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Published: October 25th 2010
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******* FRANCE *********
NICE AND MONACO
It was about a 7 hour train trip to get from Florence to Nice (pronounced nees). We could only get a ticket as far as the Italian border as the ticket lady wasn't sure if there were trains running in France due to the ridiculous strike based on the extra 2 years the government wanted to extend the pension age (from 60 to 62). They already have a 34 hour working week!
Eventually, we managed to make the two transfers and get to Nice. As we crossed the border, the National French Police came on board and checked everyone's passports. We witnessed one guy get dragged off and the train left without him.
Nice was nice (hehe) but not as nice as my niece (hehehe). Homeless people frequented the alleyways and there was a large contingent of African-French loitering in the streets. We spent the afternoon and evening walking through the city and watched the sun set over the Mediterranean as we strolled along the beach esplanade. The food was a noticeable improvement over Italy. We had Thai the first night and French the second. Both were delicious.
The second
Monte Carlo
The central part of Monaco day we spent touring Monaco. A 20 minute train ride from Nice, Monaco is its own principality, separate from France. We have never seen a place more lavish in our lives. The streets were filled with Ferraris, Bentleys, Rolls Royces and Porches. The hotels were grander than any we had seen. The harbour was filled with monstrous private boats and yachts that made us yearn to have one. No graffiti anywhere and the streets were spotless.
We caught a hop on - hop off tour bus and went for a lap of the city in which half of the tour included the famous Monaco grand prix street circuit. It felt very familiar going around some of the sharp corners and through the beach side tunnel.
We stopped at the casino, the richest in the world. Of course there was a Lamborghini and a Bentley parked out the front. When we entered the foyer we were blown away by the opulence. Everything screamed wealth and gold including the carved cornices, pillars and chandeliers. It was mind boggling and we only regret not being allowed to take a camera in with us to take pictures. We weren't interested in gambling
so we declined to pay the 10 euro entry fee and exited the building.
A short walk up the street and we were in Monte Carlo's famous gardens called the something or other. It was unique in that every tree, plant or shrub was exotic and different. We saw some Indians taking photos on the manicured lawn in front of a dragon shaped hedge and were about to do the same when a couple of guards came running down yelling and clapping their hands for the Indians to get off the grass.
Other sights we saw this day included Princess Grace's Rose Garden and the Prince's Palace with its white garbed guards.
I know I've said it before in these blogs but this time, more than ever, we will never forget Monaco and its wealth and beauty. Even the underground tunnels to the train station had walls of mirrors with pure white floors and ceilings.
Back in Nice and we had reserved a train ticket to get to southern France, half way between Nice and Barcelona to a town called Beziers. It was over a 10 hour train trip to get to Spain so we
decided to break the trip into two. The ticket lady was about to close up and we were her last customers so we tried to be quick. With the ongoing strikes in France, it was spur of the moment to also book the Beziers to Barcelona train but the ticket lady would not have a bar of it. She was closing up and going home. This turned out to be very bad for our plans because the next day, when we tried to book the same train, it was full. So was the afternoon train. So were the only 2 the following day. All other trains into France (and there were bugger all) were also full. Lynette and I looked at each other in alarm as we stood at the Nice ticket counter, we were going to be stuck in bloody Beziers for at least two days, maybe longer...........Hope its a good town.........
BEZIERS
The train arrived at the Beziers station at 9pm and we were promptly faced with an uphill climb to our hotel that was about 500 metres away. Across from the station was a tunnel that we had to go through that passed underneath
Monte Carlo
View from the park to the casino the main road. It reeked of piss so badly that Lynette nearly spewed.
As we arrived at our hotel we could hear parties, yelling and music everywhere so we were glad when the hotel lady offered us ear plugs for the night. She spoke english and was very nice, which I had previously read on the hotel reviews. Nettie loved her little dog that came running out to greet us. The wireless internet worked well so we caught up on the blogs and searched for trains that could take us into Spain. We decided to go for a 3 transfer plan and just get on without a reservation, copping the fine if we were caught. It was the only thing we could do besides heading back the other way into Italy and catching a plane to Spain. So the plan was to go to Perpignan first (where the reservation was required), then Port Bou on Spain's border and then to Barcelona.
The next day arrived and Nettie was feeling a little nervous about our attempt at dodging the booking but I assured her that we will play the dumb tourists and act innocent. We needn't have worried because
Monte Carlo
View from the steps of the casino during the hour long trip to Perpignan, not one ticket inspector came to check and there was plenty of room.
When we walked into the station at Perpignan we were dismayed to find that there were no trains going into Spain. I listened as a train official told a group of travelers that there may be a bus going to Cervere at 5pm. It was now 12.30pm. The bus to Cervere took an hour and then a taxi could be caught to Port Bou, a further 15 minutes away. I discussed our situation with a chinese woman and she suggested that we could hire a car together. We could use my license (as hers was in chinese and couldn't be used) and she could drive the car as the roads and left hand drive were the same as in China. Great! I ventured over to Avis and found that the shutter was down. The same with Hertz. And again with Budget. They were all on strike of course. By this stage there was a group of about 12 tourists, including us, gathered on the front steps of the station discussing what to do and how to get to Spain. We learnt that there was only one taxi in Cervere that needed to be used by a bus load of travelers.
Have you heard the one about the Frenchman, the Pakistani and the Aussie couple that caught a taxi to Spain that cost $225 AUD? Yep, that was us. We crossed the border into Spain doing 190 km/h with the Pyrenees mountains towering in the distance. It cost us but we had made it!
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