We awoke this morning for our first time in France. We are on the Cote d’Azur – Coast of the Sky Blue Water. also known as the French Riviera.
We met up with our traveling companions for the day – Ronnie and Kathy from Long Island and Dwight and Sharon from Vancouver. We again tendered from where we were anchored to the town of Villefranche du Sur and then met our driver and guide, Sylvie, from France. Her English was excellent!
We first headed to the tiny village of Eze There are three roads to travel along the coast- the low road, the middle road, and the high road. The high road was actually built by the ancient Romans who carved it out of the side of the mountains. We took the middle road which was still elevated far above the bay. Sylvie explained much about the area as we looked down in amazement at the beautiful sea and the very, very large mansions that we could see in the distance.
There is a peninsula forming a cape, Cap Ferrat, which is the southern-most tip of the French Alps where they fall into the sea. This small peninsula contains the 2nd most expensive real estate in the world, surpassed only by Monaco. It does contain THE most expensive house in the world. The estate contains 20 acres and is currently listed for $1 billion (yes, with a B). There is also one other house for sale by a Russian for $350 million – the second most expensive house. This home was one of four homes built in 1901 by King Leopold II, King of Belgium. The king built one for himself, one for his guests, one for his mistress, and one for his confessor (apparently he had a lot to confess). The Russians came to this area in the “90s with money in their luggage and bought up real estate. Ran out of money and now are selling the homes. Many very, very wealthy people and celebrities have chosen this area to live – Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Bono, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Keith Richards, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to name a few.
Cap Ferrat
Eze is an old village surrounding a castle that is perched on a high, rocky spur. It was built high on the rocky point, 1400 feet above the sea, to protect the original inhabitants from pirates in the 12th century. Currently, there are only 30 inhabitants and 2 hotels, one that had previously been the castle. There are narrow stone streets lined with shops and a beautiful garden at the top with a gorgeous view of the Mediterranean Sea.
Our next stop was the seaside town of Nice. We drove along the sea on the beautiful Boulevard of the United States, named in honor of the US helping France during World War 1. The sand here is “pebbly” and the water temp is 82 degrees. Sylvie said that the weather is beautiful 300 days of the year. rarely going below 50 degrees, a much desired place to live. We ate lunch as a group at la Voglia and Jeff had his best food of the trip – seared swordfish and salad! We then walked through a flower and food market. Colorful flowers and bouquets! Lavender everywhere! We also walked out to the beach and marveled at the blue, clear water. There was an elaborate fountain in one of the squares, and even the pigeons in France are colorful!
Scenes from Nice:
Deb’s Lunch
Our last stop was the tiny country of Monaco (2nd smallest in the world), only 1 square mile of packed real estate, established in 1929. It consists of 4 or quartiers – Monte Carlo with the famous casino , the industrial, the old city containing the palace, and the port. With a population of 38,000, its citizens live the longest and are among the wealthiest in the world. The real estate here is more expensive than Hong Kong. It contains 2000 millionaires and 50 billionaires. There are no taxes, only a 20% sales tax. Many wealthy people choose to live here at least 182 days a year, making them official residents and allowing them not to pay taxes in their own countries. This small country has 40 banks and 600 businesses. Because the land mass is so small, they are currently attempting to fill in and expand 16 acres into the Sea and are also chipping the rock away toward the border of France to allow for more construction. The French on the mountain behind them will most likely have their view of the sea blocked by high rise buildings, and will not be happy The current ruler is Prince Albert II, and he is probably not too worried about France. Sylvie took us on a lap around the Grand Prix race course through the streets of Monte Carlo (2.2 miles). The Grand Prix race is 78 laps! The narrow straights and hairpin turns are amazing, even at slow speeds. After going around one time, we now know why Herbie looked so rough at the end of his race – he is our hero! We spent 45 minutes walking around Montecarlo. We did not go into the casino – it cost 17 euros just to walk through the door and they have a strict dress code. We did walk around the outside of the casino and opera house. It was VERY HOT! Water was more expensive than gelato!
There is an outdoor cafe that, according to Sylvie, is where people go to see and be seen. Outside the casino are some pretty expensive cars – Bentley, Ferrari, Rolls Royce – they get to park right in the front.
Side entrance to the casino
Casino from across the marina
Prime parking in front of casino
“To be seen” cafe
We then made our way back to the ship, traveling the low road closer to the sea, and had dinner with our British and Scottish friends.
Tendering back to the ship
The entertainment tonight was a magician who called himself a “confusionist”. We have no idea how he did what he did.
Being confused, we retired for the night.
Bonne nuit (we are in France now)