The French Riviera.



The flag of Monaco is identical to
the Indonesian flag apart from its
 proportions being squarer.

After a great little stay in Cinque Terre we moved on to what is supposedly the world’s best playground for the rich and famous, the Cote d’Azure. Firstly, we called in at Monaco and wound our way down the small road into the heart of the town. Everything seemed neat and orderly and we managed to get a car park in the library about 1 kilometre from the marina. Walking down the streets, there was a real lack of people and atmosphere due to the fact it was Sunday afternoon. Shame really as we all wanted the buzz and excitement but there was none.

The Marina was something to behold as boat after boat with a cigarette paper between them, sparkled in the sun with the playboys meandering around them while the crew polished absolutely everything.

There was one that towered over most others called the Lady Maura that was the 9^th largest privately owned boat in the world when it was built. At 344 feet long, it is now 21 years old and owned by a Saudi businessman but not looking too shabby. The casino was also the place to be seen with Ferrari’s, Maserati’s, Aston Martins and for the poorer ones a few Porsche.

Then, on to Nice where we stayed on the outskirts at Ville Franche just north of the city. We had wonderful views over the water in a large two bedroom flat and was a great place to stay for our 2 nights here.

Nice, we liked, a large town with the old section our favourite as it had an antique market running at the time we were there, and we strolled through them being reminded of the style and grandeur of yesteryear.

Nice Panorama by Michaelphillipr

We had to do the Walkway of the English and on a beautiful day we walked a good length of the Promenades des Anglais. Charlotte and Maisy couldn't believe this was a famous beach with its grey pebbles and no surf. To them it was a far cry from the good old seaweed and blue bottles of DY.

 Lunch was next and we chose a restaurant on the side of the market so we could people watch but it turned into “staff watch” as they screwed just about everything up and to our amusement watched disgruntled patrons come and go shaking their heads. Fawlty Towers at its best. The icing on the cake was to see a customer’s dog sit on a table as the owners ate their lunch. Maybe it was their protest but the staff did not bat an eye lid!

Paul