Nice Nice, (read: Nice Neece) & Monaco

You know the stereotype that the French walk around wearing berets, carrying baguettes and walking their Poodles? Yeah, not really a stereotype.

The next morning I boarded the train to Nice. I had to go back through Paris first, where I had to switch train stations. On the train down to Nice, I had a guy sitting next to me with his long, gray hair pulled back in to a ponytail, a brightly colored shirt and a small, sweet Poodle named Fanny. I chatted with him as best as I could with my bad mix of French, Spanish and Italian.

I finally made it to Nice around 5pm and found myself a hostel to stay in. I wandered around the town for a bit and over to the beach to take some pictures. I ended up having dinner at the American Bar and had a nice juicy hamburger and a glass of wine to match. Afterwards, I met an Australian boat captain. He sailed some guy's yacht around the world in 5 years. Wow. I wish I had that kind of time and money. "Goin' sailin' around the world. See you in 5 years!"

The next day I went to Monaco which is only about 20 minutes away by train. The weather was wet and chilly in the morning. They had just finished the Monaco Grand Prix and workers were taking down the scaffolding and stands from the event. I ran into a guy from my hostel on the train and we made our way over to the changing of the guard ceremony. Next, we went to the cathedral where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier are buried and on to the Monte Carlo Casino.

Directly in front of the casino were many fancy cars. In particular was a black Rolls Royce with some kind of dull, black paint job and huge, ugly wheels. It was hideous. It looked like a cross between a Humvee and the Batmobile. There were people walking around the cars and having their pictures taken in front of them (including myself) and I couldn't figure out why anybody would want their car there?

It was 10 euros just to get in the least expensive gambling room, known as the "European Room." (no pictures allowed inside) Even if you don't gamble. There were a couple of tour groups full of old people and maybe 2 people playing roulette. I went over to the slot machines, put in 5 euros and decided to have a go. For those of you who have never played slots before, all you have to do is press a button. Within minutes, I was surrounded by about 30 geriatrics that were fascinated by my button pushing skills I guess. It was pretty unnerving actually. I lost my 5 euros and decided to play some roulette. It was a 5 euro minimum. My lucky number 24 had already hit twice but I decided to go for it anyway. Yep. I lost. I'm done. I headed out.

I got on the train back to Nice and had another fabulous dinner.

Changing of the guard in Monaco.

Fabulous MonacoIn front of the Monte Carlo Casino and that hideous Rolls.