Nice: last few days

Wednesday 6^th Sept: Day trip to Monaco

We were supposed to be attending a French Cooking School class today but our host had unfortunately come down with Covid. So we decided to head a to Monaco for a visit and take a Voice Map walking tour of the town. Our tip to Monaco was by tram and train and the train section of the journey was chaotic. The station and train were packed and well beyond what should have been a safe limit. It’s an efficient way to travel though as the journey was only about 40 minutes or so.

Our Voice Map audio guide started right at the station, so that was convenient for us, and it was a good way to explore Monaco as it essentially took us on a route across much of the small country. The guide gave us quite a bit of information, albeit too quickly, but it was better than just turning up and wandering around aimlessly, which is what we did 16 years ago with Tom and Annabelle. One nice part of the day was when we stopped off for lunch and Mark and I were both convinced that this was the same place we stopped for a drink all those years ago.

Some interesting information picked up on our walk was:

Monaco is the second smallest country after the Vatican City
The land mass of Monaco is only small and 2 x Monaco’s would fit into Central Park
Monaco is bordered on all sides by France so they have no more land and thus future building development is occurring out over the ocean.
Monaco has one of the highest GDPs in the world and income and property are not taxed
The country earns income from Tourism, Real Estate and the Yachting industry
The Grand Prix is a huge source of income for Monaco. Started in 1929 and they do 78 laps of the 3.8 km circuit. The road is not really suitable for the modern cars that race but they persist.
They have the longest life expectancy, at over 90 yrs
1 in 3 residents are millionaires
They are heavily policed with 1 police for every 10 people
Monaco has no homeless as they are are removed and taken to France
Monaco Casino is not open to local residents
The Grimaldi family were cast out of Genoa after losing a civil war in the 1200s and went to Monaco. They kicked out the earlier ruling family and assumed reign from 1297. Charlene tried to escape from Albert but was forced back and they still reside in the Palace today.
All children are Trilingual: French, Monégasque (traditional language) and English
Monaco is not part of the EU but they allow freedom of movement as per EU countries

Hotel Suisse: a good option for a beachfront hotel

Preparations for the w/e Iron Man underway

One of the public views that they can’t cut off during Grand Prix

This doubles as a helipad for rich residents

Glass building: 750 million euros for the top 3 floors, all one apartment. Owned by an Oil sheik. Has his own heliport

One of the most expensive hotels in the world

Castle where Grimaldi’s reside: was built in 1191

Boys in front of shuttered windows of Palce section where the Grimaldi’s live

Thursday 7^th Sept: Day trip to Cannes & Antibes

Our plan for today was to visit Cannes where we had a walking tour booked for 10.30 am. There was a bit of back and forth discussion about whether we’d drive or catch the train given the train was such an unpleasant experience. In the end we chose to drive as this gave us a bit more flexibility and we thought we might visit Antibes on the way home.

The drive from Nice to Cannes was fairly unpleasant and, even though we thought we’d left ample time so as to have a coffee before hand, we ended up arriving with a minute to spare. The tour was with WhatToDoRiviera and our guide was an Italian girl called Lucia. She was quite a good guide and gave us a bit of history and general information about Cannes as she took our group of 9 adults, 2 children and one baby around the town. I’d heard people say that Cannes was not worth visiting but we all enjoyed our visit and I would recommend at least a short stop but probably not choose this as a base to stay as, like Nice, it’s rather busy.

It was about 2.30 pm by the time we left Cannes and we set off for Antibes. We only stopped there for about an hour but this was enough time to walk through the Old Town, on to the Castle and along a section of the ramparts. The city walls here are quite extensive and well preserved and Antibes is often referred to as the City of Ramparts. It was interesting to see their protected beach had a sandy base so this was a big appeal and the fact the town was a bit smaller and less busy than Nice made us think this might be a better location to use as a base if we were ever to return to the French Riviera.

Our drive home was very slow due to lots of traffic but we took the coastal road so we had spectacular scenery to watch as we limped along.

It was close to 7 pm before we ventured back out again and we chose a small local restaurant just around the corner, Le Bistro de Jeff. This was a great choice as each of us enjoyed our meals and it was just a short walk from the apartment. Tomorrow was our last full day in Nice as we have decided to leave one day earlier than planned and stay along the coast at a hotel with a pool. Much of tomorrow would be taken up with the boys watching the AFL but I might head back to the beach.

Only remaining example of belle epoque architecture 1850-192E

Cannes Film Festival idea was conceived in this restaurant

This street was the main road as far back as the Roman period

This place provides the desserts for the film festival

Great covered markets. Have been here since medieval period and likely as far back as Roman era

Mark bought a sardine and a zucchini flower

These are the only colors allowed in Cannes historical district

The door knock was provided by officials and the level of adornment reflected your wealth: rings & bracelets. This place seems to have been a poor persons place

This place seems to have belonged to someone more wealthy

The man in the iron mask sought refuge here in Cannes

A fine example of French Baroque used as a model for newer projects

This newer building in Cannes modeled off French Baroque style

Fri 8^th Sept: Last day in Nice. Boys watching the AFL!

It was another glorious morning for our last full day in Nice. Mark went for a bike ride and I went for a walk along the Promenade, or what was left of it to walk along that is! There is an Iron Man event this Sunday and they have been preparing the beachfront all week but it now means there is very little promenade left for public access. I can only imagine the chaos that will ensue today and tomorrow with tourists and locals trying to access the beach for a swim or try and stroll the beachfront area. I am especially glad now that we had decided to leave tomorrow as I don’t think the Nice waterfront area will be a very enjoyable place to visit.

It was AFL Finals time and the Swans were playing in a sudden death round that was being televised here at around 11 am so the boys had planned to watch the game. It may seem like a wasted travel day but we’d been on the go for the last two days, in the heat, and we were all quite tired so a bit of time-off was welcome. I spent the time browsing the Old Town, having some lunch and sorting out things around the apartment for our departure.

It was almost 6 pm before we all ventured out again and we headed to the Old Town area for a drink and dinner. Our restaurant of choice for tonight was Le Tire Bouchon which was pleasant enough but not one I’d say is a must-do for Nice. I’d had a bit of trouble finding a nice French venue for our last night given that it was a Friday night and many places were already booked or not available until after 8 pm. The fact we could get a table at this place at such late notice was a bit of a concern but it ended up being ok. We walked home via Fennochio where I finally got to try the highly acclaimed gelato which was quite nice.

We had enjoyed our time back in Nice but think if we were ever to return to the French Riviera we would try for somewhere with a sandy beach and not quite as busy as Nice. The Iron Man and looming Yachting events had most likely brought more people to the area so probably check you calendar before making any bookings in this region.