So we arrived in the French Riviera just over a day ago where the sun was shining gloriously. We had a swim, some dinner and got drunk on the champers we bought from our first jaunt through France. Hmmm I guess that's actually a whole other story...
A WHOLE OTHER STORY
Right, so we left a soggy Levanto behind, with the sun slowly poking over the hills. The drive along the Italian coast to the French border was gorgeous, each glimpse we got of the coast below us showed us another town we could easily have stopped off in. Eventually we crossed the French border and and shortly afterwards found ourselves coasting along through the French Riviera or the Cote de A'zure. We find our campground complete with very helpful staff. After spending some time doing a small Chinese laundry load of washing and nurturing Betty for a bit (she's an old duck so she needs a little tinker every now and then) we head to the pool for a dip. Then to relax further we open some beers and have a barbie, complete with a banana split on the hot coals at the end. Bliss. We settle in for some movies on the laptop and after the beers and the last of our delicious Italian wine is gone, we decide it would be a good idea to crack open the champers we got from the Champagne region of France. Its been three months since we started our journey in France. So we sip champagne and watch Pork Pie.
The following day we sleep half the day away, sleeping off the effects of the night before. Luckily the day outside isn't up to much, being a bit drizzly. Eventually we step outside late in the afternoon and bike down to the supermarket to get some supplies for a fix of nachos for the hangovers. Ryan spills off his bike so we have to bike home carrying an injury; it's not life threatening though.
BACK TO MONACO
Right, so after arriving on the French Riviera a few days ago, we catch the train to Monaco and see the glitz and the glamour. There seems to be more plain clothes police talking not-so-secretively into their radios, than there is tourists. The streets are tidy, the parks manicured. It seems we've turned up while the Monaco Classic Week is on, so the residents are dressed up in period costume, driving classic cars and boats about. We see the casino and the port filled with its unbelievably extravagant super yachts. Then we head down into town to find the F1 track where one of us gets a little bit excited about the starting line and the ripple strips. It didn't really get me going.
We walk up to the palace and laugh at the massive crowd gathering for the changing of the guard, we've had enough of palaces and changing of guards. We take in the great views from up at the castle before heading around the point past the cathedral to the aquarium, said to be one of the best. Twenty years ago a piece of Red Sea coral reef was bought to the aquarium and has thrived so we see all sorts of amazing fish all the colours of the rainbow and coral species. We see a giant (well it seemed big!) tortoise and heaps of clown fish, including the cutest two month old baby clown fish. We see sharks and stingrays and jellyfish which are creepy little suckers.
We head back outside and down to the Monaco yacht club to mix it with the rich and famous (though didn't actually see anyone famous). Then we head off for a walk around town and around the coast a little, before calling it a day. On the way to the train station we stop by a real estate office to see how much cash one has to part with to own estate in Monaco; a six figure sum will start you off.
Back in the village near our camp we stop at the bakery and pick up some French macaroons for our desert; mmm the chocolate and raspberry flavours were delicious. The other half like the coffee flavour.
NICE IS NICE
The next morning we catch the bus along the coast to Nice and jump off when we reach the beach. We promenade for a bit, weaving our way through joggers, cyclists, roller bladers, kids on scooters and kids in strollers. We are spoilt for choice as to where to put down our towels, the beach stretches for miles, but eventually we lay down our towels and go for dip. We snooze on the beach under the warm sun. Eventually later in the afternoon we drag ourselves off the beach before heading along to the point to climb the hill and take in the town of Nice.
We stroll back along the promenade before catching the bus back to camp, not having indulged in any sightseeing for once!
JUAN LES PINS - BEACHES AND BON APPETITE
The following day we bike down the coast intending to have a poke around the village of Antibes, but before we now it we've come to the next town over again, Juan les Pins, with its old fortress on a point above the sea. We head off the coastal road onto a track that takes us into the marina which is full of yachts that would rival those moored in Monaco. We carry on and reach the down, ditch the bikes and go for a walk. It doesn't take long for us to stumble onto a gorgeous sandy beach in a small bay right outside the town walls. So we put down our towels for the day.
Later in the afternoon we bike back to camp to change out of our cosies. We bike back to Juan and find us a cosy wee restaurant for dinner. They're just opening and the chef hasn't turned up yet, so we head to the bar next door for a drink in the late evening sun. Drink drunk we head into the restaurant which is run by a Brit; we sure have struck a lot of them down here in this sunny part of the world.
We order our entrees, mains and a bottle of Provence red. Our meals are sublime and the service is great. Ryan's entree was a delicious dish of mussels done in a lot of garlic and herbs, with fresh hot bread to scoop out all the sauce, while mine is a goats cheese salad with gooey melted cheese and the tastiest vinaigrette. Our mains were monkfish on a tomato salsa with seasonal vege and a lamb kekab cooked decidedly on the rare side the way the French do. Only in France could I eat complimentary starters, an entree and main and still have room for desert, the food is quality, not quantity. For desert I have a trio of creme brulee, but one is coffee so Ryan delights in that instead. Ryan has a coffee cheesecake with a small but heavenly coffee parfait. I take one for the team and polish off the red wine as Ryan's driving tomorrow.
More than satisfied we roll out the door and wobble home on our bikes, ending our time on the Cote de A'zure.
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