The French Riviera

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Our visit to Nice was quite relaxing and enjoyable. The weather was variable, but we managed to get some sun and some quality relaxing time.

We'd booked a day tour of the Riviera for our first full day (Tuesday) in Nice as it seemed like a logical thing to do and would allow us to see all the places we planned to see anyway, while leaving us extra time to go back on our own in the following few days if we wanted.

Our driver Sylvie picked us up a bit later than the scheduled time, which was a bit annoying but totally understandable. The reason for this is that Nice is currently being torn up and rebuilt in several places. This is in most part due to a new tram line going in, which will serve the city well when it's finished, but at the moment there is traffic and pedestrian chaos as roads have been ripped up and lanes closed. We picked up a bunch of people at some other hotels, then headed out to our first destination, Eze. There, we got a look at a small town on a hill with a church on it basically.

After Eze we went to the Fragonard perfume factory and took a tour of it's facilities. At the end of the tour we tested some fragrances and Sam purchased a couple of tiny vials.

We then headed to Monaco and stopped briefly to take in a scenic view at one of the lookouts that looks down to sea port at Ville Franche. We crossed in to Monaco and into Monte Carlo just in time to see the changing of the guard. That was pretty dull, but the sun was out and we had a nice cheap lunch and sat on a park bench watching the passers by. We had a wander around for a bit and took some photos of the various vistas, and tried to spot famous people. We didn't recognise anyone but there was no shortage of money going around. We then got back on the bus and took a drive to the Casino and then went around the grand prix track. The black tyre marks were still on the track in some corners and in the braking zones, and some stadiums were still up as well. All in all the track looks much tighter than on TV. We drove out of Monaco thru a tunnel that seemed to go for ages under a mountain.

Our next destination was Cannes and Antibes. Cannes was a nice enough place, but not really all that interesting, other than the topless sunbakers and the crystal clear waters. Antibes is much nicer and would be a much better holiday destination than Cannes, which only really any good for it's film festival.

Our final destination for the day was St Paul de Vence, which is a medieval town perched on toop of a hill, north of Nice. The bulidings date back many centuries and the lanes are cobbled and narrow. We ate some nice chocolate crepes there and walked around enjoying the old world charm. If you want a romantic place to go, this would have to be it, as there is one hotel in the town, and the gates get shut at 5pm to all tourists and non-locals.

When we got back to the hotel, we took our dirty laundary to the laundrette down the road and when we got back hung all our washing up in the room. The entire room was covered, but we managed to get everything hung up somewhere to dry.

On the Wednesday Sam started to feel a bit better, and the weather threatened to turn bad, so we went to the market, which is in the old part of town near the promenade, and had a look around there. We then took a tour of the old city on a small tourist "train", which also went up to the top of Castle Hill which has been a public park for well over a century. The serenity of the park and it's surroundings is a world removed from the hustle and bustle of Nice and well worth a visit. Take the train up if possible, because it's a steep walk up the hill. After the tour we had lunch and relaxed on the beach until the weather got a lil too cold, then headed back to the hotel via all the shops and had an early night.

On Thursday we slept in, then took off into the sunshine to do some shopping, specifically for a new watch for me (Ivan). We spent most of the afternoon doing that and after much indecision I decided on one that I liked, however I could easily have bought four!

As it was our last night in Nice, we got all dressed up then went down to have dinner in one of the restaurants on Rue Saleya. All the seafood looked good, however we needed to find a restaurant to cater for Sam as well. In the end we chose Chez Freddy, which served up a good foie gras and an excellent bouillabaise for me, and some ordinary spaghetti for Sam.

In the meanwhile, we say goodbye to France, a very interesting place ideed, with it's many contrasts of old world history, high technology, good food, poor hygene and public health standards and massive poverty. Our favourite place along the way would have to be Avignon and of course the food and service was far superior to anything we have experienced anywhere else.

Friday we packed our bags and headed for the airport, ready for our plane back to the UK, where they hate Europe and think they can get away with whatever they want, whenever it suits them. Thank god for Chunnel!

Vive Francois Mitterand!

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