From Italy to France...

 Now where was I?  Life just got in the way...oh yes, on the train, heading towards Nice & a connection to make on the way....oh dear, I had read the timetable correctly, we were, indeed, going to miss our connection.  Not a lot to do, but sit tight & wait.  On arrival at our station, we tried to approach several rail officials but they really didn't want to know about our plight (I know my Italian is not up to scratch but one look at the tickets explained all.)  So, leaving Mr Fox in charge of the bags (his knees were not up to running up & down stairs), I found the information office where I must admit they were most helpful, altho' totally mystified as to how the booking had been made in the first place..(remember the young lady providing distraction for the Venetian travel agent?) They were very helpful in getting us on another train...with ANOTHER connection which we had to make in just 2 minutes...remember we had luggage, too...another little stress, but we made it!!!  Many people we have since spoken to about Italian rail also have stories to tell, ranging from being put off in the middle of nowhere to luggage being stolen....so our little 'blip' was really nothing in the scheme of things.  I wonder if you have an Italian rail experience to share...good or bad.

Hotel Riviera...delightful

Breakfast area

We had booked to go thru' to Nice & then find our way back to the village we were staying in, Beaulieu sur Mer, which had been recommended to us by a lovely couple of guys whom we had approached earlier re a home exchange.  They couldn't help us at the time, but were a fount of information.  As we sat on the train, still recovering from our 2 minute connection, we noticed that the next station was actually Beaulieu sur Mer (our original train would not have stopped there) so we took advantage of that & disembarked there & then, saving a backtrack from Nice.  We were pretty tired & stressed after our day so just hailed a taxi...silly us...our accommodation was just around the corner....was sooo good not to have to lug the suitcases tho'...we were over it!                                

Hotel Riviera was a delight...... small, cosy, sparkling clean & very friendly owners. Right in town & not far from the beach.  No cooking facilites but a French breakfast (petit dejeuner) was served every morning.  3 stars more than deserved. We had 3 days to relax  (not have to be up at the crack of dawn) before continuing on to Paris.  Beaulieu sur Mer was 2 train stops from Nice in one direction & 2 from Monaco in the other direction...perfect!

Nice is a large city with lots happening....very buzzy & of course, the beach & the water is one of the main focuses.  Not like our beach at all, which is a neverending expanse of golden sand, but large pebbles just everywhere.  Sort of explained why there were so many sun lounges for hire...those stones would be a little unforgiving on the body...& not conducive to relaxation!

And those not...

For those on a budget...

Lots of shops & restaurants & the usual touristy things you'd expect from a seaside town, but we liked it.  We planned to come back again another time & explore other areas, such as Grasse, renowned for it's perfume production.

We had to set aside a full day to explore Monaco...just checking out the boat harbour was pretty time consuming...so many & so upmarket.  The boats didn't just have cars on them, some even had helicopters!!  Just so much wealth in Europe...it is mind boggling.  One yacht, we were told, was part of a divorce settlement for a Lebanese princess...true?  We'll never know, but makes a good story.  many of the yachts/boats had full time staff...now that wouldn't be a bad job, would it?

Monaco, as you would expect, was very expensive, but well worth a look...after all, you don't get chances like that every day.  Very clean & neat, friendly people & money, money, money.  We didn't venture into the casino, but am sure there would have been more evidence of it there.  The Monaco Grand Prix had finished just the day before & they were busy dismantling all the stands.

  Another 'must see' is the Changing of the Guard at the royal palace....not sure if they were in residence but lots of pomp & ceremony & camera clicking...



 
& of course, the best way to see what Monaco has to offer....the Train Touristique, of course.  These are really fun & a lot of smaller towns have them.

Remember I mentioned 2 guys who gave us a lot of information on the area, (home exchangers).....well, they contacted us & invited us to their home for dinner...how nice...they had only 'spoken' to us by email. They had a beautiful apartment high on the hill above Monaco...on the road where Grace Kelly died...the photo from the apartment shows 3 countries, Italy, Monaco & France.  The liner 'The World' was in port at the time.

By Day

And by night

A great 3 day break on the French Riviera....we promised ourselves we would return for a better look around....we didn't get anywhere near St Tropez or Cannes....next time....now, it's on the train again & Paris, here we come!