Cote d'Azure

October 18, 2023

We arrived in Nice, and in spite of the rainy forecast, set out for the water front right away. There was a lineup on the overview to take a pic with this sign, so we felt pretty smart doing a selfie on the backside of it.

However, this is what everyone really wanted in their background too. This is the waterfront of Nice, and there is a wonderful promenade along it - set up from the beach - that is about 10 meters wide. In spite of the off season and cloudy weather, throngs of people were enjoying strolling along.

Lots of joggers and a few bikers too! You can see the bike trail on the left of this pic below, which is what we will take to the airport on Friday.

The beach itself is really rocky, not exactly the sandy environs you expect when you say "beach". A few people were enjoying the water, although we did not partake.

The next day we went off to see St Paul de Vence and then dinner in Antibes. St Paul de Vence was really a photo opportunity everywhere you looked. And it seemed like endless art galleries. We did not make any purchases, but the art was really creative and it seemed like we were walking through a museum of modern art. Cute town!

The steps were all angled and were a touch slippery, which gave meaning to this street name - Street of the Broken Head - roughly translated!

Our friends had flown up from Rome to visit with us, and they enjoyed the town as much as we did.

In Antibes we searched for a restaurant, and although we did not go here, we thought it fun to see a Poutine restaurant in France!

The next day we went east towards Monaco. The road is twisty and quite high up the mountainside with great views - much better if it was sunny. It was raining off and on, so a good day to car-tour.

Way below us we can see Cap Ferrat, where many glitterati have a place - I remember Tina Turner for instance had a place there.

Then into Monte Carlo (the main city of Monaco) where the money was evident everywhere. Here you see the casino that James Bond made famous. We saw umpteen Ferraris, a Maybach, an Aston Martin, and ... you get the picture.

But the real money was displayed in the marina. Holy smoke some of the ships were splendid.

After being told we could not enter Cafe de Paris for a drink (desolee, seulement pour dejeuner) very sorry, lunch only...we headed for Villefranche. It was a place that Marjory wanted to visit, and a possible destination this winter for French lessons for Pat. Here we are in a section of the old wall. Villefranche was very quiet, the tourists were gone and so many of the shops were closed up.

On to Cannes for a visit. Cannes seemed much like Nice, although the waterfront had some huge structures (some permanent, some tents) which had been used to make films (maybe?). There were posters everywhere of movies, and signs for BBC Films, Lionsgate Pictures, and so forth. We didn't see any movie stars though. Oh wait, is that one? Not sure, I took the pic below.

Not sure about the building painting below, but incredibly detailed scenes.

Then it was back to Nice, get packed up for the next day trip to the airport hotel. The forecast has intense rain and storm warnings most of the day, so we are not sure if we will ride or try to find a truck to get our bikes and panniers there.

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