The French Riviera...

Yes, thats right, here is the days events on the actual day it happened, i know, not my style to be so on top of it, but im trying.

So it seems that we have finally caught on to the slower paced, relaxed atmosphere here on the riviera cause we missed breakfast yet again this morning. When we finally got around to it we realized we had a lot of things to see before we left so we planned our day and hopped a bus headed east out of Nice.

Eze was the first stop on our trip. We had to take a bus down to the bus station where we caught a 'coach' (yes, there IS a difference) to Eze. Eze, pronounced eh-zz, is actually two towns, one along the water called Eze by the Sea, and the medieval village of Eze with a really old Chateau on top of the mountain. We reached Eze by the sea to find our only way to the Chateau was to climb. So with the hot sun scorching us at close to 30 degrees (thats more than 90 F) we hiked up over rocks and climbed stairs for about 1200 vertical feet to the top. It was worth it though. The view of the coastline, the harbor in Nice, the water, the towns below and of the village of Eze itself were absolutely stunning. When we reached the top we bee-lined for the vending machine to buy ridiculously overpriced water and headed up (more stairs) to the Chateau to wander around. It has been converted entirely into a tourist attraction with restaurants and shops, but walking along a cobblestone fortress with a great view of the Mediterranean was terrific (does anyone use that word anymore??!!??). We didnt wanna do the hike thing again so we found a bus that would head back down to Eze by the Sea to move on to our next locale.

Cap d'Ail was the next place we hit up on our trek East. We arrived with the intention of finding the cliffs that you can supposedly jump off and instead found the gorgeous house that Nicole and I will soon be purchasing and makeing all of you come and live in with us. So far its just named 'the house' but im sure something more suitable will come along. Anyway, we never did find the cliffs but managed to climb more stairs and hike up and over more hills in our quest only to find a great beach...real bummer huh??!! The water was so refreshing after hiking and the beach (pebbles this time) was so inviting, so we took a dip and a nap as the sun set over the hills. Real, hard life I know, the only complaint was the funky speedo trend that seems to plague the riviera, its just not the first thing you wanna see when you wake up from a nap, thats all! So we woke up, got up, and climbed more stairs up to the bus to head to Monaco for the evening.

After arriving by yet another bus, we needed to freshen up and change into something more appropriate to be seen along side the Bentelys, Ferraris, and Rolls Royces of the Casino in Monaco. Walking up to the casion is like the Its a Small World ride at Disneyland at night. Its all lit up and fountains are flowing, people are waiting around to see someone famous (although here they are not usually wearing a big felt costume) and people are blowing money on overpriced things that they will never get any use from. So, we, the frugal kids that we are, stashed our backpack in a bush, yes that is right, a bush, as to not appear too touristy, and strolled the promenade of Monaco looking for dinner. We found our spot just off the main plaza at this cute little Italian Bistro that made us get up and dance and drink really good wine while eating yummy food. The french like to take thier time with the meals, so by the time we got out of there we dashed to reclaim our bag from the bush, and run to catch our train back to Nice.

Another great day here in La France. Tomorrow is our last full day here before heading to Madrid for a couple days.