Paula and Victoria in Monaco
The Pink Vespas!
Yesterday was an absolutely stunning day... I went down to the train station to wait for a while to reserve my connection to Barcelona. I had wanted to go to Provence (Arles and Aix-en-Provence) and Carcassonne, but they have proved too difficult to fit into the schedule and reserve accommodation for one. You really need a car and be at least a couple to enjoy exploring these places I think. So since I have been told by so many people that Barcelona is the city to go to, I decided I will head there then fly back to London and start the settling process!
I am definitely understanding parts of my childhood more. It is incredible, a smell or something in particular brings back a sense of familiarity. I know now why I liked chandeliers, fountains, gummy bears, schtmoufs (smurfs), horses, wildflowers and all sorts of things. And Italy is full of the arches and portrait artists, particularly Pisa, that are in my first memory. It's like having a piece of a puzzle fall into place for me.
I went and bought a cheap swimwear set from H&M and caught the Cote D'Azur Bus to Monaco to meet my new friends Victoria, from Latvia and Paula from Brazil; who left earlier for Monaco via Eze, a 15th century medieval village. Monte-Carlo was beautiful very moneyed and elegant. We went into the casino and felt like Bond girls, though we didn't go into the gambling rooms as you have to pay 10 Euro. Walked to the port and looked at the super-yachts and 'picked' one each. Saw the Prince's Palace from afar but decided not to hike up the hill. I got a gorgeous shot of 5 pink Vespas lined up in a row outside a boutique. Can't wait to get it downloaded.
Monaco
The Casino
The Prince's Palace
Did anyone say superyacht?
Then caught the bus back westwards to Cap D'Ail and finally we found Plage Mala after a bit of walking.
Beautiful!
Paula was dying to get her feet wet so we negotiated the price to rent a sunbed and umbrella each. This girl is really good, the conversation went:
'How much is it to rent a bed?'
'Fifteen Euro'
'We'll think about it'
'Twelve if you don't think about it too much'
'What about ten?'
'oooooooh'
'We're girls. And we're pretty'
'Okay, okay... this way, girls'. (-:
Here is Miss Paula (:
I've never rented a bed on the beach before but it makes all the difference, especially since the beaches on the Cote are rocky and pebbly, not sandy at all. The water was just amazing, plunging underneath the cliffs and caves and so clear I could see fish darting around my legs!
Today we three are in recovery mode so we plan to go to the Nice flower market and do some sightseeing from there. I am expected at breakfast, so catch you later in Barcelona.
3 comments:
We had been through Provence before. You might like to drop in to Cannes on your way to Barcelona? That's where the film festivals are held - more beaches and nude sunbathers, lol. Isn't it amazing that the piece of puzzle is falling into place for you. I guess if I ever get to visit these places again, it will be with a better appreciation and it will be a conclusion to my life.
I love H&M!!
renting beds on beautiful beaches are awesome, although az and i didn't rent. we just slept on it for 4 hours until someone told us that we had to pay for it, so we just scooted to our courtesy reclining chairs.
its a funny but cool idea, those beach beds!
I won't have the time to drop in to Cannes this time around, but I would like to visit Nice again and see Eze, Cannes, Antibes and St Tropez. They are all day trips from Nice, so I chose Monaco yesterday and was too tired from the sun today to go on a day trip. I learnt my lesson and drank 1.5L on the beach today!
H&M rocks, I think even more so once I am earning some northern hemisphere money. Funny that it is actually cheaper for me in Europe than the UK because of the exchange rate (x2 instead of x3), but for UK people, pounds to euros is not so good.
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