Its late Saturday night and we have just staggered out of a local French restaurant. It was recommended to us last night and we just had to go back again tonight. Three courses for 15E and magnificent food and wine. You should try using one of these weird European keyboards after a couple of wines.
Yesterday we had a teary farewell with Peter and Gloria at Rome airport, where they left for a couple of days in Singapore, then home to Australia and we left for Nice. We arrived here to find our hotel and then had a walk around the streets and landmarks of Nice, it was a bit wet, but not cold. We found a local museum and some wonderful market type stalls.
Today we took the train to Monaco and much to Gerards delight we travelled around sections of the Grand Prix circuit in the tourist train. It really is a beautiful place and the playground of the rich and famous. The yachts in the marina were absolutely huge. They were setting up for the Monaco Yacht Show,so you can imagine what that was like. For lunch we went to the supermarket and bought bagettes, pancetta, cheese and penne pesto salad and of course french pastries and ate them down by the water side. Yum!
Now, when you are in France you must visit a perfumery, so on the way back to Nice we stopped off in Eze Village to go to the perfumery. The perfumery is in the centre of the vllage which happens to be one hour and a half walk straight up the hill or you can catch a bus and it takes 40mins. Of course the bus only runs once an hour, but we only had to wait 30 mins in the heat. Travelling up a steep mountain in a bus is interesting in itself without following a truck with the worst driver in the world who could not get it round a corner in one go. But we made it to the village centre in one piece and found the perfumery, I was really hoping it was worth the trip after all the effort we went through to get there.
Of course we bought perfume and then waited forty minutes for the last bus back down the mountain. The village was not unlike a town in the Dandenongs but much higher up. The houses were amazing. We all decided we had had a good day and set off back to Nice and the little restaurant for dinner.
I must mention how good the Europeans are at saving space. Our shower is a maximum 2 feet square with one foot between it and the basin and the sliding door is in three sections like ours at home so you have about an 18 inch doorway to get in and out. Now, if you drop the soap it can be tricky, because you either knock the taps or you have to turn sideways and try to bend over from there, a very tricky procedure, but it does make you appreciate the space at home.
Nice and Monaco are both built on cliffs that rise from the sea so the strategy of building homes is an engineering feat and it would definitely help to be a mountain goat with two legs shorter than the others.
Tomorrow we have a six hour train trip to La Spezia on the Italian Riviera where we have booked a guided walking tour of the area. Apparently it is beautiful and a must see, so we are looking forward to it.
Au revoir!
