HER FIVE CENTS

It's actually spoken "niece", at least when it comes to the city located in the French Riviera where I traveled all alone four years ago to the day.  

I left mid afternoon on a Thursday so David could stay with the kids while I went on a solo trip, partially to trudge through some thickly complicated thoughts and feelings. Him and I had a pretty big thing the week before centered around opinions and values on drugs/alcohol/etc. I wasn't even going to write about this part of the story but I just found some screenshots from our text exchange while I was browsing photos for this post.

The timing is curious as 4 years later we are discussing some of the same things, and more, which are down the line of morality for most. It's haunting to read the words, "Well we would have been divorced a long time ago" with where we are now. I don't know where that is, but it feels like it might be close to that. Am I actually going to post this on the internet? What is the most surprising is how my thoughts haven't changed much since then haha. 

Everything else in life feels fuzzy and grey yet this space (this blog) feels like home. Social media platforms come and go and in fact, I think we are in the middle of yet another transition where Facebook will be what MySpace is now -- pretty much obsolete because hello Metaverse. I could be very wrong lol but I sort of don't think I am, or will be ha. The one thing that has remained over the last decade plus is my home here on Her Five Cents. I currently write on Medium and on Instagram (via captions) and post on TikTok yet still feel the call to be here too. I don't currently have Facebook or Instagram on my phone (I know) and again, social media is evolving. 

Anyway, my initial reason for wanting to share some of my pics from this trip, and write about it a little is because I fuckin' drove to Nice, France from my home in Vicenza, Italy. It was about 6ish hours, and I drove through the top part of the boot of Italy into the southern coastal part of France. Remember, those countries don't speak English, and I was solo in my big American SUV lol. I think this was the first (and only) biggish trip alone in Europe. I didn't have friends or know anyone who spoke the same language as me where I was going. Exciting and terrifying

I have completed what feels like 392 trips back and forth from Arizona to Colorado to Utah since then, mostly solo, so it doesn't feel like a big deal to be alone in the travel sense, but I remember the feeling of solo activity hitting me on the rainy drive through Europe that Thursday afternoon. 

That feeling of aloneness is familiar.

I consider myself extremely lucky when it comes to wandering the world. I am seriously so blessed when it comes to being in the right place at the right time for shit in terms of travel. Turns out, the Nice Carnival was beginning the weekend I happened to be there. I had no idea until I found a pamphlet about it in the room I got at the most adorable Airbnb. lol. How lucky am I? 

According to Wikipedia, "The earliest records establish its existence in 1294 when the Count of Provence, Charles Anjou, wrote that he had passed "the joyous days of carnival."^[1] This may make the Nice Carnival the original carnival celebration." 

My host was a gem. She had the cutest little place and the cutest little kitty. She spoke hardly any English but was most kind in attempting communication with me. I loved that it was just the two of us and her fur baby. I felt less alone after. I wonder how she is doing.

I did things on this trip a lot of people will only dream about. I took a perfumery class and made my own fragrance, I went to the beach and walked solo on the coast of France, talked to strangers (as best as possible) in bakeries and basked in the camaraderie that only an annual carnival can bring. I went to Monaco and gambled at the Monte Carlo. On my way home I stumbled upon the Fête du Citron, a big celebration similar to that of their neighboring Nice. Lucky in every way. 

Moral of the story is take what you like and leave the rest. Is that a stretch for this? I mean, I just told you barely anything about a little of everything and yet that's my conclusion? Yes, I think it is. Haha. I'm pretty sure that's the moral of this human experience...take in what feels good and leave the rest behind. Just like with this post 😉.

I love having you here. 

Inside the atrium at the Monte Carlo

Fancy stuff outside of the Monte Carlo Hotel in Monaco

Théoule-sur-Mer, France, this was the first time I had seen cacti in awhile!

At the parade (see pics below), toward the end, they were handing out flowers! So manyyyyy flowers. I made two bouquets.

Ahhhhh! The art! The beauty! Obsessed.

So many political floats at the parade the first night I was there. This is just one of many. Ha

Fragrance making!

Click for more info on the Fete du Citron. This one deserves its own post. I'll do that eventually which means probably never. lol.

One of the very few selfies I took. Ragrets I didn't take more. Ha.

That's the castle in the distance

Once upon a time there lived a young widow in the castle of Bled. Her husband was killed by robbers and his body was thrown into the lake. She was so inconsolable that she gathered all her gold and silver and cast a bell for the chapel on the island, in memory to her husband. But the bell didn’t arrive there. The bell, the boat and boatmen sank during a terrible storm. The desperate widow sold all her property after this accident. She offered the proceeds for the construction of a new church on the island. She left Bled and lived the rest of her life in Rome as a nun. After her death the Pope had heard of her misfortune and of her good deeds during her life as a nun, so in memory to her he decide to make a new bell. He said that anyone that rings the bell three times and believes in God, his or her wish would come true. Even today sometimes, on a dark night you can hear the sunken bell ringing from the depths of the lake.

This guy did it with a baby on his back so... he wins.

The castle: 

View from the top. Do you see the island out there?

"Cream cakes, known to Bled for decades, are in fact the symbol of Bled. Although you can buy them elsewhere, those from Bled are simply the best. Ištvan Lukačevič, the former manager of the Hotel Park patisserie, tested recipes for many years before he finally succeeded. His cream cakes, which are prepared at this patisserie and sold in the café opposite the hotel, are famous." Read more here.  And I will say, it was amazing! I mean, SO good. 

So if rowing a boat, climbing stairs to get to the island, and then climbing more stairs to get to the clock tower, and then climbing more things to get to the castle... if that all wasn't enough, Lacey and Dan took us to another place to hike some more. I will say this, it wasn't that difficult of a hike. We walked through the prettiest part of this gorge and then turned around and went to the city. 

I love how you can see the reflection of the orange trees in the water. Those are basically all my favorite colors in one picture

I've never seen prettier water, if there is such a thing

Tired! And cute

Ljubljana:

We happened to be at the right place at the right time! The Volkswagen Ljubljana Marathon was being held the day we were there as well as the next day. This pic was taken on our way to eat the best Mexican food I've had in a long long long time. I mean, there were spicy things. And they made the guacamole at our table. There were no peas in my chimichanga. The mole was delicious. I was totally happy. I want to go back there. 

This is DJ. He loves guacamole. His mom and dad had to buy him his own bowl which he promptly ate in its entirety. Then he ate his mom and grandma's guacamole from their plate.

The pink church, actually called the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation

A service was just getting over and the music that was playing was beautiful and loud and I wanted to capture it. I tried. and I got the last 20ish seconds.  I love organ music in gorgeous churches. 

I won't lie, this may have been my favorite part of the day. I have an addiction okay? 

It's an entire floor of a bookstore dedicated to books in English. I was in heaven and I took way too long in there. Sorry friends! 

Holy Door as designated by Pope Francis

 So, in researching the holy door, I discovered that this year is a holy year which (correct me if I'm wrong Catholic friends) happens every 25 years or so. This year is the Jubilee of Mercy and instead of having to make a pilgrimage to Rome, Pope Francis broke with tradition and said that the bishops could designate their own Holy Doors in diocese throughout the world. The one pictured is the one for the area we were in. Pope Francis said "The Holy Door will become a Door of Mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instills hope." All of this led me on a journey to discover that we will actually be in Rome for the closing of the door and I requested tickets! I hope we get to go. :-) 

Also, I hope you come visit.