Nice and Monaco - Day 13 and 14

Nice – Day 13

We have a week planned in Nice, and no real agenda.  All I knew is that (a) there is a beach in Nice, but (b) there is not that much else, but (c) Nice is pretty centrally located if you want to visit other places like Cannes, Monaco, etc.  E.g. center of the French Riviera.

On Day 1 in Nice we decided to head down to the beach.  As with Cinque Terre, the beach in Nice is actually not made of sand – it is made of rocks.  A 3-mile promenade  -- akin to the Boardwalk in Ocean City, but much less commercial -- runs the length of the beach.  About every 100 yards the beach changes from “private” to “public.”  The private parts of the beach are “owned”(or managed, I suppose) by private beach clubs, and for $40 euros, they rent a pair of “matelas” (essentially beds, or mattresses), an umbrella, and offer (for sale) food and drink, etc.  The public parts of the beach open, with no frills.

We arrived late in the day, and went to one of the private clubs since we did not have beach chairs and since the public beach was so crowded.

We shut the club down that evening – they close around 6:30 pm in preparation for dinner and a DJ.  We were tempted to stay for the DJ just to capture the scene, but it wasn’t in the cards as things there don't heat up until after 10:00 pm.

Leaving for the Beach

Nice's beaches are stone, not sand

Kids on the rafts

Tommy needed Chicken Nuggets -- needed to take him into town for his fix

Dad in his fedora - getting it in while in Europe

The club

Tommy and Dad

Dad and Mom - another selfie...

Finally ready to head back to the villa...

Dinner on the veranda

Monaco – Day 14

The next day we set out for Monaco.  Dad had never been here, but Tree had visited on her trip with Patsy and the two other no-name friends after college.

Monaco is a small country nestled in the hills overlooking the French Rivera.  It is best known as a tax haven, as the home to Grace Kelly (the US actress who married the Prince of Monaco and was killed in a car crash) and as the scene of gambling in many James Bond movies.

In front of Prince Albert's Palace

When we arrived in Monaco – about 45 minutes from Villa Dracona – we went straight to the Palace to catch the changing of the guard, which takes place daily at 11:55 a.m.  We were running about 10 minutes behind schedule due to some traffic, but I was hoping that they might be late that day.  Not to be.  We missed the guard, but certainly enjoyed the views from the Palace.

View of Monaco harbor from the castle

Two of the Prince's cars

We had a couple of items on our to do list in Monaco --a visit to the casino, and (for Dad) a visit to look at the yachts that lined the harbor.  Dream Big, I always say.

First stop, the aquarium, which was founded by Albert I -- a well regarded marine explorer in his day (early to mid 1900s) --  and curated by Jacques Cousteau until his death in the 1980s.   The best way to describe Monaco’s aquarium is Sea World meets Southwest Airlines.  E.g. while the features are top notch, the organization is lacking.  There is no flow, and there is no (apparent) metering of the number of people inside, so you end up with massive crowds flowing in every direction – swimming upstream, to borrow a nautical phrase, not to mention downstream and side-stream.  That said, the sheer variety of marine life was impressive.  Sharks, eels, all types of crabs, seahorses…  you name it.  

 

Monaco has the "largest collection of nautical artifacts" in the world, for whatever thats worth....

Given the crowds, we cut our visit to the aquarium short and headed down to the harbor.  On the way, we stopped at the church where Grace Kelly (and all of Monaco’s royalty) is buried.

Jimmy in front of the confessional.  The sign above says "French (left cubicle) -- Italian (right cubicle)."  However, there is only one cubicle (in the middle) for the Priest.  I suppose he just turns 180 degrees and changes languages?  

Grace Kelly's grave.  She died in a car crash at age 52.  Of note, Dodi al Fayed was in Monaco that day...

Church Entrance

 One side note -- throughout this blog you will see photos of the family.  Occasionally, when we wanted to have everyone in the picture, we would ask a random stranger to take a pic.  Why is it that 95% of the photos DONT frame the monument/building/scene that we are trying to capture?  As with the photo above, the cut it off... random venting, but next time we are going to bring our own photographer with us.

Once in the harbor, we admired the yachts and the kids each “rode” one of the amusement park rides that are set up for visitors.  My favorite was the oversized “bubble boy” ride.  The kids were sealed into a 6 foot clear ball, it was pumped full of air, and they played in a shallow pool.  The kids loved it.  All I could think about was how long the oxygen would last in the (sealed) ball.  Tree was wondering about the germs from all the prior kids sneezing in it.

Jimmy brings a level of intensity to competition that you rarely see... Here, he was trying to catch and spin-out the other drivers.

Tommy and Lilly chose the "Bubble Boy" ride

While Jimmy rode on the Bungee Jump

Throughout the French Rivera you will see yachts that blow your mind.  Our first exposure was in Monaco (with more to come in St. Tropez.)  Next time we visit, I want to do it right.  Rent a yacht with 5-6 couples, avoid the traffic, and hit all the big towns.

The interior of this yacht had a speedboat AND a small launch.

Next onto the Casino.  The kids have been to Las Vegas and were interested to see the European version.  Unfortunately, they were blocked at the door.  That said, there was not much to see.  After removing my hat – mandatory under Casino rules – Tree and I did a quick tour of the one-room casino.  Yes, one room, and not a very big room at that.  No tuxes, 2 roulette wheels and maybe 1-2 craps tables.  There were a dozen or so slot machines at the entrance… but that is about it.  All in all, very subdued.  We had taken bets for the kids at the door, and we played one spin of the roulette wheel, losing 10 euros in the process.  Dad tried to take a stealth video but hit the wrong button on his iPhone.  Sorry.

Monaco Casino

We had one final stop, the Hotel du Paris across from the Casino.   It is the finest hotel in Monaco, and it houses Louis XV, a Michelin 3 Star restaurant by Alain Ducasse (one of the worlds most renowned chefs).  Dad was blocked at the door by a tuxedo-clad man speaking French.  I did not know what he was saying – I thought it was my flip flops – so I turned around but told the kids and Tree (who were wearing proper shoes) to go on in.  Apparently I missed the hubbub inside.  The man said to Billy – in English – “You cannot come in here” to which Billy replied (also in English) “Im sorry, I don’t speak English.”  We had rehearsed that jokingly a few days earlier at a museum when we were being yelled at.  The man forcibly pushed the family out, saying “Incroyable!” (Incredible!) under his breath.  However, we had him by the numbers, so before we were forced out Lilly was able to snap a photo of the menu at Ducasse’s restaurant – alas, it was not to be for us.  Maybe next time.

Lilly in Hotel du Paris - in the 15 seconds before we were aggressively escorted out...

Le Menu du Alain Ducasse -- prix fixe at 250 euros, and he does not even work there...

We headed back to Nice to a restaurant that would have us – and that we could afford – and home for bed.