Five days in transit and still, I haven’t found the proverbial what I’m looking for, not that I am actively looking for it, but it sure felt like something was missing. I should know, the weight of not having it was there, and I have no clue how or why this sudden episode gripped me. On a lighter note, I have been having good times in between my trips so far, especially when Nice happened – a place where niceness abounded. It all started at the airport, moments after landing. The immigration officer was very nice to welcome me back to France, the most un-Frenchly gesture in the 5 months that I have been in France.
Nice, nestled in the embrace of the French Riviera, effortlessly paints a Serene picture. Waves lazily caressed the shores while the sun treated the city as if it had all the time in the world, teaching a thing or two about the art of slowing down. I took it as a welcome respite after days of fast-paced travel in the Balkans, where I needed to really move fast to compensate for the limited time I have.
Meanwhile, I could not believe that I had already completed 75 percent of my master's degree, in the blink of an eye. This Nice side trip was an opportunity to pause and look around, to appreciate what I had been missing for allowing myself to rot in Lyon during the past few months. I walked around the city like a turtle enjoying a leisurely swim in the Mediterranean, as an impatient soul finding himself unconsciously sauntering. Glad the universe was kind enough and decided to slow down with me. The narrow streets and the serene shorelines seemed to dance to their own tunes, creating an orchestrated chaos that somehow felt harmonious, accentuated by the unhurried pace of life. Ascending Castle Hill, Nice's verdant sanctuary, was like a magic show's grand reveal. The deep blue Mediterranean stretched endlessly, the air crisp enough to bottle as Eau de Nice, and the sky an endless canvas of blue.
In short, I exercised in Nice the art of taking things slow, as a reminder that sometimes, the best way to enjoy the show is to relax and savor the moment at large. Here's an encore of how nice Nice is, especially in slowmo.
