Nice and Monaco

After coming through the swiss alps for 1 night en route to nice, i wasnt expecting much in terms of weather at all. However much to my delight, when i arrived in Nice the weather was gorgeous. hot and sunny!

The drive along the french riviera was absolutely stunning and after a hot tip from the bus driver i was on the right side of the bus for the best view ;-)!!

Nice itself was interesting. Like paris it deffinately had a prominant dirty side, as well as many unsavoury characters roaming the streets. however, the closer you get to the water the nicer everything becomes. the old town is beautiful, just infront of the cliffs, with many resteraunts one after the other filled with rich holiday makers.

the esplanade along the beach is awesome! kind of reminded me of st kilda only nicer. the path is filled with joggers, rollerblader etc and its a very relaxed atmosphere. so after walking around the city for a few hours i went back for a reasonable early night so i could get up early and go to monaco!

I managed to get to monaco by 9am which gave me a few hours there before i had to rush back to nice to catch my flight to budapest. monaco would have to be my second favourite place, second only to budapest! it is amazing, you deffinately need to see it to appreciate it. as i was walking down to the shore front, i saw 7 ferraris in a row outside the casino.....i dont even think there are 7 ferraris in the whole of melbourne!!!! let alone 7 in a row! The view from above overlooking the marina is spectacular. hundreds of expensive yahts line the water, designer boutiques line the streets and expensive cars fill the road. its really like no other place i have ever seen.

After looking around, being the F1 fan i am, i decided to walk around the track. it was so cool to be able to walk around the famous circuit and see the ripple strips that are still there. its cool to think i was walking on the same road that the f1 drivers scream down at 300km/h.

By noon i was back in nice on my way to the airport.

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