in headlights or us stumbling onto the stage and taking advantage of this unexpected turn of events and acting like hype men with whomever was performing. Luckily or unfortunately, none of those options were available to us. We eventually found the entrance of the concert and while walking to the line I couldn't help, but imagine that the end of my 20's was going to be like a scene out of Girls Trip, but what I was met with was the fate of turning 30 staring me dead in my face as the bouncer asked to see our ID cards. Apparently, we were too old. The concert was for students ONLY, to celebrate the beginning of the school year. So, with pride kinda hurt but poker faces forward...we left and went to bed. That last sentence even sounded as pathetic as I felt. LOL oh well. Tomorrow is a new day!
The last day of our trip before heading back to Madrid, I wanted to relax by the beach, swim and go to dinner, but as usual, I'm always open to a last minute adventure. While doing our beach photoshoot Adriene and I noticed people were parasailing. At first I wasn't particularly gungho about doing it because the last time I was suppose to be gliding in the air, I was left praying on the side of a mountain figuring out how to get down. Maybe I'll write #tbt post about that, but I digress. However, right now, I'm 30! "I don't have time for fear." as so eloquently said by Will Smith. I'm fearless or suppose to be, right? So, with that thought process, and the reluctant support of Adriene, we accepted the internal challenge.
Harness- Check
Safety guidelines heard and understood- Double Check
Shaking in our boots- There weren't enough times I could say check
And we're off! The power from the speed boat lifting us into the air felt like we got caught up in the rapture because within 5 seconds we were 500 feet in the air, screaming and praying at the top our lungs as we made our way up.
I must admit I was a bit scared, but to paraphrase what the Honorable Will Smith has stated numerous times before, "Once you're on the other side of fear and you make it out alive, you are on the side of bliss wondering to yourself, "why was I even afraid?" 'That I can actually attest to. Once we were thrown back onto the shore like a sack of potatoes, I felt like a conquered a false fear and it felt good. So, to end the summary of our trip and me entering the beginning of a new decade I hope to encourage one to conquer the illusion of your fears and know that even if you fail, what's the worst that can happen...well in my case death, but you get the point. At least you'd go out like a G.
Happy Birthday to Me!