Day #74 - Monte Carlo & Nice, France

Grand Casino - Monte Carlo

Hotel de Paris - famous hotel next to Monte Carlo Casino

My favorite yacht

Nice, France - rocky but nice beach

Evening - overlooking beach in Nice, France

Thursday, May 27th

Today I took a 7:20am train out of Torino toward Monte Carlo, Monaco. I got to the last Italian stop (place called Ventimiglia) when we were informed that France is on another train strike. Not great! This is the second train strike I've encountered in France - and it's not like I've been here for years. This one bummed me out because I was so fired up to get to Monte Carlo - I wanted to gamble a little bit today.

We got off the train in this small Italian town next to the French border. It was 11am. I was told that the next train going to Monaco departs at 3pm (they usually have 1 train per hour). I didn't want to wait around for 4 hours - what do I do? I went over to these 3 extremely attractive girls who I happened to hear were in the same scenario as me and asked them if they would like to share a cab to Monte Carlo. We talked with a cabby and were told the fee would be 80 euro (over $100 dollars). It would cost us $25 a piece to gain the 4 hours back. They agreed and we were off.

I find out that these girls were from Argentina - they could have been swimsuit models (maybe they were) Didn't Kenny Chesney ("Out Last Night") sing about some girls from Argentina? (Pull up this song on YouTube - even if you don't like country music, it's a feel good song). Only 1 of the 3 girls spoke English - little English at that. I was trying to communicate - but not doing a very good job. The girl says: "Do you speak Italian, how about Spanish?" My answer was "Zero-Italian, little-Spanish". She said: "Can you please try to speak Spanish - please" Now what do you do with that comment. I couldn't have spit-out a smooth English line not to mention a Spanish one at that point. I made some embarrassing attemp at some Spanish - it just wasn't happening. Oh well - 3 swimsuit models from Argentina - if I would have only studied harder in Spanish class.

The taxi dumps us out at an information booth in Monte Carlo. The girls go on their way -- less than impressed with the lame American dude they just met in the cab no doubt. I have a hotel for 3 nights in Nice, France. It's a few miles down the road from Monte Carlo - it's between Monte Carlo and Cannes. I thought this would be a great home site for the next few days. Only problem now - how do I get to Nice? I don't want to take a taxi because I'm not willing to pay $100 myself. I find out from the information people that a bus is an option - but it will take about 1-1.5 hours because of the many stops. Bummer - it will have to work, But, I want to stay in Monte Carlo for a while first.

Here I am - in one of the most wealthy areas in the world, looking less than presentable. I had woken up 10 minutes before I left the hotel this morning - threw on a ballcap and was off. My plan was to get to Nice, get ready, and head back to Monte Carlo for the day. Trains travel every hour and it only takes about 20 minutes between the 2 places. I would have been golden.

I head to the casino and see from a sign outside that I'm basically breaking every rule they have on the board. No big bag, no hat, no camera, no coat, dress clothes preferred. They could have put a picture of me on the board stating - "If you look like this guy - we won't let you in." I tried anyway. I couldn't swing a deal with them. (I'm glad they wouldn't let me in - it would have lost some prestige for me if they would let just anyone in from off the street).

With that plan down the drain for now - I took some time and walked around Monaco. Wow - money talks here. Million dollar yachts lined the port. The cheapest car in the area may have been a Mercedes or BMW. People were dressed the part. The casino opens at 2pm - so all the high-rollers from their yachts were walking up the hill as I was walking toward their boats. They probably all phoned down to their yacht-boys telling them to be on the look-out for a shaddy guy rolling a forest-green backpack. I was like the elephant in the room. Who here doesn't belong - that would have been me.

I'm OK with that. Flashy money doesn't impress me. I'm more impressed by how they live their lives and how they got to where they are today. I would give anything to spend a day on one of those yachts picking the brains of those millione-billionaires.

Bottom line - Monte Carlo is a very impressive place. Great to walk around. I'll be back sometime in the next few days. I still have to gamble in that casino before I leave this area.

After Monte Carlo, I took the bus into Nice, France. Since the trains were operating on a limited basis because of the strike, the bus was packed. I didn't breath for 1.5 hours until my dropoff. Nice is an awesome place. I spent the day walking along the beach and through the city. Nice is the fifith largest city in France - you would never know it by walking around. It has a very small town feel. Besides the rocky sand, the beaches were impressive. I've heard about the rocky beaches of the Riviera - so I wasn't surprised. I grabbed a late dinner, went back down to the ocean for my nightly stroll, and then back to the hotel. I've attached pictures of my night at the beach - full moon -- breeze coming in off the water - it's always my favorite time of the day.

I'll be up and down the Riviera the next couple days. Here's to good weather and no train strikes.