| Aug 19, 2007 - French Riviera
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 | | show all 9 | | the rocky beach in Nice | | Place Massena in Nice | | Bellanda Tower at sunset | | |
| I just finished my last dinner in Nice and quite a mediocre Italian dinner it was. It's a shame considering all the good Italian food in this town, but it's my own fault. Most reatuarants don't start serving until 7:30 and I was starving after spending a day gallavanting from one beach to the other and nothing for lunch except an apple and banana. I got back to Nice about 5:00, showered and tried to wait but I was just too hungry, so I strolled down to the "Cours Saleya" - a long pedestrian street near the waterfront lined with restaurants on both sides and packed with tourists. There were a few places already serving dinner so I decided on an Italian place thinking, 'Hey, it's Italian, how can you go wrong?' well, evidently, you can go wrong and I did. The cesar salad, lasagna and even the wine were all pretty bad. I left quite a bit of it on my plate for Baby Jesus. The waitress was very sweet and felt bad that I was dining alone and gave me a full bottle of wine for the price of a half-bottle (maybe she was trying to get rid of it). I drank less than half of it (I can hear Candi gasping as she reads this). It's just not worth drinking if its bad. Well, I had a pretty good meal last night, so I shouldn't complain. I had an excellent meal in one of Ricks recommended restaurants in the heart of the old town and sat next to a nice Italian couple whose daughter had studied at UW. "We heara the Seattle, she is a very lovely. One daya we gonna come visit."
I have spent the last 3 days pretty much relaxing - lots of sleeping and swimming. I am staying in a little place not far from the train station. It's more like a small studio apt. than a hotel room as it has a small stove, fridge and microwave. Its been great because I can have breakfast in my room, which saves me some $ and even cooked dinner my first night. The place is relatively quiet considering the location. The only thing I don't like is that its very small. I mean tiny. Taking a shower is like a comedy act. I barely fit in it. Actually, I really don't fit. I can't really move and the shower curtain sticks to me so if I turn, or heaven forbid drop the soap or shampoo, the water flies all over the bathroom. I also barely fit on the toilet, my knees hit the wall. Thankfully I don't have to sit most of the time.
The water here is the most amazing deep turqoise blue and the perfect temperature. Nice is pretty nice except that it's the height of tourist season and the place is mobbed. I knew this beforehand, but it's the only time I can come so I was prepared. There are tourists from everywhere here, lots of French and Italian, but also Scandinavian, British, American, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, African. It's like the United Nations. The bay is full of big cruise ships which fill all the coastal towns by day. Yesterday I went to Monaco, about half an hour away. I took a bus on the middle corniche route, which has some amazing views. The gal at my hotel told me I needed to get off at a little town called "Eze-le-Village" not to be mistaken for Value-Village. Nothing in that place is cheap. Lot's of little boutiques and shops, all selling a lot of stuff I have no interest in. I chuckled at the married couples, the wives hungrily bouncing from shop to shop dragging their bored husbands along behind. I had a capaccino, did a quick walk through and was contemplating paying the 5 euro fee to enter the 'exotic garden' at the top of the town when I turned around to see about 50 Japanese tourists scurrying up the road behind me. I quickly decided that 5 euros was just too much to pay to see a garden and caught the next bus for Monaco.
Monaco is over the top. From the mansions lining the hillsides with curved pools and man-made waterfalls to the Jaguars, Mazerattis and Mercedes speeding through the streets. Lots of rich people walking around decked out in expensive clothes and jewelry. I have never seen so many wealthy Middle Eastern people in my life. I did a quick walk through but really wasn't into it. I did go into the casino and played one slot machine - Just one - I lost and left. Today I got up and took the train to Antibes, a smaller city about half an hour west of Nice, then went to Ville Franche, about 10 minutes east of Nice. I wanted to check out both towns and the beaches. There isn't any sand on the beach at Nice, only rocks, but both Antibes and Ville Franche have sand beaches. I had a swim at the beach in Antibes, did a quick walk through the town, then caught a train for Ville Franche and had a quick swim there. It was just too crowded. There were lot's of people from the cruise ships and standing room only. Tomorrow I head to Aix-en-Provence for a night, then Avignon. Hopefully, they will be a bit quieter than the Riviera. |
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