Monaco 1:30
Relaxing at a little side walk cafe, overlooking the port of Monaco. There are hundreds of beautiful yachts moored in the port and across the way is the palace of Monaco, which is our destination. The sky is still overcast and doesn’t look like it will burn off. Apparently the barometer is rising, so maybe we will have sun by the weekend. I’m actually glad it is not sunny now, it would be too hot hiking around the city!
Lunch was heaven on a plate. I got lucky and what I got was what I was hoping I had ordered. Creamy pesto on linguini. Bob also had a great lunch of taglionia with salmon cream sauce. We enjoyed an appetizer of tomatoes basil and fresh mozzarella with olive oil and vinegar. Bob is awaiting his coffee. During lunch we heard at least four different languages – French, German, English and Italian. The money in this area is staggering.
Our sleeping experiences have been difficult while at Michel’s. Last night we use the couch cushions to give us some extra padding. It helped, but we kept being sucked into the middle and having to climb out to the sides. We are going to just sleep on the two couches tonight – hope it’s better.
The drive through Nice and the other small cities was very picturesque this afternoon. Most all of the buildings and villas are stucco with Terra Cotta tile roofs. Set against the greenery of the cliffs and surrounding mountains it is quite beautiful. The road here was a bit intimidating. Most of it was through mountains or set against sheer cliffs – beautiful and scary. Bob did great navigating the roads. He was much more aggressive driving here than he normally is back home. Port of Monaco
Ah the joy of driving in a French city. We needed to change money at the Kuwaiti/French Bank on the Blvd. de la Anglais in Nice. It was impossible to park so I dropped Jackie at the curb thinking I could just whip down the avenue and do a U-turn back. I should have known better. I had turned into a side street to drop Jackie off, following two other cars. The street abruptly ended without notice at a pedestrian zone. Everyone was trying to back up or turn around. The street was narrow with cars parked on both sides. I finally managed to extricate myself. I had to turn right, back at the Blvd.
I drove about a mile down looking for a place to make a U-turn. I finally gave up and turned right again, back into the city. Driving in a French city requires a suicidal disregard for your own life. I went a few blocks and turned right again. I drove what I hoped would be far enough to have passed the bank and turned right towards the Blvd. I ended up about one block the wrong side of the bank, and there was no way to turn left, so I had to turn right, back on the Blvd. So down the Blvd. I went again. Farther this time, looking for a U-turn, but to no avail.
So I turned again into the city, driving a little farther in this time. Turned right to head towards the bank and drive until I hit a pedestrian zone and had to turn right again, towards the Blvd. This brought back me to the same point, about one block on the wrong side of the bank. Again I had to turn right. Again I drove down the Blvd., but this time I didn’t bother looking for a U- turn, I just took the first right I could, back into the city. I drove as far in as I could, trying to get around the pedestrian zone, turned right, drove almost to the port of : Nice (a long way), turned right and finally managed to make it back to the Blvd., this time on the right side of the bank. It took me about 20 minutes to do all of that.
When I got back to Jackie, who was waiting outside of the bank, she said she had been worried about me. But when I saw her standing there, it wasn’t a worried look I saw, is was mad. It didn’t help her disposition any that she hadn’t eaten earlier this morning. She was quite a grouch until we found a restaurant for lunch. Jackie wrote about lunch so I won’t bother here. As typical, the food was great but the service was lacking.
We spent the afternoon walking around Monaco. The problem with Monaco is that it is too crowded with tourists and there is really not much to see. The palace is disappointing and the casino is like Las Vegas.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Dinner was roast pork with potatoes and a salad.
Good, but not exactly low fat and healthy. Corrine commented that it wasn’t a “diet” meal.
I’ve asked Michel to suggest an adventure. Hes got the map out and is showing Bob how to get there. It is a prehistoric site that we have to go through Italy to get to. I would love to, but I’m afraid it might be tough to get Bob to agree if we have to wait until Saturday. Apparently it is an all day trip… we want to make sure we are here Friday night. Michel’s parents are coming in to visit and are bringing a lot of seafood for a big dinner.
This map is very big and is somewhat intimidating. But, Bob and Michel are still looking… maybe.
What weather! The sky is gray and it is raining… “ woke up this morning to the sound of thunder, how far off I sat and wondered..” I think summer is over in Provence. With it raining our plans may have to change. We need to return the car this morning (actually by 3:00 PM.) Jackie wants to go to the post office in Valbonne. We had planned to do that then take the car back and catch a bus into Nice. We would spend the day walking around the old village and catch a train to Biot around six. From there we would call the house for a ride. I don’t think Jackie will want to walk around the old city if it is raining.
Bernadette has come in. We are having breakfast inside, in the kitchen this morning. Bernadette touched cheeks with me three times this morning. Despite thunder and torrential downpour this morning it is a perfect day with clear blue sky and a light marine breeze. We’ve spent a wonderful afternoon walking in Old Nice. The village is beautiful with its narrow alley ways, bright colored buildings and long flights of brick stairs up to the churches.
