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Anyway. To start off...I kinda screwed up with our seats. Okay, I big time screwed up with our seats. In our original plan, our friend Sharity was coming on the trip as well. So when I booked our seats on the bus I picked the back row so we could all three sit together. Sharity ended up not able to go and I didn't remember to change our bus seats. As we got to base I was hopeful that maybe Kika and I would be the only two in the back of the bus (seating 5) and we would get to stretch out for the overnight trip. As we walked down the aisle to our seats I was sad to see two other guys sitting in the back seat as well...there were 4 of us. And not only were there four of us back there...the seats had literally a third less room then the regular seats. Kika, 5 foot 1ish Kika, had her knees touching the seat in front of us. It was about to be a LONG overnight trip on the bus.
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Aside from sleeping (or rather attempting to sleep) like sardines on the way there we arrived in a little town called Eza. This was a gorgeous, quaint little village in the side of the mountain overlooking the Mediterranean. We took a (practically) one way, hair pin turning, road in our HUGE Greyhound bus down to a famous perfume factory, Fragonard's. We got a tour of the factory and of course the opportunity to shop as well. Did you know it takes 2 tons of rose petals to make 1 kilo (approx 2 pounds) of pure rose essential oil. Rose is the most expensive scent because of the large amount of petals required to produce the pure oil. Anyway, it was a very neat and quite informative little tour.
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| Fragonard's Perfume Factory |
After the tour we took a quick climb up the hill to see a few of the views from the little town.
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.After our quick climb we loaded back on the bus and headed took a quick drive over to Cannes. We arrived in Cannes with about 5 hours to roam and explore the little town. We wandered for a little while finally making it to an Information center to ask where the famous red carpet was located for the Cannes film festival, only to find out it was on the other side of that same building. We excitedly walked to the other side only to be greatly disappointed with the red carpet and the building. It was so unattractive and the building looked like it was straight out of 1970 with quite ugly architecture. So we quickly moved on from that attraction.
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| This was a mural painted on the side of one of the buildings. It included characters from many major movies...so cool! |
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| We were trying to have someone take a picture and capture the gorgeous scenery behind us...but clearly he missed the point. But the pic turned out cute anyway! |
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| So we found a piece of real estate we thought we might be able to afford on the Riviera with views of the water. It was for sale. We had big plans for it beginning with putting up some clean sheets/blankets...there was so much potential! |
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| Spent a little time sitting in the sand on the beach. |
It just so happens that there was a Yacht regatta going on in Cannes that weekend. So along with all the local yachts that are parked in the harbor, there were the visitors for the regatta as well. We walked through and picked out a few yachts we could see ourselves in for the future. Don't worry Taylor and Greg, we took pictures so you'll know what we like!
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| Don't I just have the best husband EVER...he had a yacht waiting for me in Cannes. He's so good with surprises! |
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| Standing in the harbor admiring our options... |
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| But being the reasonable, level headed wives that we are; Kika and I decided our best bet would be this beauty. It's kinda like buying the smallest house in a big house neighborhood...the value increases by association ;) |
We found a little cafe to eat lunch...a totally French lunch. Crepe avec jambon et fromage...aaand french fries. Hmm...not sure how authentic the pommes de frites (or something like that) were...but whatever. And to top it all off there was some guy walking up and down the street playing music on an accordian!! I mean seriously, we thought we might be on a movie set!
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| Stopping along the way to eat an eclaire at a cute looking bakery. I'm serious when I say we ate our way through France! |
Our next stop was Nice, France. We got there around 5pm. After over 24 hours without a shower, that was the first thing on our list to do. We cleaned up for dinner. I had to put my same outfit back on because I was determined to pack light...so I brought zero options. You'd think on my 5th weekend trip in a row I could have it down...guess it's gonna take a few more to get it perfect ;)!!!
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| The coast line in Nice lit up at night. |
We went to dinner in a popular little place recommended by our hotel. It was literally a whole street with tables down the middle and people out trying to sell you their restaurant. I sorta felt like I was in a Jamaican market...but it was a perfect place to find a restaurant. We had a delicious dinner...that lasted from 8pm until 1130 by the time we got all three courses. But I had BY FAR, the most delicious creme brulee I have ever had...yummmm. We were in heaven!!
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We had to meet on the bus at 9am the next morning to drive to Monaco. We were disappointed we didn't have much time in Nice, so when Kika and I woke up early the next morning, we decided to take a walk down to the beach and explore a bit more of the city before we had to meet at 9am. We fell in love with the city and it was just gorgeous. There was a Sunday morning market with produce that looked like it was fake it was so beautiful and perfect. We bought croissants and pastries for breakfast and browsed the town. As we headed back to the hotel we noticed we were getting close to our meeting time so we literally began running back to the hotel. We got back there right at 9am to find our guide at the front desk calling our room and asking us where we were. She said, "go, hurry, get your stuff!!" So we went to the elevator and she said, "NO, take the stairs!!" So we literally run to the stairs, a little confused about why we were in such a hurry because we were right on time. At our room we ran into another guy from our tour knocking on our door looking for us. So we ran in and grabbed our bags (which we had already packed in the morning) and ran downstairs. We got on the bus to find everyone sitting there waiting for us. Yep, we were those girls. As we were walking to our seats Kika said, "sorry everyone...". Silence...no one responded. Nice.
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I asked someone what time we were supposed to meet and we found out the bus was supposed to be departing at 9am...as we pulled away from the hotel with the guide giving us a lecture over the speakers about the importance of punctuality I checked my watch and it was 9:04...literally. COME ON people! But they were the ones who missed out...we had a gorgeous walk and are making plans to visit Nice again. Loved it!! Check out the pictures and tell me we weren't the smart ones!!
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| At the market with the gorgeous produce. Where we also found fresh croissants and pastries... |
Next we were off to Monaco...the country of the rich and famous. You have to have 1 million in the bank before you can even be considered to buy property. The area was gorgeous, as you can imagine. Yachts galore and beautiful homes and scenery. We watched the changing of the guard at the Monaco palace and then headed over to the famous Monte Carlo Casino. Bentleys, Ferrari, Range Rovers, Rolls Royce...you name it, they were driving by or parked in front of the casino. It was quite impressive. We paid 10 euros to go inside the casino and try our luck. I made it out up 20 euros...not too bad. There was even a Rolex clock...probably at least 2 feet wide, pure gold, mounted on the wall in the entrance...crazy money!!
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| No big deal, just a yacht parking lot in front of our home... |
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While doing a tour of Monaco the guide gave us an interesting tid bit of info. As you may know, Monaco is technically it's own country. It is the second smallest in the world behind Vatican City in Rome. The country was ruled by a family (who I can't remember the name) and in 1295 a man named Francois Grimaldi dressed as a monk and asked the guards for a place to stay the night amid his travels. As was common in that day the guards welcomed the "religious man" into the palace grounds to allow him to stay the night. As soon as they welcomed him in the gates Grimaldi drew a sword he had hidden under his robes and surprised the guards and quickly overtook them. He had an army waiting close by to storm the Palace and take over. From that day forward the Grimaldi family has ruled the country of Monaco. There have been many princes and princesses, but has never been, and will never be a King. This is because one of the ruling family declared himself Prince of Monaco, but since there is no royal blood in the family line, they will never be able to be a King or Queen. Okay, had enough of your history lesson? Here is a picture of the Crest of Monaco, which includes the monks armed with swords representing this bit of local history.
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Pictures from the area of Monte Carlo Casino...
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| Standing on the steps of the Casino looking out. We got to park our Bentley and our Ferrari out there for easy access. We get special service since we spend the big bucks at Monte Carlo. |
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| In front of the Casino. |
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And this picture is totally unrelated, but I saw this at a shop in Monaco (I think) and had to stop to snap the picture. It's for all my family who I know will appreciate it.
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| "Who don't know that?!?!?" |
Au revoir, mon ami!!!
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