Nice, and more!

After setting up our little Chinese laundry in the bathroom and polishing off a bottle of our Fixin wine it is about 8 pm and we are feeling a bit peckish so head to the rooftop restaurant. It’s a bit cool to sit out on the deck so instead have a table by the full glass windows so that we can see directly out onto the ocean. J has foie gras while I have the most delicious spelt risotto. So good! Naturally the bread is magnifique. I think it may have been pumpkin seeds in it but not 100% sure. Was fabulous whatever it was. Our wine was excellent and as we are in France and are both enjoying belated birthdays, we treat ourselves to dessert. J has layered banana, chocolate and more concoction while I have a verinne exotique. No idea what to expect except that it was scrumptious!Excellent night... back to our room and time for bed.
9 am start this morning after breakfast in the hotel petit dejeuner room. Couldn’t believe that there wasn’t a toaster so couldn’t have my Vegemite, however this meant that I had the quiche Lorraine instead and it was to die for! Know what I will be heading straight for in the morning.
21 forecast for today so lovely weather yet again. As we have seat rotation in the coach, it is our turn to sit up front which would normally be a good thing, but the windows are heavily tinted so photography from the coach was a problem. You will have to take my word for it that there was great coastline and beautiful Mediterranean views. As we left our hotel and headed for Monaco, the grey pebble beach was not busy but the walking promenade was. Apparently the blue seats situated along the pavement are quite famous and very ‘Nice’.

Getting closer to Monaco, we can look back and see Nice.

Our first stop though is at a perfume factory Fragonard which has been operating since 1926. We were shown through the place and then given the hard sell on all their different perfumes and wares, but I kept hearing Princess Shiny Bright’s voice in my head saying”but do they test it all on animals?” And as I didn’t want to create an international incident, I quietly walked away. However there was a great photo opp of Eze from their location, so all was not lost. We will be walking to the top of that hill later today!

No shortage of super duper fast and Uber expensive cars to be seen. Lots of Ferraris, a Mclaren, Porsche and the like with brand new Range Rovers thrown in the mix. I think that there must be some truth in the story that men who buy these sorts of cars have small .....

Once in Monaco we go through the cathedral where both Grace and Rainier Grimaldi are entombed, along with all the Grimaldi’s that have gone before them. Great views of the city, especially from the Royal palace. when I as here last time, I remember seeing a changing of the guard, but clearly it wasn’t the right time for it today.

We have lunch at Le Pinocchio which was a cute little outdoor restaurant and then wander back to meet the rest of our group, going via the gardens where I met a new friend. The gardens were really well set out and I wouldn’t have minded some more time wandering around them.

Back on the coach, Laura treats us all to a royal chocolate, the sort deemed honoured by the Grimaldis. We even get to drive along part of the Grand Prix track that is being made ready for this year’s race. Laura has racing car engine noises playing through the speaker system as we drive along!

After leaving Monaco, there is an optional tour of Eze that we want to do, so as we get back to Eze those of us doing the walking tour get off and the rest of our group go back to the hotel. Laura leads us up the narrow winding cobbled alleys through Eze village which is described as a medieval gem fill with old stone archways, flower decked houses, shady squares and it’s own old church. All I know is that I am seriously unfit! The little church is quite lovely inside. I can only wonder at how all the buildings were actually built here on the side of a cliff, and then how they have been maintained for today.

We then go even higher to the hill top Botanical gardens which is full of cacti, sculptures and other drought tolerant plants. The views from the top, once I got my breath back, were fantastic.

I did a bit of artsy fartsy shopping on the way back downhill in one of the local artisan stores. no idea whether the pieces will get home in one piece so maybe I should have taken photographs before the lass packed them up for me! anyway, time to get back on the coach and head for our hotel. traffic is now really heavy and therefore slow. The people traffic on both the walkway and the pebble beach in Nice is now very busy too. Can’t imagine why anyone would choose to lay or sit on big pebbles near the beach, when they clearly have no intention of getting wet!

Anyhow we finally get back to our hotel and are keen to get into happy hour. There is an optional tour to Cannes this evening but as J and I have both been there before and we’re underwhelmed by it, we have elected to stay in tonight and are going to get in our jammies a bit later on and order room service for dinner. How decadent!!! Has been a really good day. Am looking forward to tomorrow too.