Monaco

After a late start (it seems most of my trip entries start this way doesn't it?) we tried to find the #100 bus to take us along the coastline to Villefranche-sur-mer, and then on to Monaco. Unfortunately (as I later found out) all the tourist info on the web is wrong about where the bus stop for the #100 bus because it recently moved, and thus we couldn't find it. In the end then we took the train instead, since train stations are pretty good about not arbitrarily moving.

In reading about using the trains in the French Riviera someone compared it to being a "Riviera Metro" since it runs about every 30 minutes and hits all the little villages across the French Riviera. And yep, it's pretty much the case. Tickets were something like 3.70€ each way, so about 14€ for both of us round trip. After looking at the TV monitors, we just headed to the platform for the next train bound for Ventimiglia, which is in the direction of Monaco and other villages along the way. Then on the return looked for the train platform with the next train headed to Grasse which goes in the opposite direction to get back to Nice. There's only two options, and so typically two trains, so it makes it easy. (hint: It's the two destinations listed over and over on the monitor)

The only difficult part was there didn't seem to be an English option for buying the tickets, but it was straight forward enough in French, and there were ticket agents further down I noticed later we could have used. There's no need to pre-buy tickets for these stations. Just show up to the station, buy the ticket, validate it in the yellow box, and hop on the next train that comes along and pick a seat. Literally, just like a metro!

Since we were now running even further behind after having to backtrack to the train station and wait for a train, we decided to skip the village and go straight to Monaco from Nice. Or well actually not quite to Monaco. Based on the recommendations while searching the Internet, we got off at the Cap d'Ail station (the one right before Monoco) and walked the rest of the way. I can now say I've walked to another country, and the walkway was right along the sea and had some spectacular views. Definitely a good idea. The only bad idea was that we hadn't stopped and gotten any lunch, and there's nothing for sale really for most of the walk. The one restaurant we passed that was open had already closed it's kitchen (as it was about 3:30pm by this point). But we kept going on until finally reaching Monaco.

Monaco is the 2nd smallest country in the world (only .75 square miles) and the most densely populated. I was surprised at how many people said it wasn't worth visiting during my research, as I actually enjoyed it. Yeah there's not a whole lot to see here, but it is famous and the views are pretty cool from the outcrop that the Prince's Palace sits on. I wouldn't recommend staying in Monaco, but definitely worth the easy train trip from Nice to check it out and see it first hand.

After a bit of confusion of how exactly to get to the Prince's Palace (as we were coming in from the walkway by the sea, and not the bus/train stops that most guides assume) we were able to follow the signs and use Google Maps until we got to the Place d'Arms bus stop. From there we could have caught a bus to take us up the hill to the Monaco-ville section of the city (where all the main sights are), but instead we walked up. It wasn't that bad, and since it was sunset, had some good views of the city on the way. The timing actually worked out quite nicely since by the time we got to the top (maybe 10 minute hike up) the sun was just setting, so we got some really great photos looking out on both sides of the outcrop.

We then went to the church nearby, where they seemed to be testing the organ or something because it was making some awful high pitched noises the entire time we were there. The church was neat, but nothing too out of the ordinary for a nice European church (aka it blows away anything you've ever seen in the US). After wandering around some more, and trying to figure out how to get off the top of the rock where Monaco-ville sits, we found the Monaco-ville bus stop and got on the #1 bus which took us down to the main part of Monaco, around the famous harbor, and then up to the famous Monte Carlo casino. Either #1 or #2 buses go everywhere you need to go, and while riding the bus we drove through the tunnel that's part of the Monaco Grand Prix which was neat.

While we didn't go inside the casino since it was gambling hours and you have to be dressed up and have a passport (of which we had neither) the outside was pretty and would look familiar to anyone who ever watched a James Bond film. And I saw about 5 Ferrari's in the span of about 10 minutes either parked or driving around. So that was pretty cool. Afterwards I wanted to get some night shots of Monaco from Monaco-ville, so we took the bus back up to the palace area, and ended up eating dinner in a good Italian restaurant, along with an incredibly loud group of American teenagers. We then took the bus back to one of the stops with "Gare" in the name on the map, as those would take you to the train station (which is "gare" in French). From there it was a short 20 minute ride back to Nice to finish out the day.