Day Trip to Monaco

Although last night's forecast predicted rain all day, we woke up to a beautiful (although slightly overcast) morning. The Mediterranean region is experiencing unseasonably cool weather this May - unseasonable meaning low 60's in the morning and highs around 70, but it's perfect weather for walking long distances and hiking around to explore new cities!

After a delicious breakfast of a caramel and salted butter crepe and cafe au lait (me) and a ham-and-cheese crepe and cafe au lait (Roberto), we took the little rented Reynault Megane out for another adventure... to Monaco! We have driven this car all the way across southern France on only a half-tank! Granted, it's a diesel, but it is still impressively economical.

Monaco is only 17 kilometers from Nice, and we drove through some achingly beautiful cliffside villages along the way. Think terra cotta-roofed villas hugging the mountainsides, plunging down to peaceful, bobbing yacht-filled aquamarine bays below. It was gorgeous and we stopped for plenty of photo ops along the way.

As we cruised into Monaco (following dozens of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis, etc... or rather getting blown away by them... the Megane may be economical but it sure isn't fast) we began to notice lots of signs for their annual Formula One Grand Prix. I had not thought the glitzy race happened until late May, but no, it's going on right now! Luckily we got there around 10 AM and beat the crowd, so there was actually parking in some of the garages.

The Formula One race is almost as star-studded as the Cannes Film Festival, and since the two events coincided this year I'm sure there was cross-attendance. Anyway, it was pretty exciting to follow the whine of the cars down to the center of Monaco (the whine became a ROAR when we got up next to the casino, where they were racing around a specially-constructed track). We couldn't get into the race itself without paying beaucoup bucks, which we chose not to do. We got quick glimpses of the cars whizzing past any section of the chain-link fence that wasn't covered with metal (to keep the peasants from viewing the race without paying dearly for it), and that was enough for us. It was really exhilarating!

I wish we could have seen the Monte Carlo Casino, but it was blocked off for the race. That was all right, because we could still walk up to the beautiful Palais du Prince, where the royal Grimaldi family reigns. There was another viewing area where we could have seen the Grand Prix from up on the cliff adjacent to the palace, but that too was blocked off. The gorgeous view on the other side of the cliff was open, though, and here we had learned to show people how to use our camera before we asked them to take our picture!

Walking around atop the cliff was pretty fantastic... we saw the Cathedrale-du-Monaco, the 1875 Romanesque-Byzantine church where Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier III were married, and the pastel-colored governmental buildings and embassies. There were probably some other private residences mixed in too. The whole clifftop is surrounded by manicured gardens, filled with exotic blooms, fragrant hedges, and pristine sculptures.

All in all, we dedicated about a half-day to Monaco between driving and strolling. Totally worth it... it was beautiful and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Then it was back to Nice, which I have really decided has been my favorite place we've stayed. I like that there is so much to do here and that this is such a great jumping-off point to other surrounding cities on the Cote d'Azur. We dropped off the Megane since we won't be able to take it across the border to Italy tomorrow, enjoyed a late lunch at Pasta Basta and then walked around Vieux Nice some more. We stumbled upon the Saturday evening service at the baroque Cathedrale Ste-Reparate, which we sat in on for a little bit, picked up some delicious little biscuits and a cinnamon caramel square at a little candy shop called La Cure Gormande, and had a drink at Bar Mori on rue Massena. My drink was called the "Monaco"... beer mixed with lemonade and grenadine... pretty fitting!

For dinner, we enjoyed escargots, chopped veal kidneys in mustard sauce (me) and sea bass (Roberto) at Franchin restaurant. The restaurant was perfectly situated right across the street from our hotel, and everything was absolutely delicious.

Tomorrow we're off to Italy! Our train leaves around 8:30 AM and we'll pick up another rental car in Genova. Then we'll drive through Tuscany to stay in Florence for three nights... week 2 of our honeymoon is officially here!