Monthly Archives: November 2014

Monaco

We woke to another rainy day. We decided to go for a drive to visit Monaco. The road to Monaco was called The Grand Corniche and is where Princess Grace met her death in a car accident, it was very windy and scenic but no match for Corsica. After a harrowing 15-20 mins navigating the roads in Monaco to the parking station we had another meal of amazing pizza. Some places make the best pizza here. No 1 Venice and now No 2 Monaco. Both sold by the piece. We then went to the Princes Palace, the Palais de Justice and then the Oceanographic Museum. We then headed back to Nice for our last dinner in France. We had a really amazing meal at the hotel. Oh well this will be my last blog as we leave for home tomorrow, Can’t wait to see everyone back home. Au revoir, Arrivederci and Auf Wiedersehen. See you in a couple of days.

Annecy to Montmin to Nice, France

Today we are at Annecy, France at the base of the French Alps. We headd in to town to find some breakfast. No cafes open in the main centre, so we walked through to the old town where we stumbled on a street of market stalls of fresh fruit, veges, produce, cheese, etc. We found a little bakery and bought our croissants for breakfast and some cheese baguettes for lunch. After getting no further information from the tourist bureau we headed in the direction of DBs walk for today. We eventually made it to the town of Montmin, very few houses and narrow roads we found our way to the start of the track. From just outside of Montmin at 1300m above sea level, we headed off on our walk up and up again. Our original destination was to the top of La Tournette 2300m above sea level but with time and the weather against us we changed our destination to one of the huts on the way. We don’t do this very well but were trying to be sensible as we had a long drive at the end of the day. It was also only 7° and the wind was howling. We walked on a rocky path up 500m over 2.2km in distance. For a change we just took it slowly and it took about an hour. Decision time whilst we ate a late lunch. It was still cold and windy and the dark clouds had rolled in, with a sprinkle of rain we erred on the side of caution and decided to head back down as it would be a very steep, slippery, cold descent if the rain got heavy. DB waited until we were half back down before telling me there were 360° views at the top, Oh well, maybe next time. It still took about 50mins to reach the car, annoyingly the clouds had lifted a little and the wind dropped off so we may have been able to complete the walk to the top had we been able to predict this. Time for our 5 or so hour drive to Nice. We decided to drive back into Italy and go via Savona because if we didn’t make it to Nice tonight we could drive the Italian Riviera coastline tomorrow. The rain started and set in about 1 hour into the drive. DB decided after about 2.5 hrs that he would make it to Nice. After I booked the hotel the rain and driving conditions worsened. We are still on the way and hopefully will make it tonight, if it gets too bad we will stop and book another hotel for tonight. Luckily we made it. The winds are howling, the surf is raging, some of the streets are covered with water but we are at Nice safe and sound. Thanks DB you are a legend. Six hours driving in not nice conditions.

Paris to Annecy, France

A long day driving today, over 550km. We arrived in Annecy and went for a walk by the lake. A very beautiful city. We accidentally found the old town which was very quaint.

 

Paris, France – Day 3

Another big day. We started with a walk to The Pantheon. An amazing building on the outside and even more impressive on the inside. Columns, statues, paintings and a very impressive crypt, housing many of the famous people including Pierre & Marie Curie, Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Jean Moulin and Louis Braille, to name a few. A very impressive list. We then hopped on the bus again for another trip around the city past Montparnasse, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Gare d Austerlitz, St Sulpice, until our bus broke down. We then walked to a Magic Museum, watched a magic show and saw some old magic tricks. We wanted to go to La Conciergerie but were running short of time before our Eiffel Tour Illuminations tour which was an hour walk, 40 min train/walk, 1 hour bus or 40min boat ride. We opted for the walk as this we could guarantee would get us there on time. Which we made with 10mins to spare. We had an amazing tour guide and really enjoyed this tour. The view was fantastic, cold and informative. 7 million tourists visit the Eiffel Tower each year, 13 million to Notre Dame. Not bad revenue at 15 euro to summit of Eiffel Tower. The tour was great, we caught the Metro back to our area and then had our most expensive dinner yet. A great day followed by a lovely meal. I definitely won’t be eating out for 6 months after this holiday DB will still be recovering from the shock of it.

Paris, France – Day 2

We started the day on the hop on hop off bus (Thanks everyone for my great presents) and did a loop of town seeing Eiffel Tower, Obelisk, Champs de Elysees, Madeleine, Arc de Triomphe, Jardin des Tuileries and The Louvre. We had a rest in the park and then a visit to the Louvre and saw some more art including the Mona Lisa. And we finished the day on the boat down the River Seine. A great relaxing ride back home. We had dinner in a quaint little restaurant along the River. Paris is another amazing city – buildings, history, art and food!