Nice spending my Solar Return in Nice

enjoying Ricard pastis in Villefrance-sur-mer

Thank my lucky stars crossed my mind while I was heading down south on the train to Cote d'Azur, to Nice where the K3s - this is, Kebo, Karen and Kopi (their french bulldog)- were holed up for a month.

Each year I try to celebrate my birthday, actually my solar return in a different time zone from where I live. This is in the hope that it may positively change the experience of the year to come.  Astrologically speaking, a solar return is when the sun returns to the same exact position in the sky as one is were born.

the K3s 

I was thanking my lucky stars because that day, the train that I was supposed to be on encountered an accident somewhere in Brittany and luckily, I was able to get on another train to Nice despite the peak summer season and be upgraded to first class. The trip though was much longer but I was happy that I was able to get on board enjoying the scenery while reading Sadhana Singh's "Everyday Excellence".

I arrived in Nice ten hours later and the K3s were there in the train station to greet me. They all looked tanned and lean and Kopi looked well adjusted to the European life. We walked to their flat which was near the beach and while walking, Kopi would say hello to the dogs along the way.

It was truly nice to be in Nice in the summer where the well-heeled were out to play. Coming from Manila and maybe even anywhere else in the world, I've never seen so many opulent toys out. When we were in Cannes (half an hour away by train), I swear I counted ten different colored Ferraris while walking down the Croisette. And the night we were in Monte Carlo, it was all royalty. The paparazzi were waiting outside the Opera for HSH Prince Albert II, HSH Princess of Monaco and HRH Princess of Hanover to show up for the Love Ball Riviera. We didn't get to see them but enjoyed viewing all the luxury yachts of their guests moored in the bay.

luxury yachts moored in Monte Carlo 

La Fontaine du Soleil in the old town in Nice

the beach in Cannes

The K3s were perfectly located since Nice is a train hop to everywhere down the coast of the French Riviera. In Nice, we practically spent most of our time in chic, eco place called Hi Beach which was a short walk from the K3s, along the Promenade des Anglais.

As for my lucky stars, well, it really does not help to go somewhere to try to change the stars.  As Stanley Kowalski said in A Streetcar Named Desire, "You know what luck is? Luck is believing you're lucky."