Day One
I woke up VERY early (5am) to get my flight to Nice. This means that I had almost a full day on Thursday as I landed at 10am local time. After a smooth flight, I go to the Hertz counter to hear that they have a promo on convertibles that weekend! So, I picked up my AWESOME little red convertible and within an hour I’ve put a big scratch in it. In my defense, I am both an Asian and a woman driver.
After that shaky start, I finally get to the hotel to check in only to find the road blocked by about 150 old people. As in really, really old – and they just surrounded my car and kept staring at me. Like I was the one with Alzheimer’s and didn’t realize that I couldn’t drive on a damned road. I had purposely booked a hotel that was quieter and outside the city but this was ridiculous. For a second, I was tempted to do a little car bowling but finally managed to turn it around and parked way the hell down the road. After finally checking in and changing, I decided it was time to take that hot car for a drive.
I had purposely not bought any street maps of the area – just the general area one that came with my little guide book. I firmly believe that the key to a successful road trip is in not stressing about getting lost. I figured that I’d head in the general direction of Nice and see where the road led me.
It lead me through some crazy ass winding roads crowded with people and cars parked willy nilly. Having decided that I wasn't going to find any parking, I drove straight though (well, as straight as any European road allows) and followed a sign for the small village of Eze. One my way, I found a little place to pull over to take some great shots of Nice from above. Another two minutes down the road, I saw a sign for a restaurant called La Belle View. Sounded good to me so I pulled over and had an awesome fish lunch.
After paying 33 Euros(!), I got back in the car and drove towards Monacco. Monte Carlo is a beautiful, wealthy town. I parked at the Palace and wandered around for a few hours. Though beautiful, Monte Carlo reminds me of a smaller, slicker LA which is so not my scene. I quickly tired of the crowds and headed back to the car. On the way out, I had to drive under the castle - very cool! Kinda felt like driving out of the Bat Cave. However, I had the top of the car down and stuff kept dripping all over me. Ewww... I’m hoping it was nothing more than sea water but not going to look into it any further. Some things are not worth knowing.
The drive back to Nice took for flipping ever! By the time I got there, it was pretty late and all the stores had closed. I only stayed long enough to drop by a small little grocer for a couple pieces of fruit for my hotel room. When I was ready to pay, the owner answered his phone and talked and talked and talked. I had read enough to know that this was normal for France so I just stood and waited. Finally, the only other patron, a little old man who had been buzzing around getting three huge bags of potatoes and ten (!) eggplants spewed a ton of rapid French to the guy on the phone and then looked at me expectantly. Um, je ne parle pas Francais? Whatever the little man said, it got the guy off the phone and ringing in my purchases.
After getting back to my hotel around 8pm, I decided to take a short nap before dressing up for dinner – yes, my swanky hotel expected you to be dressed smartly which I took to mean that my jeans, tank top and flip flops were not going to work. The next thing I knew, it was 6am the next morning! I was still in my clothes, contacts in and all the lights on. Oops. Clearly I needed the rest though and I felt totally refreshed and excited about the day ahead.
To be continued...
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