Nice and Monaco

Today Priscilla had a day of rest and I went for a drive eastwards from Cannes around the coast. Before picking up the car I strolled around the waterfront of Cannes. The Festival Centre has the handprints of famous movie stars in the pavement. People are walking all over them as if they don’t matter. And they are right. Many of the actors whose handprints are on display in the pavement are dead and gone. Most people are not interested in the handprints and just want to take selfies in front of the red carpet. I collected the car and drove along the seaside through Cannes, Antibes and then Nice.

I drove along the boulevard where the Nice terrorist attack took place a year or so ago. It was really busy with everyone carrying on as though nothing had happened. There are workers completely refurbishing and renovating the boulevard where the attack took place. I can only assume this was a decision made in the wake of the attack maybe to create a memorial or to change the look of the whole area so it is not continually in everyone’s mind.

I stopped the car just past the main waterfront boulevard of Nice where the road turns right and curves around the bluff at the end of the straight. This point has a prominent war memorial and looks back over the coastline of Nice, Antibes and Cannes. A beautiful spot to take some photos. There is a great carpark there as part of the port of Nice.

I continued driving around the coast and came upon a beautiful little

town called Villefranche-sur-Mer. There was a large cruise ship anchored in the bay and the township was very beautiful on the side of the hill.

Continuing on I drove around the promontory called Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. This is reported to have the most expensive real estate in the world. I realised driving around that there are still lords, nobles and dukes in the world, they just don’t bear the titles. Their status is determined by the crazy wealth they have. One of the houses is open to the public. It is called the Chateau and Gardens of Ephrussy Rothschild. It is basically a palace of one branch of the wealthy Rothschild family. I didn’t have on hour to spare to go through the palace, but I will do some further investigation into this property on the web. There are virtual tours online and this will have to make up for the lack of time on my Riviera drive.

Continuing eastwards I head towards Monaco. The terrain gets more mountainous and rugged as I approach the famous small country ruled by the Grimaldi dynasty. The mountain cliffs come down to the sea in this location, so the roads are tunneled through the cliffs in a spectacular fashion. Don’t drive here if you have serious claustrophobia. Half the roads are underground on several different levels. But it is an incredible place.

No expense has been spared in building Monaco. This place attracts wealthy people because of its generous taxation concessions. Many of the world’s rich and famous have homes in the city or yachts in the famous harbour. I have never seen so many large luxury boats in one place, or more Lamborghinis driving around the streets. I realised after a while that I had stumbled into Monaco during the annual luxury boat and car festival, as well as the annual Rolex Tennis Tournament. All the wealthy people were here to see it all.

I walked around the palace area in Monaco which is all open to the public. There are grounds and gardens built at many levels on the escarpment overlooking the Mediterranean. There is a huge Ocean Museum here set up by Jaques Costeau many years ago. There is also a Napoleon Museum with many of Napolean’s personal items on display, including his hats, clothes etc on his military campaigns in the area.

I walked around the harbour admiring the boats. There were many workmen setting up the grandstands for the Monte Carlo grand prix which is held next month in May. Many of the Lamborghinis were

driving around the circuit revving their engines in competition with each other. But not just Lamborghinis, every expensive hotted-up car that could possible be imagined was driving around the circuit. A couple of police on motorbikes would occasionally pull one of them over and give them a fine, but it seemed to be a bit token. They were the only police I saw pulling cars over anywhere in France.

I continued to walk around the harbour and found the world’s most famous bend - the hairpin bend outside the Monte Carlo Casino. I climbed the famous stairs above the bend and walked to the Casino Square, which has the Monte Carlo Casino, and Hotel Paris on either side. There is a very prominent outdoor cafe in which the rich and famous have coffee. There were about twenty cars parked outside the casino which were worth more than most people’s houses, including Maserati, Lamborghinis, Rolls Royce, Bentleys, and a few super cars I didn’t even recognise the name of. My phone had run out of charge so I couldn’t take any photos of them. One Lamborghini arrived painted in army colours, a tall muscular guy with a beard, tattoos and a cap climbed out and young teenagers flocked to have selfies with him. I didn’t recognise him but he is obviously famous here. He was ushered to a prominent table in the outdoor cafe.

The main foyer of the casino was palatial, high painted ceilings, surrounded by grand columns. That’s as far as I got though, because to go beyond that costs 10 euro.

The walk back to the harbour was too long, given the hour, so I caught a bus halfway and walked the rest. The drive home was slow due to holiday traffic. I had a Maserati directly in front and a Rolls Royce directly behind me on the freeway, bumper to bumper, so I was extra cautious.

When I arrived back at the apartment, having parked the car under the Festival Centre for the final night, Priscilla told me all about her day resting and shopping in Cannes. I think she is mostly thinking about the new dog she wants to buy in Australia, the landlords having agreed to us having a dog.