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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The French Riviera

Our last stop before Italy was a few days on The French Riviera. With numerous options on where we could spend our time, something about “The French Riviera” sounded too good to pass up. For one thing, after spending a lot of time on the Mediterranean during the last trip, this time we had not stayed on the water yet. Technically we’ve visited the sea in Ireland and Normandy, but that’s just not the same. Our plan was to visit Nice and Monaco, but we ended up finding the best deal on an apartment in Cannes. While it was probably the least interesting of the three towns, it was a great choice when it comes to beaches. Nice is famous for its rocky shores, but they turn to sand near Cannes and westward. So after checking in, it was straight to the beach. Another thing this area is famous for is the topless sunbathing. Luckily the kids are still at the age where they think it’s disgusting and are happy to look the other way. After our fill of sun and sand it was time to head into town for a stroll. Famous for the big Cannes Film Festival, the main convention center takes up a good bit of coastline in town. While there's not much to really see, the kids thought they were big shots on the red carpet.

Outside of Cannes we also made our planned visit to Nice and Monaco and even added Antibes. Nice is a much bigger town (actually France’s fifth largest) than I envisioned, with a huge promenade along the water that stretches several miles. It is a very quaint town though, and a bit more Italian feeling than French (other than the language). Our next stop was Monaco. You can just feel the money pulsing through the streets here. With less than a square mile of land, it’s loaded with heavy hitters from all over the world. The casino is beautiful with millions of dollars of cars lined up out front. In fact all over Monaco, I’ve never seen so many Ferrari’s in one place. We even drove a bit of the Grand Prix circuit through town, but our Renault clocked in a bit slow. The harbor is another place to gawk, as the kids were just amazed walking by the yachts. They asked, “Why don’t we get one?” Maybe we’ll look into that option instead of a house when we return to the states?

Part of the convention center is covered in glass, giving a different perspective of the beach.


A happy onlooker.
This fountain is in front of the Monte Carlo Casino, which you can see reflecting in the ball.
This is just one of umpteen rows of yachts in Monaco, although it looks pretty much the same in Nice and Cannes.
And finally, here's a few shots from the Antibes market. (just in case you're hungry)