After some much needed rest, we awoke ready to tackle the cities of the Riviera. We started our day with a train ride to neighboring Antibes. We spent over an hour gawking at all the outrageously large yachts, some with helicopters on board, docked in Antibes’s harbor.
Then, we strolled through the narrow streets of town to the Picasso Museum. Which, of course was closed for the day. Why not? This closure gave us a little more free time in Antibes than we were expecting, so we were able to make a stop at a nearby church before enjoying a picnic lunch on the beach.
After lunch, we jumped back on the train to Nice. The rail line between cities in this area is mostly in tunnels underground. This doesn’t make for the most scenic rides between towns. For this reason, we decided to take a bus to our next stop, Monte Carlo. The bus wound it’s way through several small sea-side towns before depositing us just outside the massive underground complex that houses Monte Carlo’s train station.
The country of Monaco is squeezed into the steep hillside between the train tracks and the harbor. Row after row of high-rise condos and hotels fill the 0.75 square miles within the country’s borders.
We walked down the hill, toward the harbor and the famous casino, gawking like tourists once again. The architecture of the buildings was opulent, a bit flashy, and overwhelmingly sophisticated.
Despite my protests, Chris talked me into venturing into the world-famous casino. I was somewhat opposed to paying an entrance fee for the chance to lose more money, but as usual, he was right. I have no desire to gamble, so Chris played a few rounds of roulette. Before long we were down to just one 5 euro chip – our souvenir for the outing.
Next, we followed the Formula One course away from the casino and down along the harbor. We gawked at many, many even more over-the-top yachts; then, we hiked up the other side of the harbor to the Prince’s Palace.
The neighborhood around the palace is the oldest in Monaco. The homes and buildings in these area are set apart from the hustle and bustle of the high-roller crowd below and are most certainly fit for royalty. On our walk back down the hill, we passed the Cathedral of Monaco and the Cousteau Aquarium.
As is usually the case when we’re tired and hungry, we got a bit lost on the way back down. After passing through what was certainly not a tourist neighborhood, we eventually found our way back down to the harbor and over to the train station. We finished out our night with a giant pizza at a local restaurant in Nice.
The next morning, we hopped on the bus and headed for the Chagall Museum. We were first introduced to Chagall by Dan the Art Man on our Mediterranean Cruise. It was fun for us to actually recognize some of the paintings in the museum. I also really enjoyed the beautiful mosaic and stained glass pieces that had been incorporated into the building itself.
We hopped on the bus again, and headed for our next stop, the Nice Castle. The city of Nice was first settled on this easy-to protect hill, before it spilled down onto the flat land to the east and west. The views of the surrounding area were spectacular and worth the trip even if the castle itself wasn’t much to look at.
With our must-see items checked off the list, we stopped for a picnic lunch and enjoyed a relaxing sit on the beach. Then, we rented a pair of bicycles and biked along the coastline to the airport and back, stopping along the way to play a game of bocce ball with a few kind-hearted locals. They smoked us, but it was still a lot of fun.
We had plenty of daylight left, so we ventured into the heart of Nice to the Russian Cathedral. The cathedral was built by wealthy Russian families who wintered in Nice during the early 1900’s. The exterior of the cathedral was an explosion of color compared to the surrounding French architecture. These Russians took the task of bringing a bit of their homeland to the Riviera seriously.
Our final stop of the day was a leisurely wander through the winding street markets in Nice’s Old Town, including supper at a fun little hole-in-the wall restaurant.
Bright, and apparently not early enough, the next morning we crammed ourselves onto the train with the crush of morning rush hour and headed to our final stop of the trip, Milan.
There is a whole new album of pictures for this trip up in the pictures tab, so be sure to check them out.
