French Riviera: Nice & Monaco


Nice was the last stop during my three and a half week escapade throughout Europe during Easter break. Yes, I've finally finished all my posts from my trip back during Easter! Jeez I'm a little behind... I will be honest. I struggled quite a bit to write this post so I can only imagine how difficult the ones from the end of my trip are going to be. I really want to capture all of my memories though so I have something to read back one day. I'm definitely trying my best. Also, yes, there was sensor dust in my camera and no, I did not realise until I got home to Australia... Way to ruin all of your travel snaps Tash...



After three weeks of intense travel, it was so nice (this post is going to be so punny...) to be in a place where we could just relax and do a whole lot of nothing in particular. Our first day began with a small hiccup. At this point of the trip, my knee was severely injured and it was a struggle for me to walk even a few steps, especially as I had already hobbled my way through Istanbul, Santorini and Zurich. I injured my knee back in Istanbul (that city has some crazy inclines) so after taking a few painful steps out of our hotel, I decided to invest in a knee brace. Trying to buy a knee brace at a French pharmacy was no easy feat. Adrian used his limited knowledge in French to try and explain to the lady what we were looking for to no avail. We both ended up conceding, resorting to eagerly pointing at the various knee braces that we had spotted at the very back of the store.

Breakfast
Promenade du Paillon

Bay of Angels
We had no particular plans in Nice, there was nothing that we were dying to see so that left us completely open to do anything and everything, exploring the city at a relaxed pace. We started our day with a cheap but delicious breakfast, receiving a hot chocolate, a glass of orange juice and a croissant for just 5 Euros. Not bad at all! Bucket list: eat a croissant in France, check.

We then did a little bit of window shopping along Avenue Jean Medecin, the "Oxford Street" of Nice. This was the road that we walked along every time we went back and forth from our hotel and it was always such a lovely walk that I can't complain. We eventually hit Jardin Albert 1er and then Promenade des Anglais and despite only having explored for less than an hour, I was already loving the amazing weather and relaxing vibes of the city. At this point of the day, I came to the horrific realisation that my camera was about to die and I refused to continue exploring until I had at least a portable charger on me so I forced Adrian to walk back to the hotel with me so we could grab a charger. Good thing I did too or the blog would have ended here!

Avenue Jean Medecin
Notre-Dame de Nice
Palais de Justice
Old Town
We strolled back along Avenue Jean Medecin, reaching Promenade du Paillon and finally Old Town Nice. This was definitely my favourite part of the city. I absolutely loved the small and narrow streets, the abundance of pastry shops and the relaxed and carefree nature of everyone wandering around the area. It felt like a true holiday. Old Town is full of vibrant markets, cafes, award-winning restaurants and famous Fenocchio ice cream shops.

We spent a lot of our day getting lost in the maze of cobblestoned streets, coming across various different squares and plazas.


Old Town market

Old Town
Promenade des Anglais had me feeling like I had been transported into the middle of L.A. The clear blue skies combined with the palm trees lining the wide boardwalk which looked out to the ocean were so reminiscent of California. There was also a constant state of activity on the promenade, being packed with beach goers, cyclists, joggers and roller bladers all day long. The promenade wraps around the entire coastline, all the way around the Bay of Angels. As I stared out into that stretch of the Mediterranean sea, all I remember thinking was how amazingly crystal blue the water was. It still amazes me looking back at my photos now!

Although we had planned to do some tanning in Nice, the rocky pebble beach was not so appealing, especially after having just come from Santorini so we decided to give tanning a pass. I have spoken to a few people since then about the rocky beach of Nice and I still don't get the appeal. The beach itself is very aesthetically pleasing but doesn't seem practical or comfortable at all! Would you need those funky beach shoes to swim without puncturing the soles of your feet on sharp rocks??


Promenade des Anglais
Promenade des Anglais
Bay of Angels

After reaching the end of the promenade, we began the trek up to Castle Hill. I started to get a bit nervous when we continuously crossed paths with people decked out in workout gear. We weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into or how tough this climb was going to be and I was really worried that we had accidentally began the ascent that was Nice's version of 1000 steps. The walk ended up being an absolute breeze though and definitely well worth the views.

As you climb up, you think you've seen the best views possible but continue to be swept away the higher you climb. The view from the very top can only be described as spectacular. From the top, we had total views of the Bay of Angels, the Promenade des Anglais, Old Town Nice and Port Lympia, which was filled with expensive looking yachts. The weather was also gorgeous and for the first time, I was comfortable in just a playsuit, not feeling the slightest bit chilly. Even back in Santorini, I spent most of the day in a jacket so it was a nice change to finally be able to embrace some warm weather.


Views of Old Town Nice
Bay of Angels
Port Lympia
Port Lympia
Port Lympia
To reward our (not so) hard work trekking up Castle Hill, we headed back to Old Town for some ice cream before exploring yet again. This was the most relaxed that I had felt in a while. It was so nice to just roam around through the small and narrow streets of Nice, taking in all of the sights and smells (there was delicious food everywhere). Everyone seemed so relaxed, sitting in front of the various cafes and enjoying the gorgeous day.

The relaxed vibes were certainly contagious and we found ourselves sitting on the edge of a fountain in front of Place du Palais de Justice with some chocolate and coffee eclairs in hand, soaking in the sun's rays and developing a small tan. That spot quickly became out "dessert spot" and we had our fair share of pastries and ice creams sitting at that fountain. If you know me well, you'll know that I have an insatiable sweet tooth and Nice really delivered in that area. There was never a lack of pastries or ice cream shops whenever we were wandering around and it was so easy to take a break whenever we felt like it and just grab something sweet to snack on.

Mango and strawberry gelato
Old Town Nice
LAC Chocolatier
LAC Chocolatier
Eclairs
What's a visit to France without macarons? After a long day of doing nothing in particular, our constant wandering had caught up to us and our legs were screaming for a break. We decided to grab some macarons from LAC Chocolatier to enjoy in the comfort of our room as we rested up. The photoshoot that we had with said macarons took way longer than it did to actually eat them all...

For dinner, we settled down at a restaurant on Cours Saleya for some good food, even better wine and some quality people watching. The city seemed to quieten down at night though, with a lot of the shops in Old Town closing once it got dark. After the dinner, I was so full that I turned down dessert for the first time since arriving in the city. For those of you who know me well, that's a pretty big deal!

Old Town Nice
Place Massena
Macarons
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
Day two started off at the same cafe we had frequented the morning before. We felt like we had seen most of Nice on our first day there so planned on taking the train out of Nice to explore more of the Cote d'Azur after breakfast. Our destination of the day was the second smallest country in the world, Monaco. We jumped on a train from Nice Ville, costing us only 3.80 and transporting us to the small country in only 22 minutes. It's crazy how in Europe, a half an hour train ride can take you to a completely different country! A half hour train ride here and I'm still short of reaching the CBD...

Unfortunately, we weren't blessed with weather as good as the weather we experienced on our first day in Nice but it was still warm enough to go without a jacket, something that I took full advantage of. A knee brace doesn't really go with any outfit though so I looked a little ridiculous in anything I wore.

Breakfast



After exiting the train station in a confused state, we stumbled across a friendly stranger who tried to communicate how we could reach the Prince's Palace of Monaco with the use of his limited English skills and many hand gestures. In a slighty-less-confused-but-still-pretty-damn-confused state, we made our way in the general direction that the friendly stranger had pointed us in. Our walk towards the palace rewarded us with gorgeous views over Port de Fontvieille which was filled with expensive looking yachts. At that point, I decided that Monaco's reputation as the wealthiest country in the world is not surprising at all.

We arrived at the palace just in time for the changing of the guards, something that takes place every day at 11am. We both agreed that the changing of the guards here far outshone the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace in London, which we barely witnessed because we were standing so far away. Something that really frustrated me about the Prince's Palace of Monaco though was it's unsymmetrical façade. It brought out some OCD in me and made my blood boil the more I looked at it. Why didn't they make it symmetrical? Why did they design it to be uneven on purpose?

Changing of the guards
Changing of the guards
Changing of the guards
Unsymmetrical Prince's Palace of Monaco
After watching the change of the guards, we had no particular plans in mind and wandered our way across the small country, planning to walk along the coast until we reached Monte Carlo. We began by exploring the many small and narrow streets of Monaco's Old Town which eventually led us to Monaco Cathedral.

I loved walking through these small streets in the beginning. My time in Europe had been filled with so much exploring of small streets but I love the feeling of getting lost in small cobblestoned laneways. Monaco's Old Town streets began to get a little bit repetitive though. The shops and stalls were not very unique, with all of them selling the exact same merchandise and serving the exact same foods. I was honestly a left a little bit disappointed by Old Town Monaco but that is no reflection of my opinion on the rest of the country.



Monaco's Old Town
Monaco Cathedral
Monaco Cathedral

Foggy skies and the Prince's Palace of Monaco

Every single travel website that we had read about Monaco the night before had recommended the Musée Océanographique as one of Monaco's top attractions but we decided to give it a strong pass, only going to the effort of seeing the outside of the building. I am not a museum person, and this occasion was no different.

Our walk along the coast of Monaco then led us to the Jardin de Saint-Martin, where we spent some time wandering around. As we continued to walk around the perimeter of the small country, we continued to see ports filled to the brim with expensive yachts. I feel like the yachts of Monaco are like the sheep of New Zealand. There are more yachts than people! Okay maybe not quite, but it sure did feel like it when I was looking out to the hundreds of yachts that crowded the ports of the country. Monaco is definitely not shy about illustrating that is is in fact the wealthiest country in the world.



Musée Océanographique

Fort Antoine

Yacht city

We decided to give Casino Monte-Carlo a miss, only seeing it from the outside. Entering the casino required you to have your passports, which we had foolishly left behind in our hotel, and a 10 Euro entrance fee. It's probably for the best. Gambling in there would have been a slippery downhill slope and the idea of gambling in Euros also made me incredibly nervous. I think I'll just stick to Melbourne's Crown...

I had never felt poorer than I did when in Monte Carlo. The district was full of designer shops and expensive cars, cars that I had never seen in person until that day. In any other European city, H&M's litter the streets. In Monte Carlo, there was not a store like that in sight. Monte Carlo is definitely the most extravagant city that I have ever visited and I decided that I preferred cities that were more within my class (aka ones where I can actually afford stuff). Monte Carlo was great to visit quickly but the novelty soon wore off and there wasn't actually anything that we could do there besides stare at pretty things that we could not come close to affording.

Casino Monte-Carlo

Designer shopping centre

Half a day was more than enough to see the highlights of the small country, including the infamous Casino Monte-Carlo, the Hotel du Paris and all of the expensive apartments, cars and yachts that frequented the country. The whole of Monaco only took us a few hours to explore so we headed back to Nice early, making a beeline straight for Fennochio Glacier. Fennochio Glacier is a popular ice cream shop in Nice, so popular that one of our other exchange friends had actually told us about it and made us promise her that we would go there. I can't say that it compares to the likes of Venetian gelato but it was pretty good and, I guess, deserving of it's reputation.

We picked up some pastries (of course) before heading back to our room for a break. Walking around the whole country of Monaco completely wiped us out so it was definitely time for a rest. After settling in at our hotel in the afternoon, we got too lazy to leave for dinner so ended up having our pastries as our last meal of the day. We had planned to watch the sunset over the water at least one of the nights that we were in Nice but the combination of sheer laziness, overcast weather and the fact that we had witnessed so many gorgeous sunsets in Santorini made us skip that.

Fenocchio Glacier
Fenocchio Ice Cream


Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Nice and Monaco. I definitely don't regret splitting up from the rest of our travel group and opting to explore this part of Europe instead of another Greek Island and Spain, somewhere that I had already been.

I was honestly not expecting to love Nice as much as I did. Having my French flatmate constantly tell me that Nice was a boring city for retirees and the fact that it is my dad's number one destination on his bucket list made me go in expecting it to be completely and utterly boring. The city was the perfect combination of old-world charm and modern luxury. The "world class beaches" in Nice were a bit of a let down to be honest, but I'm sure the beaches along the rest of the Cote d'Azur were amazing.

Monaco was also a great day trip and a lot of fun. It was nice pretending for a few hours to be richer than I really am but I couldn't imagine spending any more time than we did in Monaco.

Now that I've finally finished blogging about this leg of my travels, I am so excited to start writing posts on places that I visited after my Easter trip! I feels like I've been covering this trip forever! Stay tuned for more travel tales.

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