Cote d’Azur – Monaco & Nice

It was another fine sunny day when we arrived in Nice, France. The temperature was rather on the warm side and from the bus, the atmosphere and scenery outside was definitely that of a lazy seaside town. Coming from the clockwork and structured feel of Switzerland, it felt definitely looser and relaxed, as one would expect from a resort town in the French Riviera.

On our train ride from Murren in Interlaken, we met two college girls who sat across from us and told us how much they had loved this hostel in Nice, France. They said it was the best hostel they had ever stayed in. When we looked up the hostel in the Internet, it had been voted as the best hostel in all of France. We decided to give it a try and stay in our very first hostel. Needless to say, it was quite fully booked and we only managed to book a standby for the first night and the next four nights in a private room but sharing the bathroom. When we arrived, we felt like we were in our dorms during our college days. It was open to all ages, but the place was filled with predominantly young people. It may have been a five star hostel, but what transpired thereafter was that we felt like it wasn’t meant for us to stay there. After seeing the bunk bed style dorm rooms, which we had to share with 8 other people, and with a communal shower, Joanne asked for a hotel recommendation. We ended up finding a very nice hotel that was centrally located, near the main train station; it even cost less than the hostel (we stumbled onto a special, off-season rate offered by the hotel).


The next day, we took a short walk to the train station and decided to visit Monaco. The train ride was only a short 30 minutes away. Of course, Monaco is where world’s rich and famous congregate. We’ve never seen so many giant sized yachts assembled in one harbor. I commented that even Tiger’s yacht would look wimpy in comparison to some that were docked there.

We learned that Monaco is the second smallest country in the world, following only the Vatican. Their total area is only a less than one square mile. We got on a mini tram for tourists and it went around the whole country in less than 30 minutes. This photo is that of the Museum of Oceanography. It is considered the best oceanography museum in Europe and sat majestically overlooking the crashing waves on the rocks below.

This is the cathedral where the king of Monaco wed Grace Kelly. It was located a few steps from the royal palace.

In front of the royal palace – the palace sat high on a bluff overlooking the Principality of Monaco.

This statue is that of the first Grimaldi ruler of Monaco – he is known as Malizia ‘The Cunning’. He is dressed as a monk, but holding a sword to be pulled. He disguised himself as a monk and was able enter the gate and overtake the fortress. He was the first of the Grimaldi family to rule Monaco since 1297.

In the foreground is the just-assembled grandstand for the famed Monaco Grand Prix. They race through the streets of Monaco, encircling the whole country many times. Michael Schumacher holds the fastest lap time of 1 minute 14 seconds driving a Ferrari.

There were a bunch of Ferraris parked in front of the Monte Carlo Casino. Unlike in Las Vegas, they were enforcing a strict dress code to enter the premises. Since I didn’t pack my formal attire, I didn’t bother to go in.

Nice gave us a good chance to relax and rest, mainly because it rained on and off when we were there. We spent more time eating and resting, than touring around (we found good restaurants, Italian and French, near our hotel). I got a good chance to rest my aching back caused by the strain of all those train rides in Switzerland. This photo was taken during a walk through the flower market in Nice.

Unlike the sandy beaches of southern California, the beaches here are covered with big pebbles and gravels. We still saw people, half naked, lying on the gravel, soaking up the sun.

This scene of Nice reminded us of the view of Santa Monica and Malibu Beaches in Southern California. Beyond the hills was where Cannes is located and where they have the yearly film festival.

This is the harbor of Nice, where we saw some cruise ships, docked a little further out. During the very busy summer season, we were told that many more cruise ships as well as tens of thousands of tourists flock to see this area, called the playground of the rich. Although we didn’t get a chance to see more of the other beach towns, such as St. Tropez, Joanne got a chance to visit the Chagall Museum, which she enjoyed immensely in spite of the rain.