martes, 5 de mayo de 2015

May 4 - Nice, France and Monte Carlo, Monaco

NICE
La plage
Ironically enough, the beach in Nice isn't that nice because it's rocks and not sand. Granted, they don't have jagged edges or anything, but you can't dig your toes into the sand here! The water is amazingly blue and clear though. It is amazing that it has been kept this clean all these years with all the pollution that's happened over the last 100+ years!

Monument aux Morts
This monument is not very eccentric, though it is impressive. The tall monument on the side of the cliff dedicated to those who died in the World Wars is beautiful and a must-see if you find yourself in Nice.

Parc du Chateau
If you want to see some breathtaking views of Nice, take the time and energy to hike up to this park. You can see for a couple miles and could probably see more if there wasn't a marine layer! It's quite an impressive site. The hike up is cool too, twisting through nature. Taking in the smells of all the flowers and plants was both amazing and terrible for my allergies!

Sainte-Réparate Cathédrale
Turns out the cathedral is closed on Mondays, so I didn't get to go inside, but I did get to see the outside. The dome of the cathedral is beautiful and quite impressive.

Église Saint Jacques le Majeur
Since I didn't get to go into the cathedral, I decided to check out another close-by church since I had the time. It is quite beautifully decorated, though has deteriorated some over the years. I often wonder when I see these big, awe-inspiring buildings I wonder how much has changed over the years and what they looked like in their pristine. It would be amazing if they could all be restored to their original glory, but we probably don't even know what most of the paintings in the buildings originally looked like, we wouldn't be able to fix the broken parts of them.

MONTE CARLO
Japanese Gardens
It's kind of incredible these gardens even exist, considering their location. They're right next to the ocean, and since Monaco is a small country, that's prime real estate! It is a small garden, though, but they are very beautiful. I sat down to watch the fish swimming and a duck landed right in front of me, swam around for a few minutes, and then walked out of the water right next to me and walked on the grass that humans can't even be on! Incredible!

Monte Carlo Harbor
This harbor has to be one in a million! That is because it's full of huge yachts that are all worth several million dollars a piece! There was also a cruise ship docked, which was impressive to see.

Grand Prix
While the Monte Carlo Grand Prix isn't until the 21-24 of May, they've already begun converting the streets and harbor into the race track and spectator's areas. I didn't honestly realize that the race takes place on the actual streets of the city; how crazy is that! And since it's throughout the city, pedestrians can walk throughout the area and on the track, which I obviously did. How fricken sweat is that?! It would have been cool to see one of the races, though it is probably fairly expensive... Hmm... Maybe in the future?

Cathédrale
This beautiful cathedral overlooking one of the harbors is quite the sight. It always amazes me seeing places like these so close to the water with breathtaking views. The water is literally so blue, it's like it's from a picture in a magazine about a paradise town.

I definitely wouldn't mind coming back to this area down the road on vacation and soaking it in some more. It's fun seeing extremely expensive vehicles and what are considered expensive vehicles to "normal" people be cheap vehicles to others! Just soaking in the views and atmosphere would be lovely. Maybe a cruise?

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