Weekend in Nice and Monaco: Part 2

Monaco! Monaco was beautiful, but it felt slightly unreal. Everything was clean and expensive and there were police everywhere. On the street over the harbor, there was an entire street of high fashion shops. I spotted Hermes, Valentino, Gucci, Chanel, Prada and more. It was so strange.

This is the Casino at Montecarlo. I think a James Bond movie was filmed there.

An ice rink next to a water slide. Later, I saw a little girl skating in a t-shirt and shorts.

The harbor with all of the fancy yachts. The restaurant where we ate the previous night is right on the other side.

I went to the aquarium.

I also saw the changing of the guard in front of the Palace.

The flag flying at the top means that the royal family is there.

After Monaco, we visited the Gallimard Parfumerie.

These are called "organs" because you can create a "symphony of scent" with them. If you want a custom perfume (and have a great deal of money), they will work with you to come up with exactly what you want.

After the tour, the guide gave a perfume sampling.

As well as perfumes, they also sold hand made soaps, which were far more reasonably priced. There were all of the normal floral and perfume-y scents, but there were also a few weird ones like "Olive" and "Goat's Milk."

There were also sachets that smelled like candles. It was all a bit overwhelming after a while. However, they had a little cup of coffee beans to sniff to cleanse your nasal palette.

We took a lovely walk up to Eze, a medieval village on top of a hill. These were some adorable donkeys that we spotted on the way.

Kitty!

Can you imagine hanging out your laundry...

...with a view like this in front of you?

It was clouding up a bit at that point, so you couldn't tell where the sea ended and the sky began. Lovely.

This is what they think American sandwiches are like. Yummy!

So, I'm currently on "winter break" for a week and I'm heading to Paris. Hooray!

Weekend in Nice and Monaco: Part 1

So, yes, I went to Nice and Monaco last weekend and it was fantastic. Nice is nice. (Okay guys, you had to know that was coming. It was inevitable.) The weather was absolutely beautiful, which made a lovely change from all of the cold weather we've been having. Thankfully, it has warmed up a great deal this week. Anyway, enough about the weather.

The Mediterranean!

And me in front of the Mediterranean and a curious French lady.

Lemon and orange trees sold at the market. They were everywhere.

You can really tell that we are right next to the ocean. Can you see the eel in the bottom left hand corner?

The weather was amazing. It was so strange to see palm trees and people in t-shirts and then remember that it's February.

Yes, a man in a Speedo in February. France is crazy.

Lunch on the beach.

And this is what was left when I was finished. I fear my slim, girlish figure will be completely gone by the time I get home. Oh well!

And here is a beautiful view of Nice.

This is the Baie d'Anges, or Bay of Angels.

After seeing the beautiful views, a spot of gelato was in order. Dr. Bonin, if you are reading, they do have mint chocolate chip ice cream in France. And it is delicious.

Our reason for coming to Nice was to see the parade for Carnivale. Today was the Bataille de Fleurs, where all of the floats were made of flowers and they threw flowers at us.

Like that.

There were many scantily clad women there.

This truck/float thing broke down right in front of us. See all the smoke? The people on top contented themselves with throwing confetti at everyone.

And at this point, my camera started complaining about the battery being low. I had forgotten to charge it before we left. Silly me. Never fear, there are still plenty of pictures of Monaco to come. After the parade, we hopped back in the bus and drove to Montecarlo, checked into our hotel and had a lovely dinner. I had had a very long day so I promptly went to sleep afterwards. Next time: actual pictures of Monaco!