Day 9: Nice and Monaco

Nice
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Jeff and I wake up at 8:45 and go down to the front desk. The morning guy has no problem locating the master key and lets us in to our real room. We retrieve Ting, and agree that since today is a free day in Nice, we should take advantage and sleep in a bit. So, skipping breakfast, we crash again, in our real beds this time. We are awoken twice by the cleaning staff, but ignore them both times. We finally drag ourselves out of bed at 11:30, feeling somewhat refreshed for a change.

We head out around noon looking for somewhere to get pizza (our info sheet had informed us that Nice was known for excellent pizza). It doesn’t take long to find a restaurant, and we stuff ourselves full of 4 Cheese and Ham & Mushroom pizza, which is quite good as expected. The cute French waitress who speaks minimal English is nice too ☺. We don’t have too many goals for the day – we want to hike up the hill above Nice to check out the Roman ruins there, and then hit the beach for a while before our trip to Monaco in the evening. But first, Ting wants to hit the mall to find some trousers to wear to the casino, as he didn’t pack anything more formal than jeans. We find a couple stores, but the European sizing proves confusing and he eventually gives up and decides he’ll chance it with the jeans.

...decide we should lay low for a while, as we’re probably not the most popular guys on the bus

Nice
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We head off with aid of our trusty map, but get somewhat lost in the narrow side streets of Nice until we stumble upon a sign indicating the “Chateau Ancien”, which sounds like what we want. We start climbing the stairs up the hill, which is oh so pleasant when the temperature is in the mid-30’s. But we eventually make it to the top, minus about a pound of water, and take a look around. The “ruins” aren’t overly extensive, but we enjoy a nice view of the city and the beach, and run into Angie who is on her way down. We walk down to the beach and get there about 3, where we run into the Aussies briefly – they had been rollerblading around by the beach. They tell us that a pickpocket had stolen Lamar’s wallet and Ryan’s camera out of Lamar’s backpack earlier that day – ouch.

Roman ruins in Nice
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The pebble beach is hot and not overly comfortable (the one in Cannes was much better), but we hang out for a while and enjoy the water and the views.  My back is still quite sore from yesterday’s burn.  At about 20 to 5, we head to find the TravelEx office to cash some traveller’s cheques - should be easy since it’s marked on our map…but no. We end up taking the really roundabout route, essentially circling the huge train station before finding it. This takes about an hour, when it should have taken maybe 20 minutes. Bah.

Nice
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We stop at a place near the hotel to get some dinner (we spot Angie and the Korean girls on the patio there), and soon begin to realize that making it to the bus for Monaco at 6:30 is going to be tight, as the food is taking a while to arrive. The waiter is super friendly, and the food is excellent (I have mussels), but we have to rush through our meal – Jeff even has to get his main course to go as it takes so long. We run back to the hotel, but it’s 6:45 by the time we get there. Tori yells at us that we have 30 seconds to put pants on and get back down, and we come damn close to meeting that target. Once we get on the bus, panting and sweating, Tori gives a lecture about being on time, and warns that people will be left behind from now on. We feel like crap for making everybody wait, and decide we should lay low for a while, as we’re probably not the most popular guys on the bus.

Nice
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We drive up the winding road towards Monaco, getting some excellent views of Nice, but in the rush to get to the bus, none of us brought a camera.  I’m lucky I even manged to grab my wallet! Along the way, our crew points out the point where Grace Kelly went over the edge. Some “money-themed” songs are played as we drive into Monaco, which is very appropriate, given the displays of wealth all around. We stop to walk up to the palace and take some photos, but the Prince isn’t home. Then it’s over the casino area, where we look at, and then walk past, the Grand Casino (it costs money to get in, the dress code is strict, and the stakes are ridiculous). Tori leads us to the “cheaper” Sun Casino, but the minimum bets are still 10 Euro for the most part – ich! The cheapest thing is electronic roulette, and it sucks a few people in – I end up losing 30 Euros. Guess I should stick to poker. The casino isn’t that great really – there are bigger and better ones in Edmonton – but the Grand is probably much more impressive.

Mediterranean Sea, Nice
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We only have about an hour and half in the casino before we have to go, but we have time to check out the casinos lit up in the dark, and the fancy cars parked around the Grand Casino, before heading back to the bus about 10:30. Almost everyone lost money, except for Wellsy (+20), Ryan (+10) and Renato (+2.50). The biggest loss in the group was 70 Euros. We get back to the hotel at 11:15, and the night guy now knows where the key is…yay!  It’s a quiet night for most everyone…Jeff finally eats his dinner, and I find CNN which is the only thing in English.  We’re in bed by midnight.

Pebble Beach in Nice
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The experience in the French Riviera wasn’t the best for some of us, but Tori has assured us that Italy will rock.