A Trip to Italy, France and Monaco.

Last Full Day in Nice...

Then Flying Back Home.

10.12.2023 - 12.12.2023

Looking over the port in Nice.

On our final full day in Nice we headed down for breakfast. The Ibis Styles breakfast was actually pretty good. Afterwards Peter wanted to relax on our terrace for a bit, because the weather was so nice. I, on the other hand, had regained my desire to see everything, so I left Peter relaxing in the sun while I headed out for a look at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral which was about ten to fifteen minutes walk away from our hotel.

Breakfast room in the Ibis Styles Centre Gare.

Peter on the terrace.

We had visited The Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral on our first visit to Nice in 2015, but had only been able to peer at it though a fence, as we had arrived just after it shut. This time it was open, but I couldn't go inside, because there was a service going on.

From around the middle of the nineteenth century, wealthy members of the Russian nobility began holidaying in Nice. Tsar Alexander II travelled here by train and loved its pleasant climate. In 1865 his son and heir apparent, Nicholas Alexandrovich, died in Nice from meningitis. He was only twenty-one years old. Later Tsar Nicholas II, who was the nephew of Nicholas Alexandrovich, had a cathedral built here in his memory. The cathedral is located on the site of the villa where Nicholas Alexandrovich passed away. It was consecrated in 1912. This is a beautiful building with many onion domed roofs.

The Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

I bought Peter some ice-cream on my way back. When I came home, I found he was getting much more into the whole sun terrace malarkey.

This is the life.

Next, I wanted to go and see the Notre Dame de Nice Church. I invited Peter to come but he said he would be too busy with the ice-cream.

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice is located on Nice's main street, the Avenue Jean Médecin. It was designed in Neo-Gothic style by Louis Lenormand and was completed in 1868. Nice was not part of France until 1860 and designing this church to look very French was part of an attempt to Frenchify the city. The church's appearance is based on Angers Cathedral. The church has two square towers and a large rose window. It was closed when I visited and there appeared to be some renovation going on.

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice.

I returned to the hotel and found Peter was making good progress on the ice-cream Eddie was out on the terrace sunning himself too by this stage.

This is our hotel.

Peter is enjoying the lounger and Eddie is enjoying the table.

It took considerable effort on my part, but I did eventually persuade Peter to come out and look at Nice. We headed off to the Promenade des Anglais again, though our final destination was actually Nice Castle, or what's left of it.

Actually the reason to go to the castle in Nice is not to see the castle which was is pretty much destroyed, but to see the views. On our first visit here this was my favourite part of Nice, but this time it was my second favourite. We both agreed we just loved the Promenade des Anglais.

Back on the Promenade des Anglais again.

As we were walking along the Promenade des Anglais, we heard chanting and saw a protest march approaching us. This turned out to be a group of animal rights protesters, some of them accompanied by their dogs. They were chanting: " Justice pour Les animaux." which even with my limited French knowledge I understood.

Animal rights protesters.

Castle Hill was once home to a bustling hilltop village surrounded by thick defensive walls. However, as the population increased the people began to live further down the hill and the castle at the top of the hill became more military and less residential. Then in 1706 King Louis XIV attacked the castle. His troops were bombarding it unsuccessfully with cannonballs when, by pure chance, one cannonball went straight through a small window into a munitions storeroom. The ammunition ignited and the whole castle was blown to pieces.

We had discussed whether Peter would come part of the way up to the castle viewpoint with me or wait for me in a bar, as it's a steep climb, but to our delight, we discovered there was actually a lift up, almost to the top, so we both got into that. That took us to the first viewpoint.

It turns out that the lift was actually created by the occupying German army during World War II. They created a series of tunnels into the hillside here and an elevator to help them carry supplies to the top of the hill.

Peter at the first viewpoint.

Looking over Nice.

Looking over the Promenade des Anglais and the beach.

After that I wanted to go higher up and to the other side, but Peter didn't, so I left him on a seat and headed off to look around.

I left Peter on this seat. Note the mischievous glint in his eye.

There were more views over Nice and these ones were more pleasant as they weren't cluttered up with people taking endless selfies. Some of them look over Nice's Monumental Cemetery. We visited this on our last trip to Nice.

View over Nice showing Monumental Cemetery.

View over Nice.

View over Nice showing the Cathedral of Reparte.

I walked to the bottom of the cascade, a large artificial waterfall streaming down the side of the hill.

The Cascade.

At the top of the cascade there's a cafe that we stopped and had a drink in last time and of course there are more views.

Cafe.

Looking over Nice.

I also wanted to see the views on the other side of the hill overlooking the port of Nice. Actually I think these are even more beautiful than the views over the Promenade des Anglais. On the way to the other views I passed the occasional broken remnant of the castle.

There's the occasional remain around.

On the ground modern versions of old Greek mosaics remind us that Nice started out as a Greek settlement.

Mosaic.

The views over the port were as beautiful as I had remembered.

View over Nice's port.

Cacti above Nice's port.

View over Nice's port.

When I went back for Peter, I had a momentary panic, because he was not where I had left him. What could have happened to him? And then he turned up, saying he had got a bit cold and so he'd gone for a walk. This may not sound significant to anyone else, but it was actually quite a breakthrough. He won't go anywhere without me due to his poor vision. Him feeling confident enough to do something on his own is great.

The sun was setting over the Bay of Angels. I took some photos of this from high up.

Sunset over the Bay of Angels.

Then we took the lift back down to ground level. It was time to go and eat.

Back down at beach level.

Of course we had to stand and watch the sun go down over the beach for a while. It was just so beautiful.

Sunset over the beach.

Yes I do know I got totally carried away! We went into the Old Town and with a massive choice of restaurants and French cuisine supposedly some of the best in the world, I'm ashamed to say it, but we went back to Van Diemens for an Aussie meat pie with chips and salad. We'd seen it advertised the day before and just fancied it. In our defence it was actually pretty good.

Entrance to the Old Town.

Peter with his pie.

Close up.

After dinner, we strolled through the Old Town passing the beautifully lit up Town Hall.

Town Hall at night.

We saw the fountain of the sun lit up at night.

Fountain of the sun.

And then I made a terrible mistake. The worst one of the whole holiday - well at least until the flight and that one wasn't deadly.

I thought the place where the tram passed in the centre of the square was only for trams and not cars and I lead Peter out there, only for a traffic light to change somewhere and us to find we were in the middle of a mass of rushing cars. I honestly don't know how we didn't die. Thank you, God.

We had to have a seat at the other side of the road. We were shaking so much.

When I felt recovered, I photographed the Christmas trees and the reflective pond then led Peter very carefully home.

The square at night.

Reflections.

Next day we got up early, finished packing, had a final very pleasant breakfast, then headed for the airport. We were going there by tram number 2. We had read only return tickets were available and that they cost €10 each. We discovered that this is true and a bit of a rip off if you fly into Nice Airport, but going back you can get a one-way ticket from the machine at the tram stop for €3.70.

Anyway the tram was quite busy, but Peter got a seat so it was ok. I took a couple of pictures of the Christmas displays at the airport.

At Nice Airport.

Check in was fine and easy and we were pretty quickly given a wheelchair for Peter. We were early, so could use our silver status to go to the business class lounge where we enjoyed some snacks and drinks.

We were seated in three seats in the middle and noone else sat there, so I moved over and we each got a bit of space. I watched "A Man called Otto" about a grumpy and socially awkward man whose wife has passed away and he's decided to kill himself. His attempts keep going wrong and then he meets his new warm hearted Mexican neighbour and her family and regains the will to live. I rather liked it. I also watched "A Beautiful Mind" about brilliant mathematician John Nash who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.

Soon we were in Doha and got taken to the lounge. We were happy there, but they collected us very early, and the area near our gate was chaos. I ended up sitting on the floor. We were almost last on, as they made everyone in wheelchairs board at the end.

We were seated in a row of four seats in the middle and the other two were occupied. It was going to be a very squashy flight. I sat next to a young man and accidentally bumped him as I sat down. I apologised. He said: "That's quite all right." He seemed very well mannered, but I was tired and had no wish to get into conversation. I actually managed to get a bit of sleep on this flight due to total exhaustion.

At one point the polite young man next to me was trying to fill in his landing card and the lights went out. I helped him by putting my light on, as he didn't know how to work his. He thanked me but we still didn't talk. I went back to sleep.

When I woke up, thank God, we were landing. I put my shoes on and accidentally kicked the pleasant young man next to me. "I'm sorry," I said. He replied: "That's quite all right, but...."

I looked at him and he looked embarrassed as if he didn't want to continue. I waited. "It's just that you have actually put my shoes on," he finally said. I looked down at my feet, as much as you can in economy class on a plane. Often on long haul flights it's hard to get your shoes on as your feet have swelled up. These had gone on really really easily, mainly because they were about three sizes too big for me. The man beside me was continuing:"I noticed when you came on that we had very similar shoes."

Well, anyway, as icebreakers go, this turned out to be a good one. Within minutes I learned that this young man was from Cape Town. He was relocating to Auckland as Cape Town was getting more and more crime ridden. He had already done a long haul flight from Cape Town to Doha, then Doha to Hong Kong and he now just had a very short transit time to catch a New Zealand Air flight to Auckland. I guess his chances of catching it hadn't been helped by the mad woman next to him trying to steal his shoes!!

Last time when we arrived in Hong Kong, the wheel chair service just dumped Peter in the middle of nowhere. This time the guy was brilliant and took us right to our bus. There's only one an hour nowadays and it was there waiting for us. We were soon on our way home.

There have been a lot of break-ins where we live due to all the renovations, but our flat was fine and my plants had survived. It had been a very good holiday and Peter had coped really really well, which opens up all sorts of future travel possibilities....

Posted by irenevt 20:04 Archived in France Comments (8)

It's nice to be (in) Nice.

Enjoying the French Riviera.

08.12.2023 - 11.12.2023

The Promenade des Anglais, Nice.

We left our accommodation in Monaco in pouring rain and headed downhill to the train station. I didn't really want to use a ticket machine again, so was pleased to see a manned ticket office and went there. I was second in the queue. There was one American man in front of me who wanted to reserve a seat for part of his journey to Florence. I have no idea why this caused so many problems, but all three members of staff dealt with only him and it took them around twenty minutes. Then people behind me started asking to go in front of me, because they were about to miss their trains. It was a nightmare. I thought I would never get out of there. I guess I should just have gone to the machine.

Again we got on the train that was going to Grasse. It was really busy. We managed to get almost the last two seats, which were right next to the toilet. This was fortunate as by that stage I was desperate to go, but when I tried to get back out of the toilet, the door refused to open. I could tell it was going to be a very bad day. Somehow after a lot of struggling, I finally managed to get out of the toilet. The door was now displaying 'out of order'. I was just thankful to be free. Then, as we were sitting right outside the toilet, I noticed the door was functioning again. For the rest of the journey it functioned for a few minutes, then displayed out of order, then functioned, then out of order and so on. I was extremely lucky to get out of there - alive.

The bad weather had followed us to Nice. It was pouring when we arrived. We were staying in the Ibis Styles Nice Centre Gare Hotel which was very close to the station, but we had to walk really slowly, as Peter was nervous about slipping on the wet ground. We arrived at the hotel looking and feeling like two drowned rats.

The girl on reception was really friendly and gave us an upgraded room with a large terrace and sun loungers. Somehow, at that point in time, sun loungers did not seem so appealing. However, we knew the weather was forecast to improve the next day.

Our room was very nice, but our luggage was absolutely soaking and I had to take everything out and spread it all around the room to try and get it dry. Within minutes the room looked like a rubbish tip.

Our room.

Our terrace, taken on the next day when it had finally stopped raining.

Me on our terrace.

I didn't feel like doing anything with the day, as the rain was relentless. I said to Peter that I'd just go to the supermarket and get a baguette, cold meats, cheese, water and beer for dinner, instead of us traipsing around looking for a restaurant.

I walked to the U-Express Supermarket, just minutes away from our hotel. When I had chosen everything, I put all my stuff out of my trolley next to a till. The guy manning it stood and watched me do this, then when I had finished said his till was closed. I felt like punching his lights out. I was so angry. If it hadn't been pouring, I'd have walked out and gone somewhere else.

This extremely unhelpful guy then pointed at a closed till and told me to go there. I was so mad I managed to knock down a chocolate display on route, though I didn't do it on purpose ... honestly.

Anyway by the time I got back home, soaked again, I had gone majorly off travelling. I announced that I intended to do absolutely nothing for the rest of our stay in Nice as it was so horrible here. Peter knew better than to take me seriously and just let me rant it all out of my system.

After a good night's sleep and the welcome reappearance of the sun the next day, everything felt better.

We went downstairs for breakfast, which was actually very good. We could get excellent coffee from the machine. There was orange juice, apple juice and freshly squeezed orange juice which tasted like sunshine in a glass. There was a selection of breads, cheeses, cold meats, cereal and pastries. It was possible to cook your own boiled eggs. Out table was right next to the fruit juice and we made good use of that fact.

Nice is the capital of the French Riviera and the fifth largest city in France. It is famous for its belle-epoque architecture and its seaside promenade. Nice was founded by Greek sailors and was originally called Nike after the Greek goddess of victory. Nice is located on the Bay of Angels which takes its name from a legend.

A young Palestinian Christian girl was put to death for her Christian beliefs and her body was placed into a boat. Angels guided the boat across the Mediterranean Sea to Nice where a shrine was built around her remains. The young girl became known as Saint Reparte and is now the Patron Saint of Nice. There are lots of similarities here with the story of Saint Devote in Monaco.

Nice has long been a popular holiday destination. In the past this was especially true in the winter when rich people from Northern Europe would flock here for their health. In fact often doctors would prescribe a trip here as a way to recover from tuberculosis.

We have been to Nice before in 2015 and had seen most of the things we wanted to see, so we could largely just look around at a relaxed pace on this visit.

Peter loves Nice.

I love Nice.

We started by heading out towards the Promenade des Anglais. On the way we stopped in a small park with a fountain for Peter to take a rest. I was amazed at how many pigeons there were perched on one piece of wire here. Actually there were thirty-five. Yes, I did count them.

We passed this picturesque window on a Nice street on our walk.

Fountain in the little park with the birds.

Birds on a wire.

In the eighteenth century many English aristocrats settled in Nice to enjoy its mild winter climate. They built lots of expensive villas on the waterfront, but they lacked a place to walk along the edges of the beach. A fund raising campaign was started by the Reverend Lewis Way of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Nice. He aimed to generate enough funds to build a waterfront promenade. His campaign took place at a time when Nice was experiencing a sudden large influx of beggars. These beggars had been farm workers, but a harsh winter and a poor harvest, had rendered them unemployed, so the Reverend Lewis Way employed them to build the promenade. Since the whole project was financed by the British, the waterfront walkway was commonly known as The Promenade des Anglais. It was completed in 1822 and stretches for over seven kilometres. Nowadays it is greatly loved by walkers, joggers, cyclists and skateboarders.

Us on the Promenade des Anglais.

Peter on the Promenade des Anglais.

Christmas tree and Christmas post box on the Promenade des Anglais.

There are blue chairs at regular intervals along the Promenade des Anglais. These were created by a French craftsman called Charles Tordo. They are blue to represent the sky and the sea. Originally people had to buy a ticket at the Chaisière before they could sit down. Those who did not buy a ticket could be fined. Nowadays, the blue chair is considered to be the symbol of Nice. There is even a blue chair artwork designed by a contemporary artist named SAB.

Peter on a blue chair.

Peter with the blue chair sculpture.

Us on the front with the blue chair sculpture.

Blue chair sculpture.

Blue chair sculpture from the other side.

The Promenade des Anglais was perfect for Peter. It was wide and flat and he loved all those blue seats. He walked a bit, then rested in the sun while I wandered. We did this in both directions. First, I was able to go and take a look at the famous Le Negresco Hotel.

The Hotel Negresco was constructed in 1912 for Henri Negresco, a Romanian man who left his native country to live in France and ended up running the Municipal Casino in Nice. He wanted the Negresco Hotel to be a luxurious location that would attract rich people to spend money in his casino. The building was designed by a famous architect called, Édouard-Jean Niermans. It was successful as a hotel until the First World War when it was used as a hospital. After the war, Nice struggled to attract wealthy visitors for a while and Negresco went bankrupt. He died in Paris a few years later at the age of 52.

Le Negresco Hotel.

The inside of this hotel is supposed to be amazing, but I didn't go in. On our last visit there was a sign up saying only guests could come in. I took photos of the Miles Davis statue outside the hotel. Nice has a long association with jazz and was apparently the venue for the world's first jazz festival in 1948.

Famous statue outside Le Negresco Hotel.

Next I looked at the memorial to those killed in the terrorist attack that took place on the Promenade des Anglais in 2016, just a few months after our last visit.

The terrorist attack took place on the 14th of July, which is Bastille Day. Crowds of people had headed to the Promenade des Anglais in the evening to see a fireworks display when a truck deliberately crashed through the barriers into the pedestrian zone and began running people down. The attack resulted in the deaths of 86 people and the injury of 434 others. The memorial to the victims of this attack is in the gardens of the Musee Massena, a former villa that now houses exhibitions about the history of Nice.

The Museum Massena.

Memorial to victims.

Victims names on a heart.

I didn't realise it at that time but there is a second memorial to the victims on the promenade itself. I saw this and photographed it, but didn't know what it was. It is called L'Ange de la Baie Nice, which means The Angel of Nice Bay, and was created by sculptor Jean-Marie Fondacaro. It's meant to look like an angel and a wave. There's a heart shape on the base of the sculpture with the names of the 86 victims engraved on it.

Statue and Christmas tree at the front.

The driver of the terror truck was finally shot dead by the police near the Palais de la Méditerranée. I had noticed this building without knowing this. This art deco building is now a hotel but was originally designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and used as a casino. The casino closed in 1977.

Palais de la Mediterranee.

There are lots of grand buildings along the front. Many are hotels.

Le Royal Hotel.

Casino Ruhl.

Palm trees were planted along the Promenade des Anglais to make it feel more exotic.

Palm trees at the front.

Palm trees lining the front.

At one point I placed Peter on a conveniently located blue chair and crossed the road to look at the Monument du Centenaire which commemorates Nice becoming part of France. This monument dates back to 1896 and is located between the Promenade des Anglais and the Jardin Albert 1er, where the Christmas market was located.

The Monument du Centenaire.

Merry-go-round at the Christmas Market..

The beach next to the Promenade des Anglais is a pebble beach, which stretches a very long way and is divided into differently named sections. I was surprised to see a rather high rocky hill on one part.

The rocky beach.

Our seagull friend again.

Peter on the beach.

Such a relaxing place to sit.

Picnickers on the beach.

The beaches stretch for a very long way.

Rocky hill at the waterfront.

Ruhl Beach is the name of one section.

The beach in the other direction.

Some restaurants are located right on the beach. They seemed to be very popular and the food there certainly smelled good.

Restaurant on the beach.

Although the sun had reappeared it was still quite chilly. I watched in amazement as two people went in for a swim. I must admit the water did look lovely, but it must have been pretty cold in there.

Two brave swimmers.

When we had walked almost as far as Castle Beach, we went off the Promenade des Anglais and entered into Nice Old Town.

Approaching the site of Nice's former castle.

We were on the Quai des Éstas-Unis or Promenade of the United States. We passed by the Nice Opera House which has a Statue of Liberty outside it. Apparently France has several replicas of the famous statue created by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and gifted to New York City. The statue in Nice was placed here on February 1, 2014 to commemorate the centennial of World War I.

The Opera House and Statue of Liberty.

Statue of Liberty in front of the opera.

Close up of the Statue of Liberty.

Peter in front of the opera.

Peter had walked really well, but was tiring, so I took him to an Australian pub called Van Diemen's and bought him a beer, while I went for a wander around the old town by myself. Funnily enough I was really impressed with the Old Town and wondered why we hadn't really explored it on our earlier visit. Now that I am back home, I looked up my previous blog and found that we had explored it quite thoroughly and for some reason I had just totally forgotten!!!

Van Diemens.

Again I walked without looking for anything in particular. In the Cours Saleya there's a market with lots of flower stalls. Apparently in the morning there are lots of fruit and vegetable stalls, too, but these had largely gone when we got there. There are some beautiful buildings here, including several churches.

Flower stall.

Plant stall.

Peter at the Market.

Market.

Beautiful market signs.

Church in the Cours Saleya.

Shops in the Cours Saleya.

Restaurants in the Cours Saleya.

There were lots of narrow winding streets and colourful buildings.There were lots of shops and places to eat.

Restaurants in the Old Town.

Narrow streets in the Old Town.

Umbrella decorations in the Old Town.

Narrow building in the Old Town.

Santa.

These were many churches and a clock tower.

Clock tower.

Clock tower in the Old Town.

Church.

Church in the Old Town.

Peter in front of a church.

I mentioned already that the Bay of Angels took its name from the legend of Saint Repartee. The relics of Saint Repartee were originally placed in a shrine, but then a new cathedral was built to house them. The Cathedral of Saint Repartee stands on Rossetti Square. Construction of this cathedral began in 1650 and it was completed around 1700. It was built by Jean-André Guibert on the orders of Bishop Didier Palletis. Rossetti Square has a fountain and apparently a famous ice-cream shop. If Peter had known hed have been there.

Cathedral Sainte Repartee.

Place Rossetti.

There's also an attractive Town Hall in the Old Town.

Town Hall.

As we were in the Old Town on a Saturday there was also a flea market outside the Palais de Justice.

Flea market, Palais de Justice.

Basket stall.

Jewellery stall.

I spent about half an hour wandering, then returned for Peter who was on his second pint by then. I ordered a cappuccino for me and joined him.

We went home via the Place Masséna which is Nice's main square. This was designed by Joseph Vernier in 1844. The square has a large fountain called the Fontaine du Soleil which depicts Apollo.

Fountain of the sun.

Peter with the fountain of the sun.

These are also statues of kneeling men on top of columns. These men represent the seven continents and were created by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa. To one side of the square there was a large Christmas tree and a Christmas market. We visited it on our earlier stay, but not on this one. There's a big wheel here next to the Christmas Market.

Place Massena.

Big wheel.

To the other side there was a park with lots of Christmas trees replicating themselves in the waters of its reflective pool. Again we walked all the way along here on our first visit, but not this time. This is called The Promenade de Paillon. It used to be the site of the River Papillon which separated Nice's old and new towns. The river has now been covered up. On our previous visit there had been an ice palace here reflecting in the pool. It was so beautiful at night when it was lit up. The Christmas trees were beautiful, too.

Reflective pond.

Peter with the reflective pond.

Reflective pond.

We walked along the main street in Nice, which on a Saturday night was absolutely heaving with people. It was really difficult to move. It was a relief to get off and head down a side street back to our hotel.

Peter on the main street.

Gallery Lafayette on the main street.

That evening we went out to eat in a Sicilian restaurant near our hotel. We had really excellent pizzas. I had a four seasons one and Peter had a tuna and onion one. We washed them down with Bira Moretti and reminisced about Ventimiglia. Was that really only a week ago?

Peter with his pizza.

Me with my pizza.

Our pizzas.

Exploding Mount Etna on the wall.

After the meal, Peter insisted we went back to the unfriendly supermarket nearby to get some beers. I had intended never to go there again, but he wanted to experience it for himself. We went in and, to my surprise, all the staff were perfectly friendly. Perhaps I had crossed into a parallel universe the day before. Or perhaps my own bad mood had just affected everyone around me.

Posted by irenevt 12:14 Archived in France Comments (8)

Home Alone in Magical Monaco.

A Two Night Visit.

06.12.2023 - 08.12.2023

Monaco at night.

I was sad to leave Menton, as I had grown to love it just as much as I had loved Ventimiglia. We walked to the station. It's currently being renovated and didn't seem to have any staff. I had to work out how to buy our tickets from a machine. When he could see better, this would have been Peter's job. Using the machine involved lots of turning of knobs and pressing ok. I paid with a credit card. It was also possible to use coins. One woman was having difficulty as she tried to pay with a note. That didn't seem possible and the machines didn't seem to give change.

The train we boarded was going to Grasse, but we got off in Monaco-Monte Carlo. This station is huge and apparently part of it is in Monaco and part is in France.

Statue just outside the station. It's called 'Fraternity'.

After booking our hotel, the Apart Adagio Monte Cristo, we were surprised to learn that it was actually in France rather than Monaco, but you would certainly not know you were crossing a border. In fact our hotel may have been in a place Sally really likes. It was called Beausoleil.

Just like with the other places we visited, I left Peter sitting in the station and went to look for the hotel. It was supposed to be four minutes walk away, but it took me around thirty minutes to find it. The problem with Monaco, as far as I am concerned, is everything is vertical. I kept trying to walk across the way when I should have been going up or down. Not only that, but the train station itself is filled with lots of covered passages. There are signs to indicate the directions, but because you are inside you don't really know where you are.

I had read that I could reach our hotel easily via two lifts, but until I found the hotel I couldn't find the lifts. Now I know that I should have come out of the station onto Boulevard Princess Charlotte, then I should have walked forwards for a few minutes till I reached some overhead arches. There on the left is a public elevator. I should have gone up on this, crossed the road, gone up in another elevator, then headed left.

Peter was going a bit crazy when I came back, because he thought something had happened to me. Anyway I took him the easy way that I had now established. We went to the elevators, then to the hotel. We could check in straight away.

When I saw our room, I was amazed. We had our own separate living-room with a kitchen. The kitchen had a fridge, a dishwasher, four cooking rings on a stove top and a microwave oven. We had a separate bedroom, and the icing on the cake, a huge balcony with a table and chairs. Then, horror of horrors, I looked in the bathroom. It had a bath and it was necessary to step into it to use the shower. We couldn't stay here. Peter wouldn't be able to use it. Visions of being moved to some poky airless, balcony-less room flashed into my mind. "I'll go down to reception and ask them to move us," I said. Peter took one look at my face and realised how disappointed I was. He told me not to do that. He said: "There's a rail. I'll try and get into and out of the bath." I said: "No, no, I'll go back down." But Peter insisted we stay.

Our living-room.

Our bedroom.

Our kitchen.

Our bathroom.

Our balcony.

I intended to cook for our stay in Monaco rather than eat out, so I said: "I will help you shower then go out and look for a supermarket." Peter said he would shower later. I said: "You must not do it when I am out in case you fall." He agreed. I set about unpacking a few things. I was paying no attention to Peter, then suddenly I heard water running. I went into the bathroom and there was Peter in having a shower. He told me it had been really easy to get in due to having the rail to hold onto. He got out easily too. What a relief! The shower was not going to be a problem. However, the apartment had many hidden unpleasant surprises in store for us. We just didn't know that yet.

I went downstairs and asked the receptionist if there was a supermarket nearby. She said it was five minutes walk away, gave me directions and showed me a picture of the building it was in. This was very fortunate. I wouldn't have found it without the picture, as it was in a residential block and wasn't particularly visible or well advertised. You had to know it was there. It was a large supermarket, too, a Carrefour.

I bought chicken, garlic, onions, red peppers, courgettes, pasta, butter, cheese, milk, water, beer, wine, stock cubes and herbs de Provence. I then headed home. I opened the front door of our apartment. It battered into something and I heard a scream. What was going on?

I quickly realised that our toilet which, was in a tiny room separate from the bathroom, had a door that opened directly in front of the apartment front door. Peter had just been coming out of the toilet when I opened the front door and I had knocked into the bathroom door and clobbered him on the head. Apparently it was pretty sore and it left a mark on his forehead. Oh no! What a ridiculous design!! Totally impractical.

We were both really tired and hungry and grumpy. Peter did not feel like going exploring, which was fair enough considering I had probably given him a mild concussion. However, I said I would go out for a walk, because we didn't have a huge amount of time in Monaco and I didn't want to waste any daylight time. It got dark around 5pm. It was currently around 4.

I decided to try and see at least one thing before it got dark. I ended up going to Port Hercules. I got there by going back into the station and wandering through lots of tunnels, as I said before, this left me a bit disorientated about where I actually was. Also, I know I am being a moaner, but I didn't actually like the port. Why not? Well, to walk along the waterfront you walk on the edge of a busy road. There are some low barriers to ensure the bit you are on is pedestrianised, but it's not a proper walkway and you are constantly stepping over parts where boats are moored. It seemed designed for the car driver and the wealthy yacht owner and the pedestrian was definitely very much an afterthought. I suppose it's all down to lack of space, but Monaco is very much a playground for the wealthy to enjoy.

Wandering around Port Hercules.

At one point I got into a public elevator and ended up on an outdoor walkway next to the yacht club. There was another pirate statue here just like the one in Menton. I came back home in a bad mood and made dinner. I told Peter he hadn't missed anything by not coming with me.

Just discovered this is actually Ulysses. Tied up perhaps and listening to the songs of the sirens.

To make dinner I had to cut up chicken and vegetables. All our utensils were provided. The knife I used was damaged. It had a nick on its blade where a small but extremely sharp part stuck out. I hadn't noticed that and cut my finger very badly in two places. Now we were both injured. Fortunately, the food was lovely, even if I do say so myself. It helped cheer us up.

After eating, we both fancied something sweet and I hadn't bought anything, so I decided to go back to Carrefour again. When I went into the bedroom to get my handbag, I managed to bump into the TV. There was a TV on the wall at the end of the bed and the space between the wall and the bed was narrow. I managed to walk into that TV at least four times on this stay. I have bruises all over my arms to prove it. Peter was sympathetic the first time, but after that he kept saying. "For goodness sake, you know it's there." I did know, but somehow it didn't help. I am an incredibly clumsy person and always have been. I brought ice-cream and biscuits back from the shop, so we had coffee and dessert and then headed for bed.

Peter was last to bed and he said we should leave the hall light on in case we wanted to go to the loo in the night and close the bedroom door to block out the light. He closed the bedroom door and a huge ironing board that had been propped up behind it fell on top of him. Staying in this apartment was like starring in a 'Home Alone' movie. I swear the place was booby trapped everywhere. I kept expecting Kevin to leap out at us.

By this time, we were both exhausted and injured, but we slept really well. Everything looked better in the morning.

I woke up, showered, headed to Carrefour for a baguette and pain-au-chocolate and made us a lovely breakfast which we ate on the balcony, mercifully without being attacked by a seagull.

After breakfast, we headed out. We went in the general direction of the casino. It quickly became apparent that Peter did not like walking here. It was because all of the streets were really steep and that made him feel like he was going to fall. Our progress was incredibly slow. Eventually we came to a lovely building called the Hermitage Hotel and there was a little garden outside it where Peter could take a rest. The garden had a cafe and lots of Christmas trees. We sat here for a while and I checked directions on my phone. We were very near the casino.

The Hermitage Hotel.

Peter in the garden next to the Hermitage Hotel.

We wandered a bit further and there it was - the famous Monte Carlo Casino. This is a beautiful building which was designed by Parisian architect Gobineau de la Bretonnerie. It first opened in 1865. It's not just a casino, it has been expanded to include the Opera of Monte Carlo and the Ballet of Monte Carlo.

There were some fountains in front of the casino and we stopped to take photos there.

Fountain near the casino.

Peter and the fountain.

I found Peter a place to sit in the sun and I wandered around the gardens opposite the casino. These had a pond, lots of beautiful trees, some of which were a lovely shade of yellow. There was a merry-go-round nearby.

Peter in the garden next to the casino.

Us in the gardens.

Autumn colours in the gardens.

Merry-go-round.

Then we walked over to the casino itself and took some pictures outside it. The area in front of the casino was lavishly decorated for Christmas. At first I thought the whole area was pedestrianised, but no. Cars came streaming through the area with the decorations. Again little thought given to those exploring on foot rather than in their expensive chauffeur driven limousines.

The Casino of Monte Carlo..

The Casino of Monte Carlo.

Peter on the red carpet at the casino.

Peter with the decorations outside the casino.

Hotel de Paris opposite the casino.

Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo.

Speaking of cars, outside the casino there are many extremely expensive looking parked cars. I have zero interest in cars, but I took some photos to send to my friend Jason as he loves flash looking cars. He was well impressed.

Flash cars parked outside the casino.

On the other side of the casino there was a lovely place to sit, some view points over Port Hercules and some Christmas stalls selling designer, luxury goods since this was Monaco. I know I keep going on, but this was the only place on the holiday where I actually felt that I looked like a down and out in need of major cosmetic surgery compared with the beautiful people in their designer clothes who were just everywhere here. It was not a comfortable feeling.

A sunny spot to sit.

Behind the casino.

Walking along the front behind the casino.

View over Port Hercules from behind the casino. The Prince's Palace is on the opposite hill.

Peter with the view over Port Hercules.

Looking down on Port Hercules.

Luxury dresses.

Christmas tree.

Santa in Monaco.

Peter was beginning to feel that he had walked enough. I said: "You surely don't want to go back the way we came. It's all uphill." We settled for going down further to Port Hercules and because I had been there the night before I knew how to get back from there. So I took him to the port and we walked along the front. It wasn't too bad. I really hadn't been in the right frame of mind for exploring the night before.

Beautiful flowering tree on the walk down.

Port Hercules.

Peter at Port Hercules.

By chance we bumped into the Chapel of Saint Devote on our way home. This beautiful chapel is dedicated to Saint Devote, the patron saint of Monaco.

Devote was a young Corsican girl who suffered persecution and torture during the reign of the Roman governor Diocletian. She died without denying her faith. The emperor ordered her body to be burnt, but some fellow Christians managed to smuggle it away and placed it in a boat which they pushed out to sea. The boat ran aground in Monaco and a shrine was built in honour of the young girl. People began to say that miracles took place here, so many people flocked here to pray. Then one day a man stole the relics of the Saint and placed them on his boat. He hoped to gain money by selling them. Angry fishermen chased after the thief and rescued the relics. They then set the thief's boat on fire. Every year on January 26th, the Eve of the Feast of Saint Devote, a boat is burned outside the chapel in memory of this event.

Another tradition associated with this chapel is that the wife of the Sovereign Prince of Monaco always places her wedding bouquet in the chapel on the day of her wedding.

Statue of Saint Devote in her boat.

Chapel of Saint Devote.

After getting Peter home, I headed out again to explore Monaco Ville, where the Prince's Palace is. In my opinion this is the loveliest part of Monaco. We have both been to Monaco once before and really enjoyed this area, though this time Peter did not fancy the steep walk up.

I, on the other hand, enjoyed the walk up for two reasons. One was the wonderful views and the other was it was lined with nativity scenes from different parts of the world. It was beautiful. I love nativity scenes.

View on the walk up.

The walk to the palace.

The walk up to the palace.

View on the walk up.

Statue of Prince Rainier III and a nativity scene.

Close up of the statue.

Close up of the Nativity scene.

Nativity scene from Namibia.

Nativity scene from Provence.

Nativity scene.

Nativity scene with a view.

Nativity scene.

I photographed the palace in the remaining daylight, but I intended to wait until it got dark and photograph it then too, as it is lit up in pink at night and looks magical.

Outside the palace there's a statue of Francois Grimaldi. By disguising himself as a Franciscan friar, he gained entry to the castle on the Rock of Monaco then took it by force, beginning the rule of the Grimaldi line in Monaco.

Statue of Francois Grimaldi outside the palace.

Close up of statue.

The Prince's Palace of Monaco was built in 1191 by the Genoese. It was seized by the Grimaldi family in 1297. It is currently home to Prince Albert of Monaco and his family.

The palace by day.

I was just in time to see a changing of the guard ceremony taking place in front of the palace.

Changing the guard.

I looked at the views over Port Hercules and over Monaco which were absolutely breathtaking. There was a statue about paying homage to foreign colonies at the viewpoint, plus canons and heaps of canon balls.

View over Port Hercules.

View over Monaco.

Statue paying homage to foreign colonies.

There are great views too on the other side over Fontvieille where the sun was going down. Fontvieille is an area of Monaco we didn't manage to get to on our first visit and we didn't manage to get to it this time either. On our first visit to Monaco we started walking from near the border with Menton and visited Larvotto Beach, the Japanese Gardens and lots of other places before arriving at the Monte Carlo Casino and walking around Port Hercules to Monaco Ville and the Prince's Palace.

View over Fontvieille.

Fontvieille as the sun goes down.

Fontvieille as the lights come on.

Canon on the Fontvieille side.

The square outside the palace has some beautiful buildings and had a gorgeous Christmas tree.

Buildings on the palace square.

Buildings on the square outside the palace.

Christmas tree on square outside palace.

Nativity scene on Palace Square.

I walked around a few of the picturesque streets of Monaco Ville.

A street in Monaco Ville.

Then I visited the beautiful Saint Nicholas Cathedral. This is free entry, as a religious building should be and it's gorgeous inside. I gave a donation as I was so pleased it was free entry, as religious buildings should be.

Saint Nicholas Cathedral was built between 1875 and 1903 on the site of the first parish church in Monaco. Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace are both buried here.

The cathedral.

Inside the Cathedral.

Painting inside the cathedral.

Altar inside the cathedral.

Inside the cathedral.

Building next to the cathedral.

I wandered through the wonderful Jardines Saint Martin. Truly one of the most magical places in Monaco. These gardens are filled with beautiful statues, lots of attractive plants and have fantastic views. This was especially true as the sun went down and I was joined by my friend the seagull.

Prince Albert the Seafarer.

Hector and Andromache.

Lovers' statue.

Le Temps Inalterable by the French Sculptor, Cyril de la Patelliere

Le Temps Inalterable by the French Sculptor, Cyril de la Patelliere.

The crossroads of life’ – by Swiss Sculptor Edouard-Marcel Sandoz.

Statue of Princess Grace.

Eagle.

Cacti.

Me in Jardines Saint Martin.

Looks like our friend from Menton finally caught up with us.

And brought his baby.

Sunset over Fontvieille from the park.

I walked to the Oceanographic Museum. This is a beautiful building and I think the aquariums inside would be very interesting to visit, but I didn't go inside.

Oceanographic Museum.

Jacques Costeau's yellow mini-submarine.

It was getting dark, so I headed back to the palace which was now starting to light up, and so was the Christmas tree in front of it.

Starting to get dark and the palace and tree is beginning to light up.

Perfect Pink Palace.

Palace at night.

Palace and Francois Grimaldi statue.

Homage to colonies statue at night.

Buildings on Palace Square at night.

The Christmas tree at night.

The night time views over Monaco were spectacular.

Port Hercules as the lights come on.

And as it starts to get dark..

Fontvieille by night.

I then headed back down the hill. I phoned Peter to say I was on my way back. I was getting tired and my legs hurt. I crossed the road to see the Christmas market along this side of Port Hercules. Actually I could not really see it well due to all the barriers around it. I think it was free to enter, but security around it was very tight. I didn't visit it as I couldn't be bothered queuing up to be searched and allowed in.

Christmas market.

I was getting a bit overconfident about knowing my way back from Port Hercules and, of course, I went wrong. I was tired, my legs and feet hurt. I just wanted to go home and make dinner, but I missed the entry to the tunnels at the station and found myself walking up a steep hill. I could have just turned back, but no. I thought: "This will be the road that leads me to the station exit where my lift is". I was about half way up when I realised it was not that road. I could see there were wonderful views back towards the Prince's Palace on the other side of the road. I crossed over to have a look.

View back towards the palace.

I was a bit lost but I decided to keep waking up then try to work out where I was. Fortunately the road lead me to the Hermitage Hotel. The park outside it was pretty at night. I knew where I was. I had a bit more uphill walking to do then I was at my lifts.

The Hermitage Hotel at night.

When I got home, I was really tired. I started making dinner. Suddenly I became aware that there were bloody footprints all over the kitchen. Peter has previously had to have a toe amputated and is very prone to foot injuries. I rushed over to check his feet. "What have you done?" I kept saying. "I haven't done anything," he replied. I checked his feet thoroughly and could find no wounds. I looked at my own feet and instantly felt a bit sick. My left sock was absolutely saturated with blood. The bloody footprints were mine.

I actually don't know what I did. Whether I banged my foot, or someone tread on me with their designer shoes, but I had a cut on my toenail and it had bled a lot. I cleaned my feet, cleaned the floor and made dinner. Again I was exhausted. I slept really really well.

In the morning then weather had changed. We had just had two beautiful sunny days. Now it was pouring. I went out for baguette and pain-au-chocolate in the rain and came home soaked. I made breakfast. We couldn't eat on the balcony that day. We packed everything up, checked out and headed to the train station. We were going to Nice and the final part of our stay.

Posted by irenevt 04:35 Archived in Monaco Comments (8)

When life gives you lemons ...

let's hope you are in Menton.

04.12.2023 - 06.12.2023

Lemons.

Next day was dark and damp and dull. We woke up, had breakfast, then finished off our packing, checked out and headed off to the station. We were sad to go, as we had really enjoyed Ventimiglia. We bought tickets for Menton, which is just across the border in France. The train ride only took seventeen minutes and was very comfortable.

Our train.

Us on the train.

The weather was drizzly and cold when we arrived. We were staying in the Ibis Styles Hotel. I left Peter sitting in Menton Station with the luggage, while I went off to find the hotel. It was about eleven minutes walk away. I found it easily. I walked back for Peter, then did the walk for a third time with him and the luggage. On route I passed some street art I thought was quite funny.

Does my bum look big in this?

Our check in was extremely friendly. The man on reception was so kind and explained everything in detail. We were delighted to hear we could come to reception any time for free coffees, teas, lemon juice or water. The lemon juice was a speciality of Menton which is famous for growing lemons and even stages a lemon festival every year around February or March.

Peter with the Christmas tree in our hotel.

Our room was clean and comfortable and had a large outdoor terrace with a table, chairs and a sun lounger. As soon as we went out onto the terrace, a seagull appeared. It did this nearly every time we went out. Although the terrace was beautiful, it was so cold on our first day we could not sit on it.

Our room.

Our balcony.

Our seagull.

Peter on our balcony.

Our seagull on our balcony.

View from our balcony.

We decided to take a walk down to the waterfront. It was cold and grey, but we were wrapped up well. There were lots of restaurants along the waterfront but no-one was sitting out due to the weather.

On the waterfront.

The beach.

Peter at the beach.

Selfie on the beach.

Restaurant on the waterfront taken on a better day.

Restaurants.

Looking towards the Old Town from the waterfront.

We spotted a little promontory with a pirate statue (just discovered this is actually a statue of Ulysses.). We walked out to it, as it was bound to have good views back over Menton. At this point, the heavens opened and ice cold rain came pounding down.

Is our gull stalking us?

Certainly seems like it.

It was too unpleasant to continue sightseeing, so we headed to the first cafe we found for cappuccino and beer. We sat in the cafe for a while, but the rain was relentless.

Peter in the cafe.

Me in the cafe.

Eventually we braved going home, but when we passed a supermarket, we decided to go in, buy a baguette, cold meats, cheese, tomatoes, beer and wine, rather than wander around looking for somewhere to eat. Menton claims to have 316 sunny days a year. Trust us to pick one of the other forty-nine. Haha!

Next day we woke up to find the sun shining. Yippee!! I would have been so disappointed if both days had been pouring. We went downstairs for breakfast. It was actually really good with lots of slices of fresh baguette, croissants, boiled eggs, cold meats, a selection of cheeses, pain au chocolate, pancakes, Menton lemon tart, fruit, cereal and yoghurt There was also a coffee machine and three different kinds of fruit juice.

After breakfast Peter wanted to go down to the front again. On the way we passed quite an interesting Oriental type building. This turned out to be the former Grand Hôtel d'Orient which opened in 1874 to house wealthy holiday makers who came here to enjoy the sunshine and beautiful surroundings. During World War I, this building was used as a hospital. In 1920 the building was remodelled and the oriental features were added to its design. Nowadays it is divided into luxury flats.

Oriental building.

Oriental building

We passed some statues and Christmas decorations, oh and Spiderman, too.

Peter with Christmas trees.

Statue.

Spiderman.

We also saw some lovely flowers and citrus fruit.

Flowers.

Oranges.

Then we wandered back down to the beach. It was much more pleasant down at the waterfront than it had been the day before.

Peter at the beach.

The waterfront.

We also wanted to go to the park behind the casino because we knew it would be full of Christmas decorations. We have been to Menton once before, but only very briefly. On that occasion we were taking the bus from Nice to Monaco, when Peter suddenly spontaneously said: "Let's stay on to Menton." We did, but we only spent about half an hour here so didn't see it properly.

Once again the Christmas displays here were really good. In fact I viewed them by day and by night. Many seemed to be themed around farms and there were lots of Santas.

Peter with a Christmas tree.

Christmas tree.

Christmas decorations by day.

Christmas sheep.

Cows.

Christmas decorations by day.

Christmas train.

Christmas decorations by day.

Christmas tree at night

Christmas decorations at night.

Christmas sheep at night.

Christmas decorations at night.

Christmas decorations by night.

Santa at night.

Statue near the decorations.

We could see dark clouds starting to roll in, so Peter said to me: "Take me back to the hotel, then you go and look at the old town before it starts to rain." So I took him back to our room and headed out on my own.

I passed the Town Hall. There was a nativity scene in the park there.

Town Hall.

Nativity scene.

Again I hadn't read up too much on what to see in the old town as I really just wanted to wander. There was a noticeable difference between Italy and France in that Ventimiglia Old Town was in quite good condition, but not exactly pristine. Menton's old town was totally pristine. I'm not sure which I preferred. They were both beautiful, but each had it's own character.

I don't think I took the usual route to the Old Town. I passed a church on the way.

Church I passed on my walk up.

Menton's old town is very colourful with narrow lanes filled with plants, colourful doorways and brightly painted shutters.

Street in Menton's Old Town.

Straw horse.

Door in Menton's Old Town.

House in Menton's Old Town.

Houses in Menton's Old Town.

Soon I came to the wide open Saint-Michel Square with two churches and a large Christmas tree on it. One of the churches is Saint-Michel Archangel Basilica which dates back to 1639. It has a fifty-three metre high bell tower. It's a very impressive looking building. I don't think it was open when I was there.

Saint-Michel Archangel Basilica.

Tower of Saint-Michel Archangel Basilica.

Christmas tree on the square.

Houses on the square.

The other church is The Chapel of the Pénitents Blancs which dates back to the 1680's.

Church of White Penitents.

Statues on the church.

Statues on the Church.

The square itself features a beautifully intricate black and white stone mosaic floor.

Saint-Michel Square with it's mosaic floor.

There are great views from here towards Les Sablettes Beach and the old port of Menton.

View from Saint-Michel Square.

View from Saint-Michel Square..

In front of the square there is a lovely staircase. This is how most people enter the old town. For me it was the way I left it.

Stairway.

I wandered onto an old street that was heading uphill and wandered up to the Vieux Chateau Cemetery. This cemetery was absolutely stunning filled with beautiful ornate graves, many adorned with angels and other figures. The views from here were amazing. I loved it here.

View with trees near the cemetery entrance.

A cemetery with a view.

View from the cemetery.

A cemetery with a view.

Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

Statues in Vieux Chateau Cemetery.

When I left the cemetery, I noticed there was a viewpoint near the exit. The views out over the port and the bright blue Mediterranean Sea were absolutely breathtaking.

View from the viewpoint.

View over the port.

View over the old town and port.

View over the beach.

There were also great views from the old town itself.

View over the roofs of the old town.

View over the rooftops.

View over the roofs of the old town.

I wandered back down through the old town choosing to wander down through streets I hadn't yet looked at.

Looking down on the old town

When I returned to Saint-Michel Square, I wandered down the zigzag staircase to the waterfront where the marina and beach were.

View between houses.

Going down the stairway.

View from the stairway.

Statue on stairway.

Stairway from street level.

Beach near Marina

Beach near Marina.

Marina.

Marina

I walked along the waterfront in the direction of home, but then I saw a bastion and a quay jutting out into the water. This was the Quai Napoléon III. There were beautiful views from here back towards the Old Town. The bastion is used to house exhibitions on Jean Cocteau, the famous French novelist, poet, filmmaker and artist, who played a major role in early twentieth century art movements.

The Bastion.

View from the Bastion.

View from Quai Napoleon III.

View from from Quai Napoleon III.

View from Quai Napoleon III.

There's also a different Jean Cocteau Museum building nearby.

Jean Cocteau Museum.

Jean Cocteau.

There were a few Christmas stalls around this area, too.

Christmas stalls.

When I got home, we decided to head out for a drink and dinner. We walked down to the area with the pirate statue again to see it in better weather. We were just in time for a beautiful sunset.

Sunset.

Peter said he wasn't feeling well and didn't want to eat anything, so instead of going out for a meal, I took him back home and bought some snacks from the supermarket again.

The next morning it was time to leave Menton. It was a lovely sunny day. We did one more stroll along the front and back to the pirate and the bastion.

Peter at the waterfront.

Bye bye beach.

Pirate ship.

Bye bye to the pirate.

Walking to the bastion.

Last view of the Old Town.

Last view of the Old Town..

Last view of the Old Town.

Then we headed back to pack. We took a few more pictures on the balcony.

Peter on our balcony

Peter on the balcony.

We were going to travel by train from Menton to Monaco.

Posted by irenevt 04:43 Archived in France Comments (6)

Relaxing in Ventimiglia.

Enjoying life.

03.12.2023 - 03.12.2023

Yellow flowers at the marina.

We had considered that we would use Ventimiglia as a base and explore nearby Italian towns from it, but in the end we really liked it here, so instead of travelling anywhere else on our second full day, we just relaxed and enjoyed our surroundings.

Peter was keen on walking to the beach next to the old town, so I said if we did that, we should probably walk all the way to the marina I had seen from the old town viewpoint. Since it was to be a relaxing day, we decided we would stop off for drinks and snacks a few times on route, too.

We set out after breakfast and headed straight for the old town. We stopped to let Peter have a short rest next to the horse statue by the river and a guy on a nearby seat asked me to take his photo, so I did. Then he wanted another photo and then a new background and then another one and another one. For every photo he had to strike a new pose. Truth be told, I was getting rather fed up with him and was considering handing his phone back to him. It took about ten minutes for him to run out of poses and backgrounds. He then began checking all the shots. I hurried Peter away before the guy could ask me to do them all again.

Peter by the river.

Peter at the side of the river.

Peter by the bridge.

We crossed the bridge over the river and headed left. We passed the seagull jetty and the monument then Peter took a seat while I wandered onto the beach. It was a bit cleaner than the beach in the new town though there was quite a bit of driftwood. The other beach had a lot of rubbish on it.

Monument

The beach.

Selfie by the beach.

I noticed there were lovely blue tiles lining the route as we walked.

Tiles.

We went all the way to the marina and sat there enjoying the warmth of the sunshine on our faces and being lulled gently towards sleeping by the peaceful lapping of the ocean. I love the sound of sea.

Peter walking at the marina.

Peter at the marina.

The Marina.

Looking up at the view.

Houses on the hill.

Looking up at the old town.

Flowers by the marina.

Yellow flowers.

Beach and old fortified building.

There are lots of restaurants and cafes along the waterfront here.

Peter in front of a restaurant.

Peter next to one of the many restaurants on the waterfront.

On the way back, we chose one and I had a cappuccino, while Peter had a beer and an ice-cream. The restaurant gave us small sandwiches for free as well.

Peter in the restaurant.

At one point a pigeon came and plonked itself down on the end of our table. It stayed there for ages.

Pigeon.

When we finished our snacks, we started walking again and then popped into another cafe where I had more cappuccino and Peter had another beer. The place we stopped in this time was a pizza restaurant and it was right next to the seagull covered jetty.

The second place we stopped for drinks.

Peter with his beer.

Me with my capuchinno.

Eddie had very kindly guarded our room while we were out.

Eddie is on holiday with us again.

Here he is with his daddy.

From here we walked home and had a little rest. Then we sat on our balcony for a while as we hadn't really used it much. It was very pleasant out there but cold.

Peter on our balcony.

After that we went out for dinner. We decided to try a new restaurant. We were lucky to get in, because it was packed. Peter had a pizza and I had spaghetti carbonara. I guess it must have been al dente because the spaghetti was a bit chewy. I'd have cooked it a few minutes longer personally, but I didn't complain as I doubt it would have gone down well if I had tried to tell an Italian how to make pasta. Haha!

Peter in the pizza restaurant.