Nice March 19

March 19:  "A Day At Sea"

Monaco & Monte Carlo

French River Cruise Adventure - Day 3:  OK, so we are not at sea, but today was LIKE when you are on a cruise and have "a day at sea."  The big excursion and outing for the day was scheduled to start with a bus trip to Monaco at 4 pm, so we had nearly the entire day to ourselves.  I slept until 8 am, which for me is very late!  We went down to breakfast and then headed out to the Promenade to enjoy the very comfortable morning weather.  There was virtually no breeze this morning - a first - and the sun was intense.  I could only sit in the sun for a few minutes before moving into the shaded area.  We probably spent about 45 minutes just enjoying watching the never-ending stream of people going by in both directions.  We returned to the hotel and Kim set out on her exercise regimen.  She walked back to the Cascade Waterfalls - yes, up all those stairs - and discovered you could go even higher so she went above the waterfalls and took this photo of the birds sitting on top of the waterfall - gives me the heebie-jeebies just looking at it; can't imagine leaning over and taking the photo! 

While she was doing this I was re-packing the suitcase in anticipation of tomorrow's trip and began playing online, looking through all the "likes" and comments on our pages.  Already have over 150 of those!  In three weeks time on the summer Euro River Cruise we had 750, and we are 20% there with only three days in the books.  Let's make some "noise" people!  We changed clothes and headed out to lunch when we heard the cannon "BOOM" at noon.  Interesting story.....as the tale goes the governor could never get his wife home in time for lunch so he began to have the cannon shot off at precisely noon, and the tradition has stuck for centuries!  We headed around the corner where the crowds were out in full force and we stopped at a new restaurant, a pizza place.  Interesting how three of the four meals so far have been Italian in theme, but we are just miles from the border and the Italian culture permeates throughout Nice.  This was THE best pizza, like ever!  The pepperoni (first time we've seen this on the menu) was very thick and chewy, and the cheese-oh my, to die for.  Those of you who are fans of French Onion soup, it was like that....so thick and chewy.  We split a small pizza.  Right across the avenue was our favorite gelato shop and we had the best gelato of the trip - it was a caramel/vanilla with cookie bits.  DELICIOUS! 

We headed down to the water and walked out to some rocks that jut out into the Mediterranean Sea and took these photos.  Any time we see a photo of Nice, which always shows the coastline, this jutting out rock formation will be visible and we'll say, "we were RIGHT there!"  Note the tents on the promenade - where the real estate convention is being held.

By the time we got back to the hotel it was nearly 2 pm and we relaxed then got ready for the big adventure of the day.  Our driver, Frankie - who was amazing - picked up the six of us at a little before four o'clock and we headed out on the road to Monaco.  We took the "middle road" so we could have a very scenic view along the way and it truly was spectacular.  We stopped at one point to see what Frankie called the most beautiful bay along the French Riviera, and it did not disappoint. 

Our next stop was at the base of the Village of Eze which is picturesque and was founded with a castle in medieval days.  We posed here for a group photo. 

Ed, DeeAnn, Jim, Karen, Kim and I

And then it was on to Monaco.  This was an amazing country to visit.  Just three and a half miles long and a half mile wide it is roughly the size of New York City's Central Park.  As if this fact isn't interesting enough, consider this....the population of Monaco is about 33,000 and one half - yes ONE HALF - are billionaires!  As we drove around we were driving on the actual course of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix.  How those cars go as fast as they do through those narrow streets is amazing!  The entire country is nothing but buildings as it is so small and everyone lives in an apartment.  You can something of an idea of the landscape in this photo of Kim and I overlooking the marina with all the very wealthy and large yachts. 

We then drove up to "the rock" where the palace and cathedral are located.  Both were hugely impressive, with the cathedral being the more impressive structure.  Inside there we were able to see the burial sites of both Prince Ranier and Princess Grace Kelly. 

We spent about an hour walking around - the two pics above were taken "walking through a neighborhood" .... note the little tower as a focal point.  We started walking along the "sidewalk" which overlooks the cliff with condos on the other side and I took the top photo.  When we got to the other side I turned around and took the second photo of where we had just walked.  Then Frankie drove us down to the Monte Carlo Casino - site of the famous James Bond movie, "Casino Royale" with Daniel Craig.  And then we were dropped off for dinner across the square from the casino at Café Paris.  It was a very nice restaurant and Viking had arranged a full three-course meal for only 57 Euros - considering the casino and the clientele that come to this area, that had to be considered a great deal! 

The six of us were a bit concerned when we were dropped at about 6:30 and told we'd be picked up at 9:20, but by the time we'd finished dinner and paid the bill it was a little after nine o'clock.  We went around the corner and there was Frankie to drive us safely home through the hair pin turns through the mountains.

May 19 Highlight Video