Tende, France : Septembre 2012

As much as we could, we’d get the cheapest way possible to travel and discover new places. We look out for discounts and promos and we grab the chance the soonest possible time we can. So when the 10 Euros to Tende promo in celebration of the 10th year of Train des Merveilles in the middle of autumn was available, we went ahead and reserved tickets before it all ran out.

Tende is one of the bordering cities of France to the town of Cuneo in Italy apart from that of Nice to Ventimiglia. It’s a small traditional and quiet French town an hour away from Nice by this special train. Like Nice, Tende was also once part of Italy.

Like what I keep telling my audience when I do my Campus France presentations, when you’re a student in France, you have special privileges and one of which is free entrance to museums or heritage sites like this traditional French home.

If you have a keen eye, you may have noticed that the ceilings are not too high and the doors are only as high as an average person’s height. This got my attention since Europeans are taller than Asians yet doors in this town seem to only suit those of Asian height. I was given to understand that during the olden times, the French were not as tall as they are now. A good example is the great emperor Napoleon Bonaparte himself. But thanks to inter-marriages people adapted to these changes.

I may not have said this enough so I’m saying it again and I cannot stress this enough, I prefer smaller towns than bigger cities. And Tende is one of those small towns that did not fail to please me.

Smaller cities and towns tend to introduce you to the simpler and more authentic cultural experience as oppose to that of a bigger city which succumbs to globalization.

And being in towns as quiet as Tende reminds you of what really is important in this life. If you have an impeccable view like this which you get to see everyday, you get to appreciate life more and what nature has to offer.