Nice, France

I was really excited about spending an extended time in Europe. Not a cruise stop, not days packed with historic sites and tour guides, not a whirlwind week of tiring days. I wanted to feel like I was part of the neighborhood. I wanted to take things at my own speed and linger as long as I wished in a pretty spot.

I considered Spain, Portugal, Italy, and France, especially when I saw a sale on airfares. Flights to Europe were going for $450-550. (Of course, the price always ends up higher once you lock down the route and class you want. I ended up paying $1,025 to British Airways after taxes, fees, and choosing my seats.) I looked at flights and then researched hotels and Airbnb to find the right spot. I settled on Nice because I’d enjoyed a tour through southern France in 2014 and always imagined going back. Nice seemed like a good central location, with easy access from the airport and train service to the top recommended villages. Its southern location on the coast meant the weather in September and October would be ideal.

I found a studio apartment overlooking the port, with a view out to the sea from the balcony. The place had an elevator to the fifth floor, somewhat rare in the area around Old Nice. At $3,700, it was a little pricier than some of the other rentals I saw, but worth it for the view. To compare with hotel rates, it broke down to $123 per night.

After only 30 days, I’m sure I don’t have a true picture of expat living in Europe, but I learned a few things. Some of them surprised me. Here are five of them.

1. The French get a bad rap for being rude.

Before I left, several people mentioned the French reputation for being rude. I didn’t experience that when I visited Paris in 2019, and I wasn’t prepared to believe it now. I spent a lot of time brushing up on my French and reading about French culture and etiquette. The most common tips were (1) try to speak French, and (2) greet shop personnel and be polite when you enter stores and restaurants. Without question, those two behaviors paved the way for cordial conversations.

After the initial greeting, I would attempt to ask a question or give my order in French. I frequently ran into a wall and would have to apologize for my bad French. Every time, they would be helpful and tell me, “At least you try. Most people don’t even try.” From servers to shopkeepers to people on the street, I found smiles and helpful conversations.

2. European food deserves its reputation for being healthier.

Plenty of American travelers talk about how they can eat bread and pasta in Europe, but at home they get indigestion. I am generally healthy and don’t have many issues, but I get some joint stiffness if I don’t maintain a healthy diet. I also use CBD oil, which helps my joints. I didn’t take CBD to France, and I ate plenty of bread and pasta and never had an issue. No stiff joints, and a case of trigger thumb cleared up completely.

Europe has stricter regulations on food additives, preservatives, pesticides, and other chemicals. They’ve banned the use of certain additives and growth hormones. They have less processed food and use more real ingredients. They prefer seasonal foods produced by local farmers. European wheat has a lower protein/gluten content, which makes it more digestible.

I did come down with either a case of food poisoning or a virus that hit my digestive system, but aside from that, I felt fantastic while I was there.

Here are links to more info on European vs. American foods:

Nancy Pollard at Kitchen Detail

J. David Lippeatt, policy analyst, on Frontier Group

Comparison of ingredients at FoodBabe

3. Even the most exotic places become familiar and lose a bit of the romance.

Travel allows us to get outside of ourselves. At home we go through our daily routine without thinking or noticing most of the things around us. Travel shakes things up. We have to pay attention to details because something as simple as plugging in an appliance is different. We’re more alive and awake.

It’s amazing how quickly the new can become routine. How quickly you settle in and stop seeing things that were so new just a few days before.

I spent the first two weeks taking every opportunity to sit outside on the balcony, eating breakfast there, sometimes lunch. I leaned on the railing many times a day, watching the people below and the boats coming in and out. When I walked around outside, I noticed every shop, what people were wearing, and how they interacted with their children. Everything I ate was special and delightful.

Midway through the month, I quit going out to the balcony as often. I stopped trying to decipher French TV shows and started opening my familiar media on the Internet – NPR from Texas, live broadcast news from Dallas and Pittsburgh, Netflix shows. When I left the apartment, I did less wandering and more purposeful errands: to get groceries, to get bread, to shop for a gift. There was still some wandering, but not as much. It was starting to feel like just living my life.

4. I like my familiar comforts.

Gustave Flaubert said, “Be regular and orderly in your life like a bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” I get that. Why put too much energy into simple daily tasks?

In France, it took more time and effort to do laundry because the washing machine and the drying rack were small. I had to walk to get groceries more often because I couldn’t carry large amounts and the refrigerator was no bigger than a dorm fridge. Driving and parking would have been a nightmare with narrow, crowded streets and blocked off streets for cyclists and pedestrians. Charm and environmental benefits are offset by inconvenience and more time.

Small Nespresso coffees are good, but I missed having a large American size I could sip for a bigger portion of the morning. It’s nice that waiters don’t rush you out of a restaurant, but when I wanted to get on with my day, it took forever to get the bill and pay. The small studio apartment started to feel a bit confining, and I wished for a separate bedroom.

At the end of the month, I looked forward to getting back to my American conveniences and big Texas spaces.

5. As much as I enjoy solo travel, I don’t want to be gone too long from friends and family.

If I weren’t a solo traveler, I think I’d feel differently, but 30 days was long enough to be away from people I love. It was a seven-hour time difference from my family in the central time zone, six for family in eastern time. I had a hard time lining up phone calls with the right timeframes, and text messages and emails just weren’t enough.

I might also feel differently if I were working a job with colleagues and regular hours, but writing is a solitary life. I talked to plenty of strangers, but I started to crave familiar faces by the end of my trip.

Overall, I loved my stay in Nice. I loved walking along the Promenade, wandering through Old Town, shopping at the markets, and visiting nearby medieval towns. I attended a beautiful chamber music concert, climbed to the top of Castle Hill, and ate a huge variety of French food. I launched this blog, journaled every day, and accomplished the writing I wanted to do.

I would like to plan another 30-day stay in an international location. But the idea of becoming a permanent expat seems less likely than it used to. No matter how much I admire low-cost European healthcare, healthy foods, and walkable cities, there’s no place like home.

Tips & Recommendations

I subscribe to Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) and get useful alerts on airfare sales.
I joined a Nice/Provence/French Riviera Facebook group after I booked. They were such a wealth of great information, I wish I’d joined before booking. I would have had more information for choosing a neighborhood. Consider Facebook groups for any travel destination.
Booking with VRBO or AirBnB for 30 days instead of a week or two makes a huge difference in the per-night price. Many hosts give a discount for monthly stays.

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I traveled to France for 30 days in September and October of 2024 to see what it would be like to “live” internationally. The plan was to stay in Nice, spend time writing, and find out what happens when you’re not pressed to see every significant site in seven days.

5 Things I Learned After 30 Days in Nice

Back in the U.S. – Where Are All the People?

I Paid Ten Times More to Visit St Paul de Vence, and I Don’t Regret It