So far I’m starting my new year in my new life in Europe off strong. I’ve explored Eze & Monaco and spent another 36 hours in Paris and today I headed east from Nice to explore Mandelieu-la-Napoule.
Hiking in the Mimosa
I was excited when I saw Rando d’azur put up a post about Les randos du mimosa. Hiking? Mimosas? Some of my favorite things! I signed up. Then I quickly learned that ‘mimosas’ in this part of the world are actually a plant and not a boozy brunch beverage. But suddenly everyone I knew was asking if I’d seen them yet since they just recently started blooming.
I had no idea what to expect and was delighted to see these bright yellow puffy little flowers filling the hillsides of Mandelieu-la-Napoule on this perfect January morning. The rando was a lovely stroll and Maddy was incredibly well prepared and informed and stopped to identify plants for us. After our hike we went back to town and I enjoyed a coffee to give me some more energy to continue to explore.
I walked along the park, stopping at a bench to enjoy the lunch I had brought with me, pretty much just soaking up the gloriousness of the day. It was picture perfect. There were even swans. Finally, the river led to the seaside and I made my way to
LaChâteau de la Napoule
I fell so in love with this castle that I wrote an entire dedicated post to it: Château de la Napoule in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France. I really wanted to stay for tea as I heard it was lovely, but the day was drawing to an end, so I departed my lovely new castle and headed over to:
Sunset from San Peyre
The volcanic hill of San Peyre isn’t too much of a hike and I got to the top quickly and found a perch to enjoy the sunset before heading down to catch the train back to Nice. Another successful day of exploration of my new region in the books!