Cynthia's Euro Adventure: Day 12 - Weekend in the French Riviera Continues

Sunday, May 23rd - It was our first almost entirely free day of the tour so I took advantage of that and slept in. I had the hardest time waking up even though I had slept 10 hours. Sukhey and I decided to venture to Cannes for the last day of the Film Festival. We went to the train station to catch the express train out to Cannes but we got a bit confused with the schedule. We went to the information desk to get some help but the attendant dismissed us right away because we didn't speak French. It was beyond frustrating. We finally figured out the system on our own but found that we really didn't have enough time to get to Cannes and back before dinner. Instead Sukhey and I decided to explore Nice instead. First stop was lunch as we both hadn't eaten since dinner the evening before. We walked towards the beach and eventually settled on a bistro with a patio; Suhkey was craving breakfast food but I wanted something a bit more substantial. Sukhey ordered eggs and sausage and I ordered lamb. Our meals came and my lamb was delicious, I was quite pleased with it. Sukhey's was a bit more interesting - apparently sausages in France are actually just what we Canadians refer to as hot-dogs!

It was finally time to explore the beaches of Nice! Since we had originally planned to go to Cannes we didn't have our suits but we decided to still walk around. There are both private and public beaches. The private beaches have drink service and sun loungers - essential if you want to lay on the beach as they are pebble beaches not sandy beaches. Sukhey then spotted a waterfall up on the bluff so we decided to go check it out. It was a bit of a trek but definitely worth it once we got up there. The waterfall itself was gorgeous but it also allowed for a great view of the city. Next we headed back down to the beach to grab a quick drink to cool down and then explored the markets that were just opening for the day. Since it was Sunday in a resort town most of the market places didn't open up until 2pm. We stumbled upon some great shopping and then we decided to head back to the hotel to get ready for our Monaco night.

We ended up getting completely turned around in the market, I've never felt so lost in my life. Sukhey and I spent an hour trying to find our way - but it seemed impossible. At one point Sukhey and I pulled out our map on a cobblestone side walk, or so we thought it was the sidewalk. We were actually standing in the middle of the street with cars just veering around us! After an hour we were still lost as ever and starting to get concerned that we weren't going to make it back in time to go to Monaco with the rest of Contiki. We tried to ask for directions but no one recognized the name of our hotel. We finally came out by the Port and found a taxi stand and luckily one of the drivers knew where our hotel was. We had actually wandered quite a ways away from our hotel; it was under a ten minute walk to the beach from our hotel. Our taxi ride took almost 20 minutes to get back from the Port! We made it back with just enough time for a quick outfit change and then it was time to hop on the coach!

The drive up to Monaco was really pretty, it was right along the water going up the hillside. We passed the spot where Grace Kelly died in the car crash. Once in Monaco we stopped for a quick group photo and then it was off to dinner right beside the Royal Palace. Dinner was fabulous - a traditional 4 course French meal. After dinner it was time to hit the Monte Carlo casino! We only had about an hour there which was disappointing. Alex and I first tried to suss out some poker tables but there weren't any open; we really didn't have time to play poker anyways though. Instead we hit the blackjack tables. I sat at a table with the Amigo's which I was hoping would be a benefit to me because both Matt F and Ben are blackjack dealers at a casino back in Australia but I still lost 80 Euros pretty quickly. Jas decided that she wanted to gamble but didn't actually want to play so I offered to play for her. I got back on the blackjack table with the Amigos and ended up doubling her money in just a few hands, although I do have to give Matty F some credit - he helped me out when I needed it. After doubling Jas's money I was able to win back what I had lost as well! After that it was time to leave Monaco and go back to our hotel for the night. Once we got back a few of us decided to head to the pub for a few beers and then planned on hitting a club but by the time we left the pub the club was already closed. So with nothing left to do we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.

Waterfall in Nice