Chapter 4 - DAY 28 - Florence to Nice

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It was time to say farewell to Italy as we headed from Florence to the French Riviera and the city of Nice located on the Mediterranean coast.

PISA – PROPPING UP THE LEANING TOWER
On the way we stopped off to see the leaning tower of Pisa and to try and get the classic holding up the tower tourist shot. The bus had to park in a coach park on the edge of the city and we took a small train (but with wheels on the carriages so it could drive on the road) into the centre of town. We walked past he West African hawkers selling ‘genuine’ merchandise of all types (they are everywhere) and the souvenir stands to the Leaning Tower. It was set in a large green area with a number of other buildings including a Church nearby. Because of the angle of the sun it wasn’t easy to get the picture we were after but we did our best – it is a photo that Jeanette has always wanted to do and now she can cross it off the list.

Just before we reached the Italy/French border we saw huge glasshouses everywhere, this is where the fragrant flowers are grown that are used in the French perfume industry. We will be visiting a Perfume Factory during our time in France which Jeanette is really looking forward to.

MONACO, PLAYGROUND OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS, AND US!
We also stopped off in the Principality of Monaco – playground of the rich and famous. We did part of the Grand Prix circuit, not quit the same in a 40 seater bus but I’m sure Mario our driver enjoyed the experience none the less. We stopped on poll and would have given the engine a good revving before we took off but sadly there were 2 police cars behind us so it was all very sedate in the end. We went through the tunnel the Formula 1 cars race through and got a photo of the finish line.

The super yachts in the harbour were unbelievable, mooring costs are around $20,000 per night so only the REALLY rich park their boats there and the size and quality of the boats certainly reflected that. We also went up to the famous Monte Carlo Casino – think James Bond – and had a good look around. It was obvious from the opulence everywhere that the Casino won far more times than it lost. We put 10 Euro into the pokies in the public casino, just so we can say we have, before heading down the stairs to the harbour and our coach.

NICE-THE FRENCH RIVIERA
Nice is a beautiful seaside city and our Hotel Radisson Blu is right on the beach. The Hotel has the rights to the beach in front of it and this space is for the use of Hotel guests only. They have set up a bar and put down mat strips for people to walk on, there are also chairs and tables. We only saw the beach as we arrived, we’ll check it out properly tomorrow.

For dinner we went to a restaurant about 15 minutes from the hotel, we played Boule (like Petanque), men v women before dinner which was a real laugh. We will call it an honourable draw; because we threw the balls underarm the Aussies had a definite advantage! Dinner was roast lamb (usually my least favourite meat) cooked on a spit. It was cooked to perfection and was melt in your mouth delicious. Full credit to the cooks, if they can cook lamb so I like it they have done an outstanding job. When we returned to the Hotel we had a drink at the rooftop bar where we had stunning views of the waterfront lights by night.

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