We had a big day planned today, so we were out the door and off to catch a bus at 9am. Mike briskly led us as we walked/jogged in the direction of Nice. This ended up being quite a long walk before we reached a bus stop. Finally a bus came along and we found a seat and settled in. It is a half hour car trip so we figured about an hour on the bus. We had a boat cruise booked for 11am.
The bus took forever . It was hot and airless, with a lot of people on. We were pretty much following the train line so the views were not all that spectacular. it seemed to take forever and we started to worry about our cruise. I was following the route on google maps and could see us getting closer, but very slowly. Finally, after an hour and a half we stopped in Nice, still 2.5kms from the boat. Quite do-able in our match fit walking condition, but Ken though we should power walk/run.
We were walking along the promenade, with beautiful views over the water and the beach. We saw it as we sprinted by. Of course, we got there in plenty of time and were soon sitting on the boat.
The cruise took us around to the bay of Ville Franch Sur Mer. This is where our original apartment booking was and is really pretty. There were 2 massive cruise ships here and a lot of very expensive houses. One had sold for 500 million Euros ($750 million Australian). There is so much wealth it is astounding.
The cruise was really lovely and a nice way to see the coast line. It is all so pretty and picturesque . It was a bit overcast and threatening to rain, but we only got a few drops towards the end. It was still lovely and warm.
We took a more leisurely stroll along the promenade and enjoyed the views over the ocean and the town. We had decided that we would take the train to go to Monte Carlo, rather than risking another bus trip, so started walking in the general direction while exploring Nice. We came across some markets with beautiful produce, which we explored for a while.
We were in need of food and caffeine as our plan of a coffee before the cruise had been lost on a bus. We found a little restaurant near the markets offering a set menu for €13.50. Not expecting too much we took a table and enjoyed great service and great food. I had a fish soup, salmon steak and apple tart with a beer and cafe noisette. Delicious and filling!
We kept walking and exploring. We saw a group of very fancy people, looking like they were going to a wedding, tourists sight seeing, just like us and locals going about their business. Nice looks lovely but we had limited time and were on a schedule so we made it to the train station . It took a while to work out the ticket machine so we just missed one but only had a 30 minute wait for another.
Once on the train we were quickly traveling along the coast, past Ville France Sur Mer again and other little villages. We arrived and negotiated our way out of the station, ending up on a road high above the city. This gave us a great view of the rocky escarpment, hotels and apartments and water below. It is quite a spectacular sight.
We had a bit of a walk but we made it up to the top of the hill to the Prince's Palace. There were a lot of people seeing this Royal Residence and the guards. The views up here are amazing. The old medieval streets are now all little tourist shops. The guard did his thing with a bit of a strut and a Michael Jackson-esque moon walk spin.
All the way back down the hill and along the water. We admired the boats, they were enormous and obviously worth millions. We did look in a boat sale window and there was one worth 30 million Euros! There were a few fast cars going by.
We walked up the other hill to the casino and then we saw more than just a few cars . There were luxurious cars going by all the time and the growling Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches others were doing laps around, hoping to get the attention of everyone. It worked. When we got to the front of the casino there were a lot all parked, with crowds of tourists walking around and checking them out.
We had a look in the foyer of the casino and it was quite spectacular but we weren't inclined to pay 10 euros to go inside and gamble. Monte Carlo is an interesting place, but it is over the top excess.
Our feet were screaming for some rest now and we still had a long way to go and get home. We were parched and tired, but we started the walk back to the train. We found a little bar to stop and have a drink and some frites while we regained our strength! The beautiful people in their beautiful clothes were starting to strut down the street, we were now under dressed and it was time to leave this glitzy place.
We finally made it to the train station and bought our ticket only to find we had a 50 minute wait! This passed reasonably quickly and we were on the train back to Cannes. This took an hour. By now it was 10pm and we hadn't had dinner. We were quite peckish, so found a friendly Italian restaurant to cook us up a delicious gnocchi and pasta dinner.
Jude decided we weren't walking anymore, thank God, so we caught a taxi home, after a a long, but enjoyable day.

Steps 24,124
Kms walked 17