Day 6 - The French Riviera (Monaco/Monte Carlo, Nice)

I am a few days behind on the blog, wifi is not available in the staterooms. By the time we get back to the boat, we are so exhausted it’s hard to get down to the “hot spots” to upload the blog.

On Friday we visited the French Rivieria, which was amazing! We started the day by touring Monaco, which we arrived via train from Ville Franche. Once we arrived in Monaco we headed straight for Monte Carlo, which is one of Monaco's administrative cities.  Many people think that Monte Carlo is the capital, but it is not.  The capital of Monaco is Monaco!  It is absolutely beautiful - probably one of the prettiest places we've ever been.

Our first stop was to the Rock of Monaco.  The Rock is located in the Old Quarter, full of vaulted passageways, the 19th century Neo-Romanesque Cathedral, the Prince’s Palace, and the Oceanographic Museum (which was founded by Jacques-Yves Cousteau). This is the oldest of the four quarters in Monaco and is home to the current ruler, Prince Albert II.  The palace has been ruled by the Grimaldi family since 1297 and they are still very involved in the daily business of Monaco.  Everyday they still have the Changing of the Guards.  The palace, as most American's know, is the former home of American film star Grace Kelly who married Prince Rainier III.  You can visit Princess Grace Kelly's grave at the Monaco Cathedral (see the picture below).  The people of Monaco had great admiration for her, as her and her husband, during their reign, built a stronger and more secure Monaco.  Her spirit is definitely kept alive here with numerous monuments and statues celebrating her life.

Before departing the Old Quarter, we walked through the Jardin Exotique, which is the cliff side botanical gardens of Monaco, built in 1933 and opened to the public in 1950.  The views were breathtaking!

Even though Monaco holds so much wealth (every car you see is either a Ferrari or Lamborghini), more interesting is that Monaco is the second smallest city-state in the world! The total population is 33,000 and the city is only 2 miles wide!

Monte Carlo is most famous for the Grand Casino, which has been shown in numerous American films, most notably the James Bond films.  Unfortunately it was closed until 2pm, so we didn't get the opportunity to wak through.  However, we got a good feel of how big the Casino was just by looking at it from the outside. We definitely plan to come back and visit the Grand Casino on another trip.

We eventually made our made our way to Nice. Nice is the capital of the French Riviera and it is a happening place, full of sun worshipers taking advantage of the warm weather, to the locals, looking for a nice café to enjoy a good meal. With limited time, we visited the Old Town area.  We found it interesting that Nice is considered to be one of the oldest human settlements in the world, dating back to 350 BC!  You definitley get an idea of just how old the area is by simply looking at the old stone pavements and brick walls located in this area. 

We also strolled along the Promenade des Anglase, which is full of high end boutiques and beautiful landscapes.

Towards the end of the day, we walked towards the Mediterranean Sea, where we found a quaint café on the beach and had lunch. This was definitely an experience.  The menus, which were provided on chalk boards, were propped up at your table, and were written in French. …..so we winged it and we did ok. I had Salad Nicois, which was excellent, and we shared a nice bottle of Rose.  It was a perfect day!

We didn’t have as much time as we would have wanted, but we got a great feel for the area and are planning to come back to visit. Tomorrow we are visiting Toulon, which is a short distance from cities such as Aix en Provence, St Tropez, Marseille, and Bandol….

Till tomorrow….

J&J