|
MONACO - COTE D'AZUR
The fog had lifted but it was still overcast when we boarded the bus. There are three parallel roads (corniches) going east from Monaco, overlooking the sea from different levels. All provide breathtaking views. Our bus took the middle corniche along the Cote d' Azur. We'd spent four days in Monaco in 1999 and had gone up and down this coast each day, so it was quite familiar to us. We passed the "perched village" of Eze that we'd visited then. A short time later we passed Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, also the site of pleasant memories, and then we were in Nice. It was 1:15.
Our driver made a point of driving right along the beach instead of taking the faster road further inland. So we had a nice tour of the waterfront, harbor and beaches. Fortunately the sun had battled through the clouds and it was turning into a nice day.
We got to St. Paul about 1:50 and parked a long block below the village. Our guide led us up to the old walled village.
A group of men were playing boules (like the Italian bocce) just outside the wall. We entered the old village through Port Royal, the main gate and then followed the main street (Rue Grand - really a narrow lane) that ran the length of the village.
It was very quaint and lined with many interesting stone buildings (16th-18th century), not to mention all the tourist shops.
At the far end, we wound up in an elevated park overlooking the old cemetery, and beyond that we could see the countryside for miles. At that point, about 2:50, the guide turned us loose so we could explore for an hour on our own. Jane and I walked back along the main street, checking out every street or lane on either side. For the most part, they didn't go very far before running into the village wall.
Back near where we had entered the village, though, we found some side streets lined mostly with private homes. We also discovered the La Collegiale Church (12th century but greatly altered).
We took the steps up to the top of the wall at Port Royal where there was a very small park. Jane spotted an ice cream shop along the inner side and had her afternoon treat while I explored nearby. Then we walked along the top of the wall for a way before descending the steps and heading for the bus.
The bus left at 4:00 and took the autoroute back to Monaco,
arriving about 4:45. As we drove through the city, our guide had the
driver stop along the street (in a no stopping zone, of course) where
there was a great view of the "The Rock,"' the oldest part of Monaco City
and the site of the Royal Palace. The Noordam was moored right next to it.
Then we wound our way down to the port and got to the ship at 5:10.
We had our final dinner on board and then spent the evening doing our final packing. We had to have our luggage out before we went to bed. I managed to empty my backpack and get it into my suitcase, reducing the number of bags we'd have to carry. That left us with Jane's large suitcase, my medium one, and her carry-on, still way too much to be taking on the train the next morning.
Copyright © 2000-2023 DarrellPeck.com All rights
reserved. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
