Nice (France)
Nice is nice. And that's about all I can give it. The French Rivera is not what I imagined. There are no beautiful topless sunbathers. There have been no celebrity sightings. And James Bond was not playing roulette at the Monte Carlo Casino. However, there have been some wonderful things about our trip to Nice. First off, our hotel is perched on the side of a cliff and we have the most gorgeous view of the Mediterranean sea. This morning I opened up our French doors and stood on our balcony looking at the French coast for over half an hour. Secondly, Mom and I rented a scooter which we drove along the coast from Nice to Monaco, where we paid the ten dollar admission fee to visit the Monte Carlo Casino (see Monte Carlo Casino below for details). Although the scooter did not have the power and speed of Cathy's Parisian motorcycle, I had a blast driving the scooter around town. There is an art form to driving a scooter in Nice which I learned by watching other scooter drivers. This mostly consists of weaving between cars which are stuck in traffic. At times driving in the opposite lane to pass the stopped cars. At first I was timid, but after a couple hours on the scooter I was driving like Evil Conevil (Marc, how do you spell this?). And I only got pulled over once by the police. Not bad for my first time! Mom and I have had some hits and misses as far as food goes -- probably more misses than hits. There are just too many restaurants around us, and we don't seem to have a knack for picking the good ones. Mom's blisters have gotten better now, but her knee is just getting worse. Luckily she won't have to walk from Nice to Seattle, and can just sit on her plane home tomorrow. I however I am not going to have as simple a trip back to Paris. Allow me to explain:
Nice to Paris is a five hour train ride. However, Yesterday when I tried to make a seat reservation the unhelpful ticket saleslady yelled at me and informed me that I wouldn't be able to get a seat reservation on a train to Paris until May. She even pulled out the calendar and started pointing at it. This is after she threw her pen on the desk because I asked her what my options were in getting to Paris. I tried to tell her that I was flexible and didn't mind sleeping in Lyon or staying in another city for a night on my way to Paris. But the only option she gave me was a thirteen hour train ride that leaves at 8:00 in the evening and arrives in Paris at 9:00am the next morning by way of some city (probably the north tip of France) where I have to change trains at 5:00am. Tomorrow I am going to try and bribe the train conductor and see if I can find some other way to Paris. It's nice to know that my first day without a travel partner is going to be such a treat (sarcasm).
MONTE CARLO CASINO
To enter the Monte Carlo Casino you must:
The inside of the casino is quite classy. It is very quiet. Everyone is very serious. There are very few people inside. Mom and I only played slots and video poker. I won a euro, and Mom won ten euros which covered her admission fee.
And now words from Mom:
NICE -- NOT SO NICE (the final destination on our French journey)
The fun episode:
Since my feet were so sore and my knee was in gridlock and swollen. Paul brilliantly suggested the scooter idea. We biked along the Rivera past St. Jean Cap-Ferrat considered to be famous for upper class mansions, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beauilieu-sur-ner, Cap d'ali, and finally Monaco (the wealthiest place in the world). We had a picnic on the pebble beach. Having grown up on Miami Beach I was not impressed. Monaco was a disappointment. I had a magical sense of it as a child. Remembering Grace Kelly's wedding to Prince Rainer and the antics of Stephanie, Albert, and Caroline. It was a beautiful place but so built up with huge condos and shopping malls. It had no charm left. Maybe it never had any charm at all. We did pay to enter the Monte Carlo Casino. That was class. I had visions of hearing "My name is Bond, James Bond. I like my martini shaken not stirred." The tables were a hundred euro minimum so we did not play. I did play video poker and won my ten euro entrance fee back.
The emotional episode:
The next day we biked to the Chagall museum. Words can not express the emotion and beauty of his work. The exhibit was in part large format paintings illustrating the first two books of the old testament. His paintings stir intense emotions inside me like no other artist. In addition there was a huge mosaic placed above a pond so it was reflected below with all the signs of the zodiac.
The not-so fun episode:
Alas, we had to give up the scooter and it was back to walking again. There was a bitter debacle at the train station where Paul was tortured (he may never get out of Nice). Then it started to rain and it has been raining since. The dinner was awful so we went to the hotel and watched a DVD we bought at Virgin Records. We stayed up until 3am and woke up at noon Easter Sunday. We hunted for a restaurant. They were either closed, mobbed, or had no food left. We finally found a cafe that did have a few items left on the menu. We were hysterical and laughed.
Tomorrow at 5am I start on my way home. I am ready to see my family, my two beautiful grandchildren, and my two dogs. I leave France to Paul, mon fils. We laughed, we cried...we experienced.
Nice to Paris is a five hour train ride. However, Yesterday when I tried to make a seat reservation the unhelpful ticket saleslady yelled at me and informed me that I wouldn't be able to get a seat reservation on a train to Paris until May. She even pulled out the calendar and started pointing at it. This is after she threw her pen on the desk because I asked her what my options were in getting to Paris. I tried to tell her that I was flexible and didn't mind sleeping in Lyon or staying in another city for a night on my way to Paris. But the only option she gave me was a thirteen hour train ride that leaves at 8:00 in the evening and arrives in Paris at 9:00am the next morning by way of some city (probably the north tip of France) where I have to change trains at 5:00am. Tomorrow I am going to try and bribe the train conductor and see if I can find some other way to Paris. It's nice to know that my first day without a travel partner is going to be such a treat (sarcasm).
MONTE CARLO CASINO
To enter the Monte Carlo Casino you must:
- Look good. No T-shirts, sandals, shorts, pink socks, orange hats, baggy gangster pants, or anything designed by the "No Fear" company.
- Pay ten dollars, which is non-refundable
- Give them your passport, where they make note of all your information including the balance in your checking account.
The inside of the casino is quite classy. It is very quiet. Everyone is very serious. There are very few people inside. Mom and I only played slots and video poker. I won a euro, and Mom won ten euros which covered her admission fee.
And now words from Mom:
NICE -- NOT SO NICE (the final destination on our French journey)
The fun episode:
Since my feet were so sore and my knee was in gridlock and swollen. Paul brilliantly suggested the scooter idea. We biked along the Rivera past St. Jean Cap-Ferrat considered to be famous for upper class mansions, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beauilieu-sur-ner, Cap d'ali, and finally Monaco (the wealthiest place in the world). We had a picnic on the pebble beach. Having grown up on Miami Beach I was not impressed. Monaco was a disappointment. I had a magical sense of it as a child. Remembering Grace Kelly's wedding to Prince Rainer and the antics of Stephanie, Albert, and Caroline. It was a beautiful place but so built up with huge condos and shopping malls. It had no charm left. Maybe it never had any charm at all. We did pay to enter the Monte Carlo Casino. That was class. I had visions of hearing "My name is Bond, James Bond. I like my martini shaken not stirred." The tables were a hundred euro minimum so we did not play. I did play video poker and won my ten euro entrance fee back.
The emotional episode:
The next day we biked to the Chagall museum. Words can not express the emotion and beauty of his work. The exhibit was in part large format paintings illustrating the first two books of the old testament. His paintings stir intense emotions inside me like no other artist. In addition there was a huge mosaic placed above a pond so it was reflected below with all the signs of the zodiac.
The not-so fun episode:
Alas, we had to give up the scooter and it was back to walking again. There was a bitter debacle at the train station where Paul was tortured (he may never get out of Nice). Then it started to rain and it has been raining since. The dinner was awful so we went to the hotel and watched a DVD we bought at Virgin Records. We stayed up until 3am and woke up at noon Easter Sunday. We hunted for a restaurant. They were either closed, mobbed, or had no food left. We finally found a cafe that did have a few items left on the menu. We were hysterical and laughed.
Tomorrow at 5am I start on my way home. I am ready to see my family, my two beautiful grandchildren, and my two dogs. I leave France to Paul, mon fils. We laughed, we cried...we experienced.