Nice, France - 2024
Mandy decided to retire in 2024, so I thought it might be nice to go somewhere warmish, that we hadn't been before as a celebratory short break.
For a long time I had liked the idea of visiting Monaco, partly to walk the GP circuit through the streets and partly to see the Oceanagraphic Museum part founded by Jacques Cousteau.
My boss had visited Nice earlier in the year and enjoyed it, so I suggested to Mandy that we do the same and visit Monaco for a day during the trip.
Day One : Friday, Nice
So it was that we set off to Nice in late November.
We flew from Gatwick and arrived at our hotel in Nice at around midday, local time.
Approach to Nice
The staff at the hotel were great throughout our stay and we were pleased to find out our room was already available, so we dropped our suitcase and headed for the Promenade Des Anglais, the path leading along the sea front in Nice.
We picked up an excellent filled Baguette each on the way (we returned to the same Boulangerie many times after for more of those and breakfast croissants and Pain Des Fruits) and sat on the, surprisingly stoney, beach and ate them.
The beach at Nice
While it was quite sunny, it wasn't particularly warm, but it was warm enough to walk in just a fleece and we headed along the Promenade to the Tour Bellanda and the Parc de la Colline du Chateau above it, via a steep set of steps.
Tour Bellanada
From there we were afforded a great view of the Baie des Anges (Bay of Angels) and the city of Nice, including the old town below us.
Mandy admires the Baie des Anges
Heading across the Parc, we found a view of the Port as well.
View over the port and east side of Nice
Descent into the old town
A church in the old town
After a short rest and unpacking our suitcase, we headed along the road to a more major road, where we hoped to find some restaurants.
On the corner of Rue Rossini and Rue Gambetta, we found the Brasserie Rossini and decided we'd walked enough for the day.
I ate Mussels, which were pretty good, if not the best I've ever had and Mandy had a pizza, unusually for her.
After that we made our way back to the hotel and got an early night after our early start.
Day Two : Saturday, Monaco
We didn't rush, but were up around 8 to go and grab some Croissants for breakfast and then make our way to the nearby railway station, where we purchased train tickets to Monaco.
The journey takes you along the coast line, via a few small harbours and into Monaco.
The station in Monaco is underground and we were a bit disorientated to start with, until we found the tourist information office inside the station, where we were given a map and directed down to the harbour side.
Our plan (well, mine really!) was to walk the GP circuit, breaking off at Rascasse and heading up to the castle and then around to the Oceanagraphic Museum.
A path led us down to the St Devote corner, the first after the start/finish straight.
From there we started to climb up to Casino Square, admiring the view over the harbour, up to the castle and of the ostentatious yachts in the harbour.
View over Monaco harbour
The sun was shining and it was a pleasantly warm day in the sunshine.
We passed a Christmas market being set up, which, selling Vin Chaud and having chairs with faux fur throws, seemed at odds with the warm, sunny weather and passed the Casino.
Christmas market seemed at odds with the weather
From there we dropped down the other side of the hill to the Mirabeau section with its incredibly tight hairpin bend, before descending to the seafront and trying to find the tunnel.
Monte Carlo's famous casino
At this point we got a little lost initially as there was a closed off tunnel seemingly under construction or redevelopment, but we finally walked past that and a statue of an F1 car, and found the familiar tunnel entrance we'd seen so many times on TV.
The hairpin at Mirabeau
Mandy wasn't keen on walking through the tunnel when I mentioned it, but it's actually very pleasant as the left hand side is open to the sea and, while it's obviously shaded from the same, it's far lighter than one might imagine as you walk through the curving tunnel, before coming back out into the sunshine of the chicane, that jinks onto the harbour front.
The iconic tunnel
We walked along, bought an ice cream near the Tabac curve and then continued past the famous Swimming Pool, and up to the tight right hander at 'Rascasse' named after the bar on the corner.
Nowhere is Monaco's wealth more apparent than in the harbour
Rascasse corner - Rascasse means Scorpion fish!
The road ascends a little there, before reaching Anthony Noghes corner and the finish straight, but we broke off left here and climbed a flight of stairs up to the Royal palace atop the hill.
The view over the harbour as we started to ascend to the palace
We walked through the palace square, following signs of the Oceanagraphic Museum and passed the pretty cathedral, before spotting the towering edifice of the museum.
The royal palace in Monaco
Monaco's cathedral
We wandered, first into the gardens alongside the museum, which are free to enter, and feature sculptures and plants from around the world, as well as affording excellent views out to sea, and ate an orange, before heading to the Museum.
The Oceanagraphic Museum is housed in this impressive building
It wasn't busy at all in the morning at Monaco and, with tickets already purchased online, we walked quickly into the museum and were directed downstairs which led us in the Aquarium.
I must admit, my impression was that this was a Museum with an Aquarium, but the way it is presented is far more the opposite.
There are two floors of Aquarium with different sections covering the different ocean climates of the world.
A large tank initially contains many tropical fish, similar to those in the Red Sea or Maldives, including one or two of a number of shark species.
Biggest tank houses some Sharks
Seahorses
From there we moved into a Mediterranean area, with fish local to Monaco and Nice and then into an area dedicated to warmer waters.
Jellyfish tanks are especially eye catching
Overall, it's a good Aquarium, with mostly well labelled tanks and some biggish tanks alongside those for small fish and other marine animals.
The Jellyfish tanks were especially eye-catching.
Outside a solitary Turtle lives in a pool and, while it was lying very lethargically on the bottom when we arrived, it surfaced after a few moments and take some air, before descending back to its shady corner, so we timed our visit to the pool well. I presume that the Turtle cannot be releasd into the sea, as it's very unusual to see such creatures in Aquariums these days, but it seemed to be a healthy example.
The turtle takes a look at us
We headed back up to the ground floor where there was an exhibition on Prince Albert I's expeditions to the Arctic, seemingly the interest in exploration and the aquatic world, that later led to the Oceanagraphic Museum, started far earlier than Jacques Cousteau's involvement with Prince Rainier.
I was still a bit perplexed by the lack of museum exhibits overall, until we found a lift which indicated that there were two floors above with exhibits.
We took the lift to the roof, where we had crepes for lunch (as I finished mine and pushed away the plate with some that I'd left, as it was too filling to eat it all, a large seagull swept down and snatched it off the plate!).
One of the views from the rooftop restaurant
After that, we walked down to the first floor and found a extensive collection of historical exhibits, including many stuffed animals (fish and sea mammals), some very early diving suites which I was familiar with having recently read a book on the history of man's underwater exploration, but the exhibits were just displayed, with little labelling and many were very high up on a two storey wall, so impossible to look at in detail - It was interesting, but I felt the exhibits have very much taken a back seat to the more family friendly Aquarium, perhaps unsurprisingly.
Very early dive suit
This room was closed, but featured a couple of whale skeletons
Some of the dive gear used by the crew of the Calypso
After we left the Museum, we set off down the road, rather than retrace our steps and, via a couple of scenic viewpoints, found ourselves on a road alongside the approach to the commercial quays.
Street art frames Monte Carlo - Who says Mandy is no oil painting?
The commercial quays and beyond
This led us back to the point we had left the circuit, where a statue of Fangio and his Mercedes GP car feature and then we walked along the Boulevard Albert 1er back to the St Devote corner and completed our tour of the circuit.
Fangio statue
We decided to walk back up to Casino Square and then visit the gardens around there, but they proved to be quite small and, while probably a cool oasis in the summer, a bit uninspiring, so we walked back along some side roads to the station and boarded a train back to Nice.
Back at our hotel, I found there was an Indian restaurant nearby with good reviews, so we headed there. It turned out to be a tiny place and, while the food was tasty, my Rogan Josh bore little relation to any I've eaten in the UK. It was OK, but not even the best Indian food I've eaten in France (A restaurant in Versailles takes that crown).
Day 3 : Sunday, Nice
Sadly, the good weather of our first two days didn't last to the 3rd.
I had arranged to go diving in the morning, keen to explore the Cote D'Azur diving that Cousteau and his fellow Scuba pioneers had worked in, and had to be at the port for 9AM.
You can read about my diving experience here, if you are interested
Meanwhile, Mandy set off north west, to explore a large park, Parc National d'Estienne d'Orves, which was apparently donated by an olive farmer and which extends over a large part of a hill.
Olive Groves in the park Mandy visited
She said it was interesting, but full of dog walkers even on a cool, damp morning and she didn't stay very long, returning to the hotel and grabbing us some baguettes from our favourite Boulangerie for lunch.
After grabbing another coffee to warm myself up, post dive, I caught the tram back (a very affordable £1.50 each way) and returned to the hotel.
After our lunch we looked for somewhere inside to spend the afternoon, as it looked unlikely to stop raining.
We decided to visit the Parc Phoenix, described as a 'floral and animal park' with the largest glasshouse in Europe (which seemed a bit of a bold claim).
Being close to the airport, we used the tram again and found there is a stop right outside.
The ticket was a modest 5 Euros and we spent a couple of hours wandering around.
About our first sight was a pond with a flock of brightly colour Flamingos.
Flamingos in Parc Phoenix glasshouse
A review on Trip Advisor says 'A nice place, but in need of some investment' and I think that sums up my feelings.
It didn't feel 'glasshouse' warm inside on a cold day and few of the exotic plants were flowering, although the various areas of the glasshouse certainly featured a wide variety of plants.
Marmosets
Giant Stick Insect
As well as the plants, there was a section dedicated to Insects, but, while it featured some interesting creatures in vivariums, it too looked a bit shabby and careworn.
Finally, inside, there was a pool with a couple of small crocodiles.
The rain finally stopped and we ventured outside into the fairly large park area behind the glasshouse, where we found a few farm animals and we also had a warm drink in a cafe in the grounds.
If the weather had been good, I doubt we would have gone here and, if we had, we probably would have felt it was a disappointment, but as we wanted somewhere inside, it was a reasonable way to spend a couple of hours.
For our final evening meal in Nice, I found a steakhouse near our restaurant with good reviews, although my trust in those were lessened by those for the Indian restaurant the previous night.
Luckily, those for the L'Antica were better deserved.
I booked online for 6:30, but when we got there were told they weren't serving dinner until 7:00. Not a big issue as we got a beer while we waited, but their booking system could have prevented us booking for a time when they didn't serve food!
The restaurant, like the Indian, was very small and so you were sitting very close to other tables and their diners, but, although it got busy as we ate, it wasn't too bad.
We both ordered the wood fire cooked T-Bone steak and it was excellent.
As we waited to order, we watched the chef, stoke the oven up to a point where the flames were blue and when the steaks we ordered 'rare' were delivered crispy on the outside, we doubted they could still be rare, but actually they were perfectly cooked - The crispness on the outside was just the right side of being burnt and the inside was perfectly cooked through, but still exactly as you would want a rare to steak to be.
Excellent T-Bone Steak at L'Antica
They were also huge, but even so, we both eat every bit and would wholeheartedly recommend anyone to try it out.
Day Four : Monday, Eze
Our flight home wasn't until 8:40PM, so we had a full final day on the Cote D'Azur.
Numerous people, including Mandy's sister, had recommended we visit Eze, a small medieaval village, close to Monaco and accessible by Train from Nice.
So, after checking out of our hotel and leaving our luggage there, we headed back to the station and boarded the Monaco bound train once more.
A train in Nice station
We got off at the Eze Station, sometimes referred to as Eze-Sur-Mer and started the climb to Eze Village itself.
Various sources had said the 2KM plus climb would take between 24 and 60 minutes and very quickly we were steeply climbing up a tarmaced path.
Starting the climb from Eze Station
That, though, so turned to a rugged hillside path and even though it was overcast and only mild, rather than warm, we were soon working up a sweat on the climb.
The path soon became quite rugged
A man passed us going up and a few people passed us coming down and we had to pause for a rest and some water now and then, but it took us a good 90 minutes to reach the village itself, it's not a climb for anyone who isn't at least reasonably fit or suffering from any infirmity or injury - We were shocked that Mandy's sister and her husband had made the climb without mentioning how tough it was until we saw them shortly afterwards and realised they had only walked from the car park in the village to the top of the old village, not from sea level!
First sight of the village, but still some way to go!
The village itself is picturesque, being a made up of tiny paths between ancient buildings, seemingly built one top of the other and ascending to a bastion at the top, which has been converted into a Jardin Exotique, with many tropical plants planted around the steep slopes on the way up.
The buildings seem to built one on top of the other in Eze
Exotic Garden dominates the top of the village
The views from the village (and even the climb up from the Eze-Sur-Mer) were stunning across the Baie des Anges and back to Nice, the airport at the far side of Nice, visible along with the outlines of the headlands beyond it on the coast.
Glorious views along the coast
Glorious views along the coast
It seeemed, though, that most of Eze was shut for a end of season break when we visited as numerous places had signs saying they were closed until mid-December (one was closed until March 2025!), so we ended up back in the modern part of the village for lunch.
I had an expensive, but very good, Pizza, while Mandy had a huge (but equally expensive) pasta dish, that she was unable to finish - I think this cost about the same as the steak and certainly didn't seem as good value, but Eze, I've since been told, is where people live if they can't quite afford to live in Monaco!
Initially, we planned to take the bus back down, but it takes a roundabout route and wasn't due for a good 20 minutes, so we decided (madly!) to walk all the way back down to the train!
This proved nearly as hard as the ascent had been, as the rough path meant you had to concentrate hard on where you put your feet, but we got down in a far quicker 45 minutes, actually arriving before the bus we would have taken!
We took the train back to Nice and after trying and failing to find a cafe to have a drink in, we ended up back at our hotel where we spent an hour or so drinking coffee and Coke, before collecting our luggage and catching the tram back to the airport.
I had misread the tickets and thought we flew at 9:10, when in fact the plane was scheduled to leave at 8:40, but we had plenty of time and, in the end, ,the flight was delayed to 9:10 anyway!
The flight home was uneventful and our luggage was already on the conveyor belt when we arrived at reclaim (as it had been on the way out, perhaps few people bother with checked luggage on the trip?).
We got a seat on the crammed bus to the car park after a few minutes wait and then set off home, restricted much of the way by road works on the motorways, but made it indoors by 11:30, at which point we just went to bed, tired after 4 quite strenuous, but very enjoyable days on the Cote D'Azur.