Nice - Monaco - Avignon - Barcelona

Nice and Monaco

Disclaimer - we are writing this after a few drinks. No offence intended. Or maybe a little. But mostly to the french.

After our adventure in Italy we headed by train to Nice. We arrived just as a thunderstorm was brewing but it was short lived and the weather proceeded to be fine for the rest of our stay. Nice is a great place for wandering around, especially along the foreshore at night which we did both nights we were there.

The first day we were there we went through to Monaco. We made it up to the palace in time for the changing of the guard, which we'll post some photos of. Not sure what we were expecting but really how exciting can swapping two men in white suits be? Not very. The best part was the police man who strutted around very staunch through the middle of the whole thing, which is understandable as the crowd was going wild and there was a troublesome 90 year old in the front just itching for a fight. The second best part was how they conducted the whole thing without cracking a smile. After that momentus occasion we wandered through the marina which was just lovely, especially the boat that was called 'Just another toy'. Bastards. Unfortunately Jeff forgot to bring his armani suit and Bex forgot her Dior dress so they couldn't get in to the Casino. Besides that it was shut. But we took a few photos and Bex searched desperately for the man who owned the ferrari out front but to no avail. If you like designer clothes and fast cars, and earn a fortune then Monaco is a winner, otherwise its a nice place to visit and whinge about not having the latter.

The afternoon we got back from Monaco we spent at the beach, a pebbly stoney beach (sorry Clel!) at that but still there was water and sun. Interesting here in Europe how they have ownership over the foreshore, and can therefore charge 12 Euro a day to sit on a sun lounger on the beach when in NZ you can sun bathe to your hearts content for free. And to be honest, we can't really see the fun in spending the day on the beach lying next to a hundred other sun loungers full of red-swede poms or old bare chested ladies with skin like a tuatara.

You'll see from the pics though that Nice really is a picturesque place, and is well worth a visit if you're in the area. Just don't even attempt to be nice to the locals, cause they don't want a bar of it.

Avignon

We caught a swanky french double decker TGV train to Avignon, but were a bit disappointed to find out that it didn't actually travel on a TGV line, so was still going to take an eternity. Never mind, the computer systems were down so we didn't have to pay to get on the train. Bonus! Our accommodation was super easy to find in Avignon as we are getting good at this accommodation booking business, and have sussed out that its easier to get accommodation near to the train station and walk everywhere else than have to trek into town with our packs. The afternoon we got into Avignon we went to Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes) which was the popes' residence from around 1300 to 1400 ish roughly... it was a little bare with no furniture etc but definitely a grand old structure. We even got a free audio guide but after the history of the 7th pope that lived there we decided to give that a miss and go it on our own. We also visited the Pont d'Avignon that arvo, but didn't really feel any more historically or culturally enriched by acutally walking on the bridge as opposed to standing next to it to see it.

We had been reccommended some sights in Avignon by the owner of the hotel, but turns out the 'markets' were actually a small jumble sale and the 'pretty street' was actually just an ordinary street. So we ventured up the hill to get some good views but it was too windy (Side note - apparently Avignon actually means 'city of voilent winds' but is certainly no match for Wellington).

Despite the lack of significant sights in Avignon, we still really enjoyed it and found it a good place to spend some down time.

Barcelona

We were up at 5am to catch the train to Barcelona, which would have been fine, if it wasn't 5am. We found our accomm sweet as though (again, great booking on our part...) and then promptly headed into the city to to stuff ourselves full of our first meal of paella and sangria. It was delish.

Our first day in Barcelona has to be our best day yet. Now we realise that to date, the superlatives in our blog have been rather lacking and have only extended to words such as 'awesome' and 'nice'. So we've decided to step it up a notch! Our itinerary consisted of Gaudi, Gaudi and more Gaudi, so we are sorry to say we will be posting a shedload of photos this blog. La Sagrada Familiar was our first stop and is the single most spectacular structure that we expect to see in our lifetime. Our jaws dropped continuously at the sheer genius of the architecture. Its atmosphere is enchanting and fine details infinitely captivating. The passion facade at the rear of the building is haunting, representing the passion death and resurrection of Jesus. We doubt this place will ever be beat in our minds.

Not having had our fill of Gaudi's designs (we were both Dr Seuss fans as kids) we headed to Casa Batllo which is a house that Gaudi renovated. We got an audio guide which explained the themes of the house, which included water and organic life (deep stuff for a pleb like Jeff)... Needless to say we both loved it and thought that it was like living in a fairy tale.

In need of refreshment we went to the "Mercat de la Boqueria" (food market) which assaults your senses the minute you walk in. The place is very noisy as it is full of people, the smells are strong (the fruit stalls and bakeries good, the fish stalls not so much) and there is just colour everywhere! Great places to waste time wandering and snacking on a variety of foods.

Barcelona is a good place to be hungry as we had already found out and a tasty lunch in a sports bar was accopanied by the french tennis open on one channel, the british and irish lions versus the cheetahs and manchester unitied versus aston villa on another. Sport, food and beer and you start to understand why the Spanish have such long lunches.

Having yet to kick our addiction to Gaudi we hiked up to Parc Guell which gives nice views of the city and is full of wierd and wacky stuff. Its a bit like The Flinstones in places and has that Dr Seuss feel in others. Nice big park though with lots of people enjoying the sunny day. Wanted to do the markets again but they were shut... finding it hard to figure out when things are open in Europe, some places close in the afternoon some don't, some are open till 10 or 11 at night (go the late night every night malls!) and restaurants are open even later and then some close in the weekends.

We ventured out at night to see the Agbar Tower which lights up in bright blues and reds. But after we'd caught 2 different metros to get there we waited, and waited... and no lights. Apparently they only light the tower up in winter because the power is cheaper (go figure). But alas, the tower was actually quite cool with no lights and it just so happened to be accross the road from a big mall.

We decided to check out the underground Roman ruins at the museum, and were stoked to find out that it was actually free that day. We think they knew we were coming. The ruins were a little different to what we'd seen in Italy, and included places where they used to make wine, salt fish and dye clothes.

Last but not least, we had a wander down to the beach and waterfront. The beach was still packed at 7.30 at night when we were there and the waterfront was crawling with people when we left just after 10 (more late night malls!). Another great place just to wander.

We'll leave you here as our booze has run out, and its getting late and we have to go find some paella. Next stop Valencia.

Hasta luego!

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Part of trip: Europe

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