Du Baou La Gaude

ok, it was more "collecting a new country" than being really interested in Monaco. Strange, when you go there from Nice airport by bus it costs you 18 € one way, when you go from Nice bus terminal it costs 1 € one way. Monaco is a very clean city. I have never seen so many big and expensive cars. I saw the casino and the castle. Nice, but not spectacular.

I know I always write the same...great weather, such a nice city, good food....but I have to say that Nice was a (very) big surprise for me, I can say that it is my favourite city in Europe (ok, number 2 after Lisbon). You have the mountains, the Cote dŽAzur (when you see the water you know why the name is Cote dŽAzur), the market with fresh vegetables, fruits, honey, oil, soap, you have great restaurants ...

... upon me it feels very strange and somewhat daunting. But to my knowledge no one has ever died from teaching children so I am sure I will survive.... My Amazon book order should arrive soon to inspire me. I am really looking forward to discovering the 100 things you can do with a paper plate. Life is never going to be the same!!

More when I start travelling...

... peculator brewing, and more often than not scrambled eggs. Lunch is usually a baguette stuffed with loads of fresh salad, stinky cheese (the smellier the better!!) and Parma ham. Our dinner staples are Spaghetti Bolognaise, Pork Fajitas, Hamburgers with the LOT, Cous Cous ala Gill with chicken and of course no meal starts without the obligatory Ham cheese and olive tapas and a bottle of wine. The other stuff We need to make up our bed every evening as it is made out of ...

... curly so it really isn't surprising that accidents are a regular occurrence.

Monaco is the world's second smallest country (after Vatican City) less than 2 square km, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in decadence! Streets are manicured, lavish hotels and casinos line the waterfront, and the harbour is chock a block with gigantic, plush boats.

Once we arrived we visited the Palais du Prince (or ...

... at least 20) everything from lemon to vanilla, creme caramel, raspberry, nougat and fig! We munched on our teeny treats and decided we'd had enough sightseeing for the day and it was time to head home.

Although we would have liked to do a similar day trip to Monaco and Cap d'ail, the weather was a bit ****** the next few days and the majority of the sights at these spots were the awesome beaches, plus we needed some chill time too. Gotta save something for next time right? And of ...

... late and we didn't have much time left, but I ended up getting a number of shots at dusk, and even at night with the camera propped on ledges. At one stage, we walked along the marina beside rows of luxury yachts - some of them were simply unbelievable! Basically a comfortable home on water. On the way back to the car, we passed some car dealerships displaying rather 'humble' vehicles that we could only but dream about. See the photos =P

... to say the service they receive (bad) is vastly different to what we received (pretty good). Pete has Salad Fruit du Mer (all Pete knew was it was something to do with the sea). Al has something else (turns out to be just Mozzarella and tomato). We want the dessert, but don't know what to ask for so decide to go to a boulangerie so we can point to what we want - bad move because they're ...

Around noon we headed for the train station. Taking the train was very easy as long as you're careful to listen and look for your stop. We found it helpful to look at the map of the line and know the stop BEFORE ours. The name of the stop is written along side the train station, but when you reach your stop there is no time to read because the train does not stop for long. It's important to get off fast. And...the announcements ...

... cool, actually. So many interesting fish. It also has his small, yellow submarine right outside its entry way. As a Beatles fan, that was pretty fun. After the museum we went to the Royal Palace and saw the changing of the guard. We didn't get to go inside the palace, but it was still quite pretty to look at from the outside. We walked around a ...