Brandon O'Brien

Friday, October 3, 2025 @ 9:44 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

This morning, we chilled in the hotel room for a little while before heading out and getting some coffee from a place called Suuapinga Café. Before leaving, I had some pomegranate yogurt and banana so there would be something in my stomach. We had to take the U-bahn a stop from the Hoptbahnhof to get to the coffee sho, but it wasn't a big deal. I had a cappuccino which tasted great. After getting back to the hotel, we had about 45 minutes before meeting up with everyone to head to our table reservations at Hacker-Pschorr tent from noon - 5pm.

We met the whole crew at Mike and Anne's hotel and then walked over to the fest grounds. When we showed up at the tent, it was already pretty rowdy which was a change from the last few sessions we've been at. After ordering a round of beers, the waiter told us we should probably go ahead and order food because the wait times get pretty bad as the session goes on. I ordered a half chicken with some potato salad and most people ordered either a half chicken or something else. Somehow we ended up with an extra pork belly dish which tasted pretty good too. Both the chicken and pork dish were really salty, which would have been offputting in other situations but was really good when drinking a lot of beer. The waiters here were a little less laid back than at Lowenbrau, asking for tips and generally being a little more intense than other tents. They were also selling beers to basically anyone who had money, even if they weren't at a table (which was kinda against the rules, but they were making a lot of money that way).

I ended up having about 3 liters over the course of 5 hours, then Ben and I headed out to meet up with another acquaintance for dinner. We were meeting up with another brewer who happened to move to Germany and was going to train at the Weihenstephaner institute to learn the ins and outs of brewing there. We left the grounds and somehow got turned around and it took us a while to get back to the area we were meeting him. After meeting up, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant called Madame Chutney. I got a chicken korma dish which tasted really good. Having some more food in my stomach really helped, considering how much booze I had in my system.

After eating dinner, Ben and I came back to our hotel where we've been winding down for bed. Tomorrow we're heading to Herrsching and then doing a hike up to the Andech's monastery brewery where we'll have some beer and food before heading back to Munich. It looks like there may be some rain tomorrow afternoon / evening but hopefully we're back before it hits.

Teaser photos:

Beers at Hacker-Pschorr

More Hacker-Pschorr beer

Ben and Me at Hacker-Pschorr tent

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Tags: oktoberfest, germany, munich

Posted from: Germany

Thursday, October 2, 2025 @ 7:41 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

I got back to the hotel pretty late last night and didn't sleep very well, but still woke up around 7am when the sun started shining into the room. I went out again to get some yogurt, banana and a little breakfast pizza at the local REWE grocery store. On the way back I got some more coffee then worked for a little while before we needed to meet up to head back into the festival grounds.

Before meeting up, Ben and I stopped at a place called Uiguer Kabap and where we each got a really spicey Dürüm (basically everything in a doner but wrapped in a tortilla instead of bread). We didn't know it at the time, but apparently this place is known for how spicy they make their food. They add a lot of chili oil and pepper flakes to it which adds a nice level of heat. By the time I was done with mine, my lips were tingling.

We met up with the rest of the crew at Mike and Anne's hotel and walked to the festival grounds. We had two more tables reserved at the Lowenbrau tent and they ended up being the exact same tables we had on Tuesday night. It started off a lot more mellow since it was the afternoon session but as the hours rolled by, the band got more and more loud and people started dancing on the tables more and more.

I had two and a half liters over the course of the session as well as another half chicken. After our session ended, I decided to call it a day since I wanted some time to chill before bed so I could be a little more refreshed for tomorrow. I met back up with Ben and we went out to a pizza restaurant called Napoli Rush where we each got a pizza. Both were excellent and had great crust and toppings. On the way back we stopped at another grocery store to pick up a few snacks. It's just going to be an early night tonight so I can hopefully catch up on some sleep.

Tomorrow we're going to the Hacker Pschorr tent from noon to five. This will be our first time in that tent and I'm looking forward to a change from Lowenbrau, even though the beer everything else has been great there.

Teaser photos:

Getting a Döner for lunch

Beer and food vouchers

Prost

Napoli Rush pizza for dinner

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Tags: oktoberfest, germany, munich

Posted from: Germany

Wednesday, October 1, 2025 @ 11:46 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Today was a strange one. I woke up pretty early, around 7am, and ended up wandering around to get to a Rewe grocery store to grab some food for breakfast. I wasn't really sure what I was in the mood for but I ended up getting a cup of yogurt and an apple. On the way back to the hotel I stopped at a coffee shop nearby and got a cup of coffee to bring back to the room while I ate breakfast and got a little work done.

It was significantly colder today than yesterday but that wasn't too bad. It actually felt nice outside and stayed mostly sunny for the day. We had two tables reserved at the Hacker-Pschorr tent but there was some kind of an emergency situation and they shut the Oktoberfest grounds down until 5pm. This meant we had to change plans since we couldn't use our reservations today. We ended up all meeting up at the English Garden at the Chinese Tower biergarten a little after noon. Before heading there, I wanted to get some food in my stomach so got a Döner kabob before we met up.

At the biergarten, we hung out for several hours drinking beer, enjoying the weather and having some food. When it got closer to 5pm, we decided to test our luck and head to the Oktoberfest grounds and see if we could find any tables. Most of the group wanted to take an Uber to get to the grounds but a few of us decided just to take public transportation after seeing how long it was going to take for an Uber to arrive. The few of us who took public transport made it to the fest grounds pretty quick but were faced with some extremely daunting entry lines.

We almost gave up after waiting in line for a while but as we were leaving we found another entrance that had basically no people at it and were able to get in pretty fast. We heard about the Oide Wiesen which is supposed to be a more quiet and relaxed area where they have a big beer tent, a museum and some rides. Luckily, we got a table at the Festzelt Tradition (traditional tent) and had a liter of Augustiner beer there. The rest of the crew ended up doing some carnival rides and then we met up with them at Lowenbrau again where they had found a couple free tables. The difference in atmosphere between the traditional tent and Lowenbrau was intense. The traditional tent had music but it was pretty mellow and there were families with kids around, no one standing on tables, etc. Lowenbrau was extremely loud, packed and full of people dancing on the tables.

We hung out at Lowenbrau for a couple hours before calling it a night. On the way back to the hotel I grabbed some more sausage from one of the stands as a late dinner. The walk back was pretty cold, with temps in the 40s. Tomorrow is another afternoon session at Lowenbrau, assuming there aren't any other issues.

Teaser photos:

Maß of Hofbrauhaus beer in Chinese Tower biergarten

Festzelt Traditional in the Oide Wiesen area

Part of the crew who made it to Festzelt Traditional

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Tags: oktoberfest, munich, germany

Posted from: Germany

Tuesday, September 30, 2025 @ 10:57 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Today was a long day, as most travel days are. I picked Ben up around 9:30am in Santa Fe and then we drove to Albuquerque to catch our flight. The first flight was from ABQ to Houston, which was uneventful. From Houston we caught our direct flight to Munich. The flight was delayed a little bit but no big deal. After we boarded the flight to Munich, I watched 28 Years Later before dinner, then took half of a sleeping pill after a few glasses of wine to help me pass out. Dinner service consisted of beef, chicken or pasta. I ordered the chicken which ended up being a curry dish with rice. While tasting good, it didn't really fill me up too much.

Unfortunately sleep didn't come easily and I only had a couple hours of sleep in total for the 10 hour flight. In addition to 28 Years Later, I watched Thunderbolts again which was something entertaining. Breakfast on the flight was either a cinnamon roll or a breakfast sandwich, so I opted for the sandwich. We landed in Munich around 10am and then got stuck in a massive customs line. Fortunately it was moving pretty fast and they were breaking people off to go to a different customs area which helped speed things up.

After Ben got his bag, we booked a day ticket for the transit system and then got on a train to Munich. It was about noon so we weren't able to check into our hotel, but we were able to drop our bags off and go to Augustiner Keller where I had a beer and a Pfefferschnitzel. The beer was way too easy to drink, probably because I was very dehydrated. After lunch, we started walking around to kill some time but the rain came and it started coming down pretty hard. We made it to the Marienplatz but then hopped on the S-Bahn and took it back to the station closest to our hotel. We killed some time in the lobby until we could check in.

At 4:15 I met up with Mike and Anne and the other 9 people who were going to the Lowenbrau tent at Oktoberfest tonight. We had a 10 person table reserved for 5:00-10:00. Each seat at the table comes with vouchers for two beers and an order of a half chicken. The Oktoberfest grounds are filled with all kinds of rides, food booths, carnival games and obviously beer tents. It was like being at the midway of a big state fair.

We got seated at our table and ordered a round of beers for everyone. It started off pretty mellow but as the hours passed and people drank more and more, the crowd started getting really loud with lots of dancing on tables and singing. It was a really cool experience, even if the people behind us were extremely drunk and kept bumping into us.

The tables are really crammed in there so there isn't really space to move around once you're seated. I ended up having about 2.5 liters of beer and a half chicken. We all ended up leaving around 9:30 and then got some sausages at a stand outside the Lowenbrau tent.

The walk back to the hotel only took about 15 minutes and by the time I got back I was ready to sleep. Between several big beers and very little sleep on the flight, I was beat.

Teaser photos:

Beer at Augustiner

First beer at Oktoberfest

At the Lowenbrau tent

Sausage at Oktoberfest grounds

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Tags: oktoberfest, munich, germany

Posted from: Germany

Thursday, August 28, 2025 @ 3:31 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Oktoberfest has been something I've wanted to do for a long time. I've been in Europe three times, all within a few weeks of Oktoberfest, but I was never able to get down to it. In 2008 I was in Munich a couple weeks before it and actually got to walk through the grounds while they were setting up the tents. In 2013 I was in Belgium, the Netherlands and northern Germany while Oktoberfest was happening. Then, again in 2022, I was in Munich a few weeks before the festival as well. This time, the grounds were locked down and we couldn't walk through them, but we got to see the tents from a distance.

For 2025, this is all changing. Mike ended up getting a huge group of friends together which meant that it would be easier to justify reserving tables at the various tents. In all, there should be about 20 of us going. I'll be flying over there with Ben, hitting Oktoberfest with Mike & crew for a few days, then Ben and I will continue on to Austria and Czech Republic before heading back home. We'll be gone for about two weeks and will visit a lot of breweries and drink a lot of great beer while we're traveling around.

Full Itinerary

I'll do my best to update my blog each day with what we've been up to as the trip progresses!

Posted from: United States

Monday, September 12, 2022 @ 11:00 PM in 2022 Germany and France

We woke up around 5:30am in Nice this morning, got all of our bags packed and ate some yogurt and leftover pizza for dinner. We were aiming to catch the 6:50am tram to the airport so left with time to get down to the station. We got to the Alsace Lorraine station with plenty of time to buy our tram tickets and get to the platform before the tram came.

There were about 12 stops before we got to the airport but it went by pretty quick. When we got to our terminal, around 7:15am, we had to check in with Lufthansa since they were our first leg of the trip from Nice to Munich. There wasn't any line to check in which was great. Our flight was set to board at 8:25 with a departure at 8:55 so we figured we'd have time to grab a coffee before jumping on the flight.

Wrong! When I had originally booked our flights back in February, Dakotah wasn't born yet and we didn't have any clue what his birthday, name or even gender would be. In order to get the ticket, I just put an estimated birth date and the name Baby OBrien. When he was born, I called United and got his information updated but apparently this change didn't propagate down to Lufthansa.

When we tried checking in, they told us they wouldn't be able to since Dakotah's name didn't match what they have on their system. They said since the ticket was booked through United, there wasn't anything they could do and I should call United to try and get this fixed. Damn, now the stress factor had kicked up. We had about 45 minutes to try and rectify this situation before we needed to board.

I made a call to United and after trying to explain the problem, they said it should be fixed. We went back to the counter and they said it still hadn't been updated. Ugh. Another call to United, speaking to a different person, and they did something else and said now it should really be fixed. Ok, back to the counter and they said it still wasn't updated. When I was on the phone with a 3rd United representative, the Lufthansa attendant came over and said we should try going to the actual Lufthansa service desk to see if maybe they could help.

While walking over there, I was trying to explain to the 3rd United rep the situation and to convey the urgency but she told me that since the ticket was partially used (the flight over counts), they were unable to change anything. I'm not sure why it took three people to tell me that. I asked to speak to the supervisor while Sam was talking to the Lufthansa service desk. The Lufthansa people repeated that they weren't able to do anything so I asked what would happen if we booked a new ticket for Dakotah and at least get to Munich. From there, everything should be fine since his name was right in their system.

Sam started that process while I was talking to the United supervisor. She did some more digging and confirmed that it was still showing the wrong information on Lufthansa's side. At this time they had finished buying Dakotah a new ticket so I told the United supervisor we should have everything fixed now. She said they'd refund the ticket if we filled out feedback once we got home.

By now it was around 8:15 and we ran back over to the check in counter. The rep ran into some problem and had to go talk to someone else. Minutes passed, then more minutes passed, and finally she came back and said that since Dakotah was still attached to my ticket, they were running into a problem since they wouldn't be able to check me in without him (and they wouldn't be able to since he was listed as Baby OBrien). She told us to go down to the other rep and that they were working on it.

More waiting and by now it was getting to the point where even if they got us checked in we were afraid we'd miss our flights anyway. The rep did a little more talking on the phone and finally told us she got it figured out. Apparently she was able to get his info updated on our original ticket and they refunded the new ticket Sam just bought. With our tickets in hand we ran over to security which fortunately wasn't too crowded. We were the last ones to our gate, got checked in, then boarded a bus that took us from the gate to the plane.

I was really convinced we'd lose our bags since we checked in so soon to departure but when we got to the plane I saw them re-opening the luggage hatch to put our bags on. Crisis averted!

From here on out the flights were pretty uneventful. Flying from Nice to Munich was beautiful. It started out with nice views of Nice and Monaco then we started heading over the Italian and German Alps before getting to Munich. While flying over Munich, you could see the Oktoberfest grounds and the main city center.

We were able to get a little sleep on the big flight between Munich and Houston. Customs in Houston went pretty fast and we grabbed some Panda Express for a light dinner before getting on the final flight to Albuquerque. We chatted with some people sitting near us, one of which has a three month old and is planning on traveling to Germany with her daughter to visit family in October.

Once in Albuquerque we got our bags and started the drive to Santa Fe. Knowing we weren't going to have anything in the fridge to eat, we grabbed another quick bite at Wendy's. We got home around 10pm, got settled and then got ready for bed. All in all we were up for about 24 hours from the time we woke up in Nice to the time we got home and were ready for bed.

Teaser photos:

Nice from the air

Alps from the air

Munich from the air

Dakotah getting sleepy on the flights

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Tags: nice, france, munich, santa fe, travel

Posted from: United States

Sunday, September 11, 2022 @ 7:20 PM in 2022 Germany and France

Day 18

Today was our last full day in Europe. We catch our flight at 8:55am tomorrow from Nice to Munich. Then we go from Munich to Houston and finally Houston to Albuquerque. It's going to be a really long day so we wanted today to be pretty chill. We got a little packing done this morning then headed down to the beach around 10:00. Unfortunately there were some jellyfish in the water so we didn't actually get in, but we met up with Kat and hung out there for about an hour and a half.

We just went to the beach that was closest to our Airbnb and really close to Kat's place. It was a smooth rock beach instead of sand which made it a little more uncomfortable to sit on. By noon we were all getting hungry so we dropped all our beach gear off at Kat's house and set off to find lunch. We aimed for a seafood restaurant that had really good reviews but it was closed when we got there, even though it was supposed to be open. A little disappointed, we walked to another place called Waka Bar and sat down there.

I got a beer and a chicken and avocado salad with some couscous which was really good. I also ordered some loaded fries which were delicious. Sam got a burger and a spritzer. After I finished my beer I ordered an Aperol spritz since that's basically the official drink of the area and I hadn't had one yet. It was pretty good and had a lot of orange flavor.

After lunch we walked back to Kat's place to pick up the rest of our stuff then came back to the Airbnb to do some more packing. For dinner I walked down to a pizza place and picked up a couple pizzas as an easy last meal. We hadn't actually looked in the freezer at the Airbnb until today and we discovered someone left some ice cream pops in there. It's too bad we didn't look sooner or we could have had them through the week, lol.

We're going to have the ice cream a little later then give Dakotah a bath before heading to bed early. We probably need to leave the Airbnb around 6:30am to catch the tram and get to the airport in time to check in and get to our flight. The trip has been great and we've done and seen a lot. It's always bittersweet leaving a vacation but we're looking forward to getting home and back into a more normal routine.

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Tags: france, nice, europe

Posted from: France

Saturday, September 10, 2022 @ 10:21 PM in 2022 Germany and France

Day 17

We left the Airbnb around 9 this morning to meet Kat at the train station. We bought our tickets for the trip to Monaco and then got to the gate. There were already a lot of people waiting so it looked like we'd be in for another packed train. When the train did show up, there were already quite a few people on there but we managed to cram in. Unfortunately we were by the door so whenever the train stopped, people would have to flood in and out around us which was hard with a stroller.

Once we got to Monaco, we got off and then had a little trouble finding the actual way out that didn't involve stairs or escalators. Eventually we found an elevator that took us up to the spot we wanted to be. After getting out of the train station we bought a day pass for the bus so we could get around a little easier. The first stop was to a patisserie where we got a pain au chocolat and a cappuccino. From there we walked over to the palace of the prince through some of the gardens along the cliffs. There were some really nice views of the country but it was a little surprising it didn't look "nicer". A lot of the buildings looked pretty generic and nothing special. The harbor had a lot of huge yachts though which was interesting to see.

When we got to the palace, there were a ton of people waiting around and it turns out we got there right before the changing of the guard. We left the changing of the guard a little early to beat some of the crowds and got lunch. We ate at a restaurant called Arrow burger which had pretty good burgers. The buns were shaped like arrowheads which I guess goes with the name.

Once we finished lunch we found another bus stop and went over to the Monte Carlo casino and walked around some of the gardens near there before going back to the train station. Fortunately the train back to Nice wasn't too packed and we didn't have to pack in too bad. The train did stop for about 10 minutes while the police did some kind of search though.

Back in Nice, we stopped at a store specializing in chocolates and bought some treats to take home with us. We came back to the Airbnb for a little while before heading back over to Kat's for dinner. On the way we stopped and got a rotisserie chicken, a new baguette, some wine and a salad mix for dinner. We threw it all together and ate it with some leftover cheese we had. It was nice having some greens for dinner instead of eating out.

We hung out and talked for a while over the bottle of wine but just got back to the Airbnb. The plan for tomorrow is to head to the beach and have lunch out before Sam and I head back to the Airbnb to start getting things packed up and ready for the trip back to the states.

Teaser photos:

Overlooking Monaco

Royal palace

Monte Carlo casino

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Tags: monaco, france, nice, europe

Posted from: France

Friday, September 9, 2022 @ 9:25 PM in 2022 Germany and France

Day 16

Today was our first real beach day of the trip. We packed up a beach umbrella from the Airbnb, a bunch of water, our swimsuits and towels and then walked over to the train station where we met Kat and John. We wanted to go to Villefranche-sur-mer which is just east of Nice and only about a 7 minute train ride. It's a little town situated on the cliffs with a big harbor and a small beach.

The train was pretty crowded with tourists going to the beach and Monaco (a further stop down the line), but fortunately we didn't need to be on there very long. The train station is pretty close to the beach so we just had to help Kat navigate the stroller down some stairs and then we found a spot on the beach. Kat had a little sun shade canopy that Dakotah hung out in while Rowan stayed mostly in his stroller covered with a big umbrella.

The water felt really nice after getting in and definitely helped cool us down on an otherwise pretty hot day. A few random wind gusts kicked up and blew everyone's umbrellas down so I ended up just hanging out on the beach near Dakotah for a while so he wouldn't get covered in sand or get the shade blown off him.

After another dip in the water we all packed up and started walking into town so we could find some food. Along the way Sam realized she couldn't find her phone so she went running back to our spot on the beach but it wasn't there. Turns out it had fallen to the bottom of our bag and we just didn't see it at first glance. While waiting for Sam to get back from her phone quest, John saw a hot floating in the water and thought it might have been his since he couldn't find it. He jumped in to get it and realized it was a similar hat but not actually his. On his way back to shore Kat ended up actually finding his hat in the bottom of their bag. Tip: make sure to fully check your bags before thinking something is lost, lol.

We ate lunch at a restaurant pretty close to the water. John and I both had a beef stew with ravioli which was really good. Sam had a pasta with sausage and Kat had fish and chips. After eating we walked around town a little bit but it was a little hard at first with the town being so steep with a lot of stairs and trying to navigate a stroller through it all. We did get over to the big citadel then walked through town on the way back to the train station.

While at the train station there was a group of about 10 people who couldn't figure out which platform they needed to be on to go back to Nice, even though everyone kept telling them this was the correct one. Finally a British woman spoke up and said she's been living here for 35 years and yes, this is the correct platform. Thankfully that shut everyone up and we didn't have to hear the bickering about the station.

Back in Nice we said our goodbyes for the day to John and Kat and then came back to our Airbnb to shower and cool off after being outside for most of the day. After I showered I ran down to the market to pick up some snacks and cheese, then went over to a boulangerie and got a fresh baguette for us to eat with the cheese.

Sam saw that there was an artists market in Old Nice starting at 6pm and she really wanted to go in hopes of finding some artwork to take home. We walked over there with the plan to find some artwork then have dinner. Unfortunately there wasn't a single artist there, just some people selling jewelry and other random things. Disappointed, we went to a restaurant that looked like it had good reviews and good food. We ordered the moules frites (mussels with french fries) and a big ceasar salad. The portions of both were gigantic and we weren't actually able to finish it all. The food did taste really good though.

We walked back to the Airbnb and have been trying to figure out what we're going to do tomorrow. It sounds like maybe going to Monaco for the day to check that out. It's supposed to be a little cooler the next two days which will feel good compared to the mid-90's we've been experiencing while here in Nice.

Teaser photos:

Beach in Villfranche-sur-mer

View from the citadel

Streets in Villefranche-sur-mer

Moules frites and ceasar salad for dinner

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Tags: france, villfranche-sur-mer, europe, beach

Posted from: France

Thursday, September 8, 2022 @ 10:06 PM in 2022 Germany and France

Day 15

Today was another good day without having a real rushed schedule. Sam left the Airbnb around 9:30 to meet with Kat and do some yoga. I left not too long after and took Dakotah by the Notre Dame in Nice then over to Old Nice and up to the Panorama sur la Vieille Ville de Nice. Along the way there were tons of soccer fans already drinking in the streets in prep for a big game tonight. They were mostly Germans wearing red soccer jerseys, chanting songs and chugging beers.

The Panorama sur la Vieille Ville de Nice is a big cliff just east of Old Nice where there are a lot of tress, gardens and really nice views of the surrounding area. Fortunately the stairs climbing up to the view points were in the shade since it was already getting hot out.

I took a few photos from the various overlooks and then sat on a bench in the park and fed Dakotah. By now it was almost 11 so I started making my way back down to town. I was thinking about getting a hat from one of the local hat shops but either nothing fit well or it was a lot more expensive than I wanted to pay. Sam said they were done with yoga so I headed back to the Airbnb before going back over to Kat's for lunch.

There's a really good takeaway Indian restaurant below her apartment so she ordered some stuff from there and we ate it at her place. When she had to take her son to daycare we went over to a place called The Center which is a beer bar and barber shop. They have a really nice selection of local-ish beers so we hung out there for about an hour and a half before starting to think about dinner.

We got some chicken and ingredients to make a mustard chicken and then went back to Kat's place to finish the rest of the cheese, wine and bread from the previous night. For the mustard chicken, you essentially coat the chicken with mustard and spices and then cook it in a pan where you already browned some bacon and onions. The dish turned out tasting really good and it's something we'll need to fit into our rotation once we get back home.

Once we finished eating we just hung out for a little while before calling it a night. Tomorrow we're going to head to the beach and get a chance to go swimming. It'll be nice to have another relaxing day!

Teaser photos:

I Love Nice sign

Yachts

View from Panorama sur la Vieille Ville de Nice

Grabbing a drink

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Tags: france, nice, europe

Posted from: France