We got all the way to Vauban at the other end of the tramline so we could get good seats on the bus to Cap d'Ail. A popular bus route with tourists as it travels along the high Corniche Road which gives spetacular views all the way up and down the coast....only to find out it's Toussaint (All Saints Day) a public holiday and this bus was not on their agenda for the day! Plan B, back on the tram to Place Garibaldi so we could catch another bus from the Port. Two came at the same time (go figure?)... Noticed an accent that wasn't french... a young Kiwi couple... nice conversations trading info. Views were still amazing from this bus that travelled on the lower coast road and we disembarked at Liberte in Cap d'Ail ... read more

Early start and trammed to Massena where it was then an easy walk to Albert 1er... (premier). Number 200 bus and not many people so we were able to choose good seats. Half an hour trip to Square Bourdet in Cagnes sur Mer along the waterfront and past the airport and across the Var. A busy satellite city and from the pictures I saw, a fabulous beach. Many tourists mulling around. Easy stroll around the shops before we headed up the hill to the Medieval Village Haut de Cagnes. Steep is not even close to describing the ascent and so it was a real effort for me. Really narrow streets and homes with small doorways and windows. It is really surprising how light they are inside after having stopped in one in Arles. (Mind you we ... read more

Cannot come to the French Riveira without visiting Monte Carlo! With all it's tacky predictiveness it still draws a crowd of gawkers like us! Easytrain ride along the coast (most trains run right on the waters edge-flattest) & run through many tunnels. So it is really scenic from the train most of the journey through Villefranche, Eze sur Mer, Beauleui sur Mer, Cap d'Ail to the Monaco Gare in the tunnel. Out of there pronto and emerged from the cliff side into the Principality of Monaco. It is a hotchpotch of building designs with many needing attention. It is certainly the playground for the rich who want to be seen by the rich. We came hoping to see some fancy things and were not disappointed. A walk up hill to the Casino where most of the ... read more

Took an alternate route from our place for a nosy around. There are some absolutely beautiful buildings in Nice. I would say even more have been restored since last time we were here in 2013. It's very clean and tidy for such a big city....342,000 pop.(& together outside it's administrative area 1 million). We found the Russian Orthodox Church...third time lucky we got to enter! No photos allowed but it was all very ornately gold & a service in progress. Made our way onto the waterfront, always a lovely stroll along the promenade. We stopped at Lido Plage and down to the water. The water was so calm people were swimming imaginary lengths along the shoreline....or I imagined they did.. We headed into the old town - Veux Ville where all the alfresco diners were filling ... read more

Fabulous to be here...a real mooch around day in Nice We could have trammed our way down Rue Jean Medecin, however we decided to walk... Market day 6 days a week from Place Liberation. Walked right down to Place Messina which became more and more pedestrian orientated. Lovely sunny day and on through Parc Promenade du Paillon and out to the Promenade des Anglais. Some people swimming. School holidays here so lots of people about. Around the promenade to the port and was totally shocked to see a gigantic structure at the base of the port right in front of the beautiful buildings. The tram finishes here and turns around to circut again... I could not believe it! And so I shouldn't have... it is temporary as they dig underground!! It is not their style to ... read more