I'm finally getting around to writing about my weekend in the south of France and Monaco!
So the trip started out very early on Saturday morning, hiking to the train station while it was still dark out- not fun. We got on our train, and tried not to fall asleep since we knew we had a stopover in Paris. We made it through Paris to the main train to Nice, and then we got to sleep for a little bit.
When I woke up, we were already pretty far south and the first thing I noticed, among all the palm trees, were the colors of the houses. Most were some shade of butter yellow or pale orange, and then the shutters were bright pastel blues and greens and purples- I loved the colors. I felt really inspired. And then we started to catch glimpses of the coastline, which was the deepest blue I'd ever seen- gorgeous!
We got to Nice, and we were already in love. There was a really relaxed air about it, that made Nice feel like the equivalent of Florida, but a little more sophisticated. We got to our hostel (which was not quite as clean as we'd want it to be, but we survived) then walked all the way down to the coastline to see the Mediterranean Sea.
Then it was time for dinner. There is a ton of Italian influence around Nice, probably since it's so close to the border with Italy, and one way we could really see it was in the food. And the prevalence of pizza stands- they were everywhere. After dinner, we got some gelato and walked around some more before heading back.
On Sunday, we headed out to Monaco. I'm just impressed that for 1.50 euros and a 20 minute train ride I could make it to a whole other country (even if it is just to the second smallest country in the world). Once we got there, we made a beeline for the Monte-Carlo Casino. It was a really gorgeous building with a garden in front. The main casino didn't open till later, and considering we didn't come with full gowns we probably wouldn't have been able to get in anyway. We ended up going to the casino on the side, and we played slots just so we could say we gambled at the Monte-Carlo. I did not win... I lost 4 euros.
After that, we tried to find lunch which took a little while but we finally found a snack stand near the marina. After lunch, we took the tramway up to see the palace. We actually timed it perfectly, because just as we made it to the top of the steps we saw the changing of the guard was about to happen so it was cool to see that. We walked around the little side streets looking in the shops, and finally getting some hot chocolate.
Then, we got back on the tramway and went to see the exotic gardens, though we didn't go in. We recognized the fact we were pretty ignorant about different types of plants and wouldn't really appreciate it, so we just saw it from the outside but it looked cool!
As it was getting later in the afternoon, we hopped back on the train back to Nice and got some more dinner and gelato. Then we went on this giant Ferris wheel we had been eying since we got there. The view from the top was amazing, it gave such a great perspective of the city square. We headed back a little after that.
The next morning, we got up early and packed our things to head to Marseilles. But first we stopped in Cannes to see where they host the international film festival every where. If Nice was the equivalent of Florida, than Cannes would be California. Lots of shops, especially the big names like Louis Vuitton, and high end restaurants. We made our way to the area where they usually host the festival, and we saw the sidewalk with all the stars handprints. All along they also had those cut-outs that you could put your head through and take pictures pretending you're Spiderman and Jack Sparrow... we definitely had fun with that.
Then it was time to go to Marseilles, and after a few struggles we made it there and to our hostel. We weren't overly impressed with Marseilles at first, because it's pretty dirty- there's a lot of garbage everywhere. The people there were also very different than in other parts of France, there seemed to be a pretty big immigrant population. When we found our way to the Vieux Port, though, we relaxed a little bit. It was a giant seaport with gorgeous ships and tons of cute stores lining the port. We grabbed dinner at this chain called Hippopotamus we've discovered we really like, and then we did some shopping. After spending a sufficient amount on souvenirs, we decided we should go to bed so we did.
We got up early the next morning so we could catch a 9am boat to Chateau D'If. It was about a 20 minute ride, and it gave us some great views of the city. The Chateau was cool, we looked at all the prison cells including the one where the Man in the Iron Mask was kept (except not really). There were a ton of homages to Alexandre Dumas, and after seeing the backdrop of this island I really want to read the Count of Monte Cristo- so that'll be on my list when I head home. We toured the whole place and even when on a search for these lizards which were native to the island but didn't find any. We had some time to kill so we went to the top spire and laid out to tan (we still had pants and jackets on though so really it was just to tan our faces). It worked though- I had a little sunburn the next day.
We got back to Marseilles and got some fruit smoothies since they seemed to be pretty big around there and then we were just craving them. After some walking around the port we got some lunch. Then we went to see the Jardin des Vestiges, which had all these Greek ruins they had found. We also went into the Marseilles Museum which was next door and which housed the best preserved wreckage of a 6th century boat or something like that. It was pretty neat, and surprisingly large.
Then it was time to head back. We got on the train and traveled back for almost 6 hours, towards the end of which I felt like I was going certifiably insane. All in all a really great trip, but after that fantastic weather it was a little bittersweet to have to go back to Rouen haha
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