Cote D'Azur
Day 21 Thurs. 10-1-10
“Hotel Suisse” Nice
Up early this AM and on the road to drive from L"Isle sur la Soruge to Nice. A straight shot drive would be about 2 1/2 hours. We took about 7 hours and drove on the highway until we jumped off to start our coastal drive from St. Tropez to Nice. St. Tropez was absolutely charming with lots of folks in town for a big boat race. We hugged the coast line all the way through the French Riviera to Nice. We drove through St Raphael which we loved with it's dramatic red cliffs, Cannes, Antibes then to the airport in Nice to drop off the car. We caught a taxi to our hotel, the Hotel Suisse. The hotel is absolutely charming, set into a hillside that directly faces the sea, with the town on the right side back dropped by mountains. The rooms are good sized for European standards. The elevators are consistent with an old hotel, and only one person with luggage can fit in at a time ! After we checked in, we walked 500 flights of stairs on a stairway next to our hotel, that led up to a Chateau which was on a rocky promontory that is perched above our hotel. We are on one side, and the harbor is on the other side. We got spectacular views from the top - well worth the climb. The hotel is perfectly situated next to Vielle Ville (the old part of town), which is narrow street after narrow alleys with buildings all awash in yellow, light pinks and terra cotta. There also are so many restaurants, I think you could eat at a different place every day of the year. We had a great dinner of pizza, which is all very thin crust baked in brick ovens. The pizzas are some of the best we have ever had- and we eat allot of pizza!
Day 21 Thurs. 10-1-10
“Hotel Suisse” Nice
Up early this AM and on the road to drive from L"Isle sur la Soruge to Nice. A straight shot drive would be about 2 1/2 hours. We took about 7 hours and drove on the highway until we jumped off to start our coastal drive from St. Tropez to Nice. St. Tropez was absolutely charming with lots of folks in town for a big boat race. We hugged the coast line all the way through the French Riviera to Nice. We drove through St Raphael which we loved with it's dramatic red cliffs, Cannes, Antibes then to the airport in Nice to drop off the car. We caught a taxi to our hotel, the Hotel Suisse. The hotel is absolutely charming, set into a hillside that directly faces the sea, with the town on the right side back dropped by mountains. The rooms are good sized for European standards. The elevators are consistent with an old hotel, and only one person with luggage can fit in at a time ! After we checked in, we walked 500 flights of stairs on a stairway next to our hotel, that led up to a Chateau which was on a rocky promontory that is perched above our hotel. We are on one side, and the harbor is on the other side. We got spectacular views from the top - well worth the climb. The hotel is perfectly situated next to Vielle Ville (the old part of town), which is narrow street after narrow alleys with buildings all awash in yellow, light pinks and terra cotta. There also are so many restaurants, I think you could eat at a different place every day of the year. We had a great dinner of pizza, which is all very thin crust baked in brick ovens. The pizzas are some of the best we have ever had- and we eat allot of pizza!
Day 22 Fri. 10-2-10 “Hotel Suisse” Nice Today, we hopped a bus for one Euro, to Monaco. Our goal was to go to the casino in Monte Carlo to win enough euros to buy a loft, we did not get the loft..... Monaco was right out of a movie - spotless, obvious money to burn everywhere, and another warm day with clear blue skies and a sparkling sea. Our ride to Monaco was one breath taking scene followed by another turn in the road and another fabulous scene. It was fun to be with the locals, on the bus, and listening to all of the conversations. We walked around for a bit, then sat at a cafe sipping wine outside of the casino waiting for the casino to open at 2:00 PM. The people watching was extremely entertaining. After the casino we walked around the harbor, then up a huge hill to the vielle ville. We enjoyed walking on the road the Grand Prix runs on. We walked the narrow streets, and gawked at the Rainier palace. It is a quite a kingdom the Rainiers have built, and you could imagine the days when Grace Kelly was still alive, and the casino and town just bustling....... We got back to Nice around 6:30 PM, watched another one of God's good ones - a perfect sunset over the sea and town, then walked into the old town for dinner. Just a thought, if you open a bottle of champagne, and your husband only wants one glass, this does not mean you have to finish the rest of the bottle. The evening that was starting out quietly began to quickly spiral..... We headed to town for dinner and had to move our table over to make room for another couple and a full glass of red wine toppled over and decorated Jon. The couple, Jesse and Kate who turned out to be from British Columbia and newly engaged, ended up being our noveau amis for the evening which ended by Jesse buying Jon a Cuban cigar, and the two boys puffing away over more wine - very fun.
Day 23 Sat. 10-2-10 “Hotel Suisse” Nice Suggestion: If you buy some new Wolky sandals, that you briefly wore and they felt very comfortable, do not, I repeat, do not try them out for the first real walk by walking seven miles - ouch ! The plan for the day was total R and R to gear up for heading back to the real world. We walked the entire length of the Promenade Des Anglais which stretches the length of the city's waterfront, and people watched. The Promenade was full of bicyclists, joggers, walkers, and people headed to the beach. It is also dotted with little restaurants on the beach. As usual, Jon had his pedometer tracking our every foot step. On our return trip we wandered into the Vielle Ville for lunch, and did more people watching. We went to the Cours Saleya which is a combination of small streets and a large square with fountains, complete with a huge flower market and accordian players. They had a large march of PETA type people with pets which was fun looking at the doggies. Did a bit of last minute shopping, then back to our room for wine, and another beautiful sunset from our balcony. We ate a fabulous last night's dinner at La Favola, then sauntered slowly back by the sea to our room. A wonderful last day and evening in Nice - back home tomorrow.
Day 24, Sun. 10-3-10 Nice to Boston Well, what a trip ! Everything was more than I expected. I was totally prepared for pick pocketers, the ring scam, rude people, and luckily with the exception of a snarky person here and there, we did not have any problems, We are enroute home now, over twelve hours for the day. It was amazing scenery flying out of France along the coast line, with the mountains as a backdrop. Flying into Germany, you could see some mountain tops peaking through the clouds, it looked like a field of snow with some granite outcroppings. Thank goodness for these sleeper chairs, it even has a massage feature I have had on since we left Nice! Next trip - don't know when or where, but whenever and wherever it is, will keep you posted ;) Au Revoir and Bien tot !