It's raining HARD when I get up. Great. The Weather Channel says that it should clear out around 10 or 11am, so I let Ken sleep for a while and putz on the computer. As predicted, the weather is clear by 11am as we head out. We decide to visit Monaco for the day. It was easy to find the bus stop, and the bus driver was taking a break when we arrived. We had no trouble finding Monaco. However, we haven't had anything to eat yet (the hotel offers breakfast but it's a rip-off), and the first thing we find is McDonalds. We try to avoid American fast food when in Europe, but there's a time for everything. After lunch, we start trying to find the Monaco aquarium. Unfortunately, now it's started raining and we have a wrong start before getting on the right track. We went past the marina, where we definitely enjoyed looking at the boats, which range from small (i.e. 30-foot boats that look big anywhere else), big, and huge (i.e. twice the size of my house). The aquarium was definitely the highlight of the day. Their collection is tropical and Mediterranean fish. We really enjoyed it and spent a couple hours. In addition to the aquarium, they have a research center where they grow coral and many different fish species.
It's raining when we leave, so we wander around the old city in Monaco, then head for the casino area. To be honest, the casino was disappointing. You can see the casino from the outside, but the main part is off-limits to anyone who doesn't gamble at the tables (enforced by a 10 euro cover charge). We played some slots at the casino next door, but it didn't feel much different than a casino everywhere else. Then, we found the bus stop for the way back. We tried to get on going east and then ride the bus back home west, but the bus driver wouldn't let us on. Phooey. So, we walked back to the area where we had started and got on the bus there. We went back to the hotel for about an hour, then headed out for dinner. The hotel manager gave us a recommendation. The food was generally good, but we got the stereotypical French attitude (i.e. snooty towards Americans). They completely overcooked Ken's steak (he asked for medium, which to the French means medium rare, and it came out medium-well American style). We didn't leave an extra tip, and we wouldn't go back even if we were staying for a longer time. Since it was no longer raining, we went for a walk along the beach after dinner. It's nice to be outside when it's not threatening to rain! I am very thankful that we brought rain gear, but I wish we had to use it less ...
We decided to spend the day in Nice itself. We left the hotel around 10am and got some food at a local cafe, then wandered around the boardwalk.
But then it started raining. We walked around the old town, and when it started raining hard, we decided to walk to the Matisse museum and spend some time there. We walked through the old town, one of the main shopping areas, along the railroad tracks, and along the river. Eventually we found a map at the bus stop that showed where we were in relation to the museum ... straight up a big hill. We eventually find a staircase with a street sign on it (so it probably doesn't lead to somebody's house?), and head up the hill. We turn onto a road and then another staircase. Luckily, when we get to the top, we see a big church and a sign for the Matisse museum. The Matisse museum is pretty interesting (especially because it's free). It's a collection of his work, sketches, and his personal collection. He has a very bold style with few lines, which I liked. After the museum, we went to the Roman archeological museum next door and looked at the Roman ruins in the area.
Next, we decided to head down the hill a different way and go to the Chagall museum. The museum commissioned from Chagall a series of Biblical paintings. I found the collection a bit overwhelming, with many elements in the paintings and a bold use of color. I'm not sure it was worth 8.50 euro, but at least it was dry.
Then, we walked downhill into the main Nice area and found our hotel for a couple hours of down time. We went to a restaurant in the old Nice area for dinner which was quite good (and half the price of the previous night). We finished the night with a walk on the boardwalk and beach area.
I woke up this morning ... and it's not raining! Yippee! After a week straight, I could use some blue sky.
We decided to spend the day in Antibes, west of Nice. We took the bus there, which was nice to see the cities, but it took over an hour. We walked around the lakefront and the old town, visited the local farmers' market, and got lunch at a falafel stand. After lunch, we decided to walk around the marina (the biggest in Europe) and ended up at Fort Carre. Since the only entry was by guided tour in French, we skipped going inside. We walked back into town and visited the Picasso museum. Picasso lived in Antibes for a while after World War II, and the town offered him a studio inside a castle now owned by the city of Antibes. Picasso created a lot of paintings, drawings, and ceramics there, many of which were donated to the museum. I really liked the museum, more than the Matisse and Chagall museums we saw yesterday.
After the museum, we got gelato and headed to the train station for the ride back to Nice. We bought some breakfast and snacks at the local grocery store, then hung out at the hotel a bit before dinner at another restaurant from the Rick Steves book.
Tonight was the opening ceremony for Carnival, so we checked out the celebration. We got to see these huge parade floats and balloons, and the main square was full of people. Confetti and silly string were everywhere, and I was happy that nobody got silly string on me, because I HATE it. It was fun to see the big party. Then, we walked through the old city and eventually went back to the hotel to start packing to leave tomorrow morning.