French Riviera



Me sitting at a cafe blogging on a gorgeous sunny day in the French Riviera.  Thanks for the push Vlee!



The mussels were delicious.  Thanks for the recommendation Jon Wong!  (and I'm glad they had wifi too)



Ah yes...  the French Riviera.  How do I write about this?  Sun, beaches, and heat.  Oh the heat...  And all the beautiful... scenery.  Right, let's just get to the pictures then.

Apparently Monaco wants to make sure tourists don't walk around in banana hammocks.  I concur.

That's a scary slot machine...

 

What I did:

• August 16, 2012 - Arrived in Nice, checked out the Old Town, the Castle, and wandered around the city a bit.
• August 17, 2012 - Took the train to Monaco, went on to Villefranche.
• August 18, 2012 - Lazy day at the beach (Villefranche-sur-mer)  :D
• August 19, 2012 - Lazy day by the pool (caught a bit of a sunburn on my back)





Highlights:

• Beach - I may not be the biggest fan of going on vacation and just spending all day lying on the beach, but I have to admit it's starting to grow on me...
• Food - The south of France is still France.  And it's on the border with Italy too, so you can't go wrong with French or Italian food there.  Sweet deal!
• Scenery - Yup, the scenery was awesome.  Even better than my pictures...



Sea bass wrapped in bacon

Halfway done!



Nutella panna cotta for dessert.  Nobody's surprised by this, right?  :P



Lowlights:

• Holy crap the heat is actually unbearable at times.  You get soaked in sweat just getting down to the beach, and the walk back (especially the uphill bits) are horrendous.  Granted, I'm a bit of a winter person, so I'm sure other people are better suited to the heat than I am, but I can tell that I'm not the only one sweating.  The trains (and the train station) are packed full of people going along the coast, and they reek of body odour (also partly because there are tons of backpackers around and, from overhearing their conversations, it seems like a lot of them don't shower regularly because they are sleeping on park benches to save money).  Actually, the crowds of backpackers are another problem and things are pretty expensive in the French Riviera.  But it's still an awesome place to go on a vacation to!  :D



Baked veal with bacon and a mushroom sauce :D



Beef Carpaccio



Bouillabaisse

Can't Miss:  Sun.  Beach.  Beer.  Food.  Did I leave anything out?  :)



The long strip of lights is the airport.  Pretty cool!