So, Saturday of our vacation...
Saturday was a very wet day, unfortunately. It was the only 'bad weather' day we had, but a little rain wouldn't stop us! We had plans for a full-day guided tour to see the surrounding cities and villages. We hired a driver (who happened to be the same one that picked us up from the airport and then took us back at the end of our trip) and he zipped us around showing us this and that and pointing out interesting and beautiful sights. The day flew by and our driver had told us many times that it would a fast look and he didn't lie! When I say whirlwind...I think the longest we stopped anywhere was maybe an hour and that included lunch! Our guide was nice and friendly if not the most informative, but we didn't mind. We first drove through Nice and down the...well, I would call it the seawall. People were out biking, running, walking pets...shops and restaurants, hotels lined the street on one side with a view of the Mediterranean Sea on the other. Talk about rough waters!!! Huge waves and we were told it is often like that, windy, rainy or otherwise! We stopped at a couple really lovely photo op locations too :)
This one was obviously taken as we drove...
From Nice, we drove on to the medieval fortification of Eze. There, we took a brief walk up into the fortification where we saw inside the chapel, the stone sculpture garden, and beautiful views looking down into and across to other villages and cities.
After our short stop, we headed over to Monaco to see the palace with plans to see the changing of the guard. We discovered once we arrived that due to the holiday weekend there would not be the usual ceremony, but we took pictures and checked out the area around the palace a bit. On our way there, we drove around the streets that become the Formula 1 race track later in May, saw the famous Monte Carlo casino and hotel, and heard a little bit about the Principality of Monaco. On our stop, we also went inside the church where Princess Grace, Prince Rainier and the entire royal family are interred. This is also the church where the marriage of Prince Albert will soon take place.
Yes, that is a big drop of water on my camera lens...was raining pretty hard while we were here!
After our stop in Monaco, we headed over to St. Paul de Vence where we made a quick stop for lunch at a popular little restaurant right outside the walls of the fortification - delicious! From there, we had about 30 minutes to walk up into St. Paul de Vence where a narrow cobblestone path leads to tons of little shops and galleries that have been built into the the stone walls and in every nook and cranny. We were getting a bit soaked and starting to look like drowned rats, but on we went! This was actually one of my favorite stops - would have enjoyed more time to wander into all the little galleries! When you get to the top, you can look down into a carefully manicured cemetery and have lovely views!
We hopped back in the van and then headed off to catch a quick glimpse of Antibes and Cannes. We saw beautiful harbors full of huge yachts, interesting buildings, the famous red carpet the Hollywood stars walk during the film festival...
Sadly, I have no good pictures (not even remotely decent) since we were in the car, moving, and there was rain on the windshield...not a good combo! But, so it is.
By this time, we were all pretty tired and the kids were ready to get back to the resort. We started our trek back through curvy roads...kids were starting to get a bit car sick, but thankfully we arrived back before anything unfortunate happened - lol!
That night we caught part of the show and got the kids off to bed. Spencer and I were hoping to catch the guy singing at the piano bar again, but as memory serves me...we missed him, but had a "nightcap" instead. All in all, it was a nice day, despite the rain!
Sun was in the forecast for Sunday, so we had one more chance to soak it up before we returned home.
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