Italy, Monaco and France. This weekend’s tour of the French Riviera turned out to be nothing like I imagined France to be. I expected snobby Frenchmen and women decked out in designer garb. Turns out, I was flat out wrong. The only thing I imagined correctly were the yummy crepes.

We began the trip with Monaco, the second smallest country in the world. Here, I toured the Cathedral of Monaco where Princess Grace Kelly is buried. A few friends and I had lunch in a quaint little cafe that just so happened to be playing some peculiar Spanish music. We toured the gardens of Monaco which was my favorite part. Who knew, but Europe’s greenery is to die for. I have begun collecting flowers from every city I visit and I want to eventually dry and press all of them into a collage.

Nice, France, was next. Nice is nice :). We walked along the old town, in an open-air market that sold various handmade soup, dried fruit and fresh-cut flowers. Before dinner we headed down to the pebble beaches where I spotted my first topless encounter. I had expected all the beaches to be nude—but only one woman in a sea of tourists and natives had the guts to go topless. And her husband didn’t seem to mind. The thing that struck me the most funny about Nice were the 8 huge statues of naked men in their town square. Naked me that light up and glow in the dark at night. It’s as if the streets of Nice is its own night club. Strange.

Sunday’s trip to St. Paul de Vance was my favorite. We toured the tiny town early in the morning, before the tourist rush. The small village at the top a hill hides small pieces of art beneath ivy vines and gardenias. By the time we made it to Cannes and Eze, mother nature had decided to open up the grey clouds and pour bucket after bucket of rain. But I still managed to eat a nutella-filled crepe and get a few good pics of the Cannes red carpet from the Cannes Film Festival.