[BlackPearl]

I had never thought that I would write down a travelogue on a trip that was not done in a car, but desperate times call for desperate measures. One reason for writing this, apart from the lockdown, is that it is about Monaco. Monaco is home to the prestigious Formula 1 Race, the Monaco Grand Prix! It is one of the most demanding tracks and the location beside the Mediterranean is simply stunning. Another reason is that the name Côte d'Azur reminded me of the countless hours I played Need for Speed V Porsche Unleashed when I was in college, driving up and down the beautiful roads of the French Riviera and dreaming of visiting this place once in my lifetime. Côte d'Azur literally means "Coast of Azure" and the place is truly worthy of such a beautiful name.

A short video on the afternoon spent in Monaco -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuvzIWTXVBY&t=10s

And a teaser pic -



Background

It was the 50th birthday of a person whom we call Ani Da and the plan was to have a destination party. Since all of us had Schengen visa, it was decided that it had to be somewhere in Europe. After a lot of discussions, we finalised a place near Dieppe in France. This was the same place where we had stayed in our last trip to Normandy. Booking was done promptly.

A picture from our last trip


But a few days prior to the trip the booking had to be cancelled due to an accident in the close circle. Wriju, a 7 year old kid, had broken his finger quite badly and had to be operated upon. His family had to drop out. There was no point in going to such a big place for six people, so we went back to discussions about probable destinations. It is quite well known among my friends that I don't like to travel by plane, train or bus. So I kept on insisting about places where we could drive over the weekend. However, I was snubbed and was told that since it was not my birthday, my opinion would not be considered. Ani Da finalised Nice as the destination of celebrating his 50th birthday and booked a lovely AirBnB apartment. I started calculating on how many miles I would have to drive to reach Nice in time from London. But my plan did not materialise. I was told that Ani Da had already booked flight tickets for us. Now, who in his right mind will complaint and throw tantrums about driving if someone else pays for his trip?

Disclaimer: This will be a photologue with lots of pictures!

[BlackPearl]

Day 1: London - Nice

We took an early morning British Airways flight on Friday from Heathrow and landed in Côte d'Azur Airport in Nice on the south coast of France.

Ani Da and I waiting at the Heathrow airport


The airport of Nice is like a small peninsula, jutting out into the blue Mediterranean Sea and the view from our plane while landing was beautiful.

A picture from Wikipedia for illustration (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice_C...ce_airport.jpg) -



Initially we planned to hire a car, but the apartment was right in the middle of the old town of Nice and it would be very difficult to get a parking spot. So we took a bus and then a tram to reach the place. The location of the apartment was lovely. After unpacking and freshening up we started roaming around the streets of old Nice and tried to capture a few images.

The alley in front of our apartment. Parking here would have been next to impossible. It was a great decision from Ani Da not to hire a car.


It is very difficult to keep the current generation kids engaged without laptops and gaming consoles, still I tried my best to keep Papai a little bit engaged with some really silly games. I must say that he is a really nice kid, I would not have played those games if I were in his place










We had lunch at an Italian restaurant called Piccola Italia in the old town. This is the first time we had a meter long pizza! I had ordered pasta carbonara as well, but it turned out to be quite bad. Terminal 11 in Kolkata makes far better carbonara.



After lunch we went to the pebbled beach and spent a long time there. It was a beautiful afternoon by the Mediterranean.



Ani Da and Reshmi Di


The family


From the beach, we went back to the old town. Since I was not driving I put all my efforts into taking pictures with my bulky DSLR, which is a pain to carry around. I never thought I would enjoy clicking so much.













A few pictures of the BnB apartment where we were staying -







We eagerly listened to the owner about the dos and don'ts of the apartment. One person was not so keen to listen and took this candid pic.

[BlackPearl]

Day 1 Continued..

Since we had only a couple of days in hand we wanted to see as much as possible on the first day. In the evening we walked along the beautiful promenade (Promenade des Anglais). The Bastille Day Attack in 2016 had happened here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Nice_truck_attack).



















Dinner was fantastic, as it is expected when you are in France. I had prawn toasters, calamari and small fish, the name of which I have forgotten.







We kept on walking around even after dinner and I continued to click pictures. Everything in Nice looked beautiful. My smartwatch showed that we had walked 15 Kilometers that day. I can't remember the last time I had walked so much.

[BlackPearl]

Day 2: Nice

We woke up the next day quite early by our standards. Ani Da's wife, Reshmi Di, is an ardent traveller and she was ready by the time we woke up. She realised that it would take at least an hour for us to get ready and she could not afford losing that amount of time. So she took her younger child Papai and left in a hurry. We promised to catch up as quickly as possible.

After a quick breakfast we went to Castle Hill (La Colline de Château) to get a view of Nice from the top of the hill. The castle is no longer there on the Castle Hill. It was destroyed in 1706 by Louis XIV. There is an archaeological site and a beautiful man-made waterfall.

On the way to Castle Hill I clicked a picture of this vehicle. It was quite popular among the tourists!














The beautiful man-made waterfall








Saw this beautiful vehicle, don't know the make and model. Experts can shed some light -





View of the city from the Castle Hill






In the evening we we went to see the Russian Orthodox church in Nice. It was a long walk from our hotel. On the way I saw this Mahindra Goa parked on the roadside.





The Russian Orthodox church was beautiful, but unfortunately I was not carrying my camera. Managed to take a picture with my phone in the fading light.



We were famished after the long walk to the church and had dinner at a lovely restaurant in the main market place of old town. Nice is famous for seafood and we had a wide assortment to choose from.







We had sea urchins, whelks, crab, lobster, prawn, oysters and veg soup. This was the first time I had sea urchins and it was strange. I will not be able to describe the taste but it was on the sweeter side and it was definitely not bad.

Reshmi Di and Ani Da enjoying the lovely dinner










After returning to the hotel we had a small surprise party arranged by Reshmi Di for Ani Da's 50th birthday. The cake from LAC Chocolatier was simply outstanding.

[BlackPearl]

Day 3: Nice to Monaco and back to London

I was in a dilemma whether to go to Monaco for half a day or not. It would be very hectic and we had a flight to catch in the evening. I was thinking of going back some other time. But Reshmi Di insisted and told me one thing after which I could not say no. She told me and I quote - "if you are such an avid automobile enthusiast you claim to be, then you should visit Monaco". Believe me, my reputation was at stake and I had to go I think this has been one of the best decisions in my life and I thank her for that. It would have been a terrible miss if I had opted out.

After a quick breakfast we went out to the main market area. The Sunday market was looking wonderful.









At the marketplace, we saw a beautiful procession coming out of the church. We were already quite late, but we stayed back to see the procession. I took a video as the song was beautiful and though I am not a religious person, I still keep listening to it from time to time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7xNL7rqEPU

We had to walk a few Kilometers from the market to reach the bus stop from where the bus for Monaco departed. There was a lovely Sunday flea market on the way to the bus stop, but unfortunately we did not have much time to look around. The bus fare to Monaco was unbelievably cheap at 3 Euros per head! The route was stunning and I really missed driving. I promised myself that I would go back one day with my own car just to drive on the road from Nice to Monaco.

After reaching Monaco we realised that we did not have to walk around much. So we took the hop-on hop-off bus service. It was 24 Euros per head and was worth it. If one does not have much time, I believe this is the best way for tour of Monaco.







I was extremely excited when the bus took us to the F1 circuit. The image of Schumacher flying through that tunnel kept on flashing in my mind.





Monaco is truly a stunning place. The beautiful streets, the blue Mediterranean, wonderful food and the lovely people make it a must visit place. For me it was truly nostalgic to see the yachts moored in the blue water of the bay beside the F1 circuit. I have seen them so many times in the F1 races on television! I am feeling nostalgic even as I write this log.































Lunch was a lovely affair at small cafe in the main square. It was succulent beef steak with a chunk of gorgonzola cheese on top of it. My mouth is watering again just thinking of it.



Soon it was time to bid adieu to the beautiful Monaco. A parting shot.


Finally a picture with all of us in one frame, waiting for the train to the Nice airport


Soon we were on our way back to Nice and then on a flight to London. The Covid scare had already started, but little did we know at that time that we would be under lockdown for so long in the coming days. It has already been 4 months since the trip and we are still at home!

I have a confession to make. I have always looked down upon trips and travelogues where people took flights instead of driving down. I never realised that one can have fun without driving. This time I could spend so much time clicking pictures and I really enjoyed it. I did not miss driving, apart from the lovely Nice to Monaco trip. It has been a learning experience, albeit a little late in life. But as the saying goes, there is no age for learning!

[vb-saan]

Thread moved from Assembly Line to the Travelogues section.

Brilliant travelogue BlackPearl! Thank you for sharing

[//M]

Another brilliant travelogue Blackpearl.

Southern France looks beautiful, I always had this in my bucket-list as I have friends staying at Marseille who have been pestering me to visit them since a couple of years now but my plan has always got postponed due to some or the other reason. Thank You for sharing this travelogue, now I can drool over the pictures and hope to plan a trip soon. The food pictures, specially the one of sea urchins, is actually increasing my appetite.

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Saw this beautiful vehicle, don't know the make and model.

This is a Citroen Traction Avant 11CV Commerciale. I have a 1:18 SWB Traction Avant in my closet, a quirky yet nice looking vehicle !

[ajmat]

Nice travelogue. I did a flying visit to Nice on work in Sophia Antipolis a couple of years ago in February. The weather was perfect and there were no tourists. Loved it.

A lot of your pics in the Old Town are straight out of the movie Ronin. Looked rather peaceful without any Audi's and Citroens trying to trash each other!

[avi_swift]

Excellent travelogue BlackPearl with picture postcard quality shots of Nice and Monaco.

I was aware that Mahindra sells the Scorpio in Europe but I didn't know that it's called 'Goa' there. I wish they just called it Scorpio, like in India.

In the prayer song that you shared, on hearing the words 'Ave Maria', I immediately thought it to be same as Alan's song in Hangover3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGAcZkW1g1w

However, your song was different. Apparently, the words mean 'Hail Mary' in Latin, so I believe that it's a French version of the prayer.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Brilliant travelogue BlackPearl! Thank you for sharing

Thank you vb-san!

Originally Posted by //M

Another brilliant travelogue Blackpearl.

.....Thank You for sharing this travelogue, now I can drool over the pictures and hope to plan a trip soon. The food pictures, specially the one of sea urchins, is actually increasing my appetite.

This is a Citroen Traction Avant 11CV Commerciale. I have a 1:18 SWB Traction Avant in my closet, a quirky yet nice looking vehicle !

Thanks a lot //M. Thank you for clarifying the make and model as well. All the best for your trip to Marseille, hope you are able to do it soon.

Originally Posted by ajmat

Nice travelogue.
....
A lot of your pics in the Old Town are straight out of the movie Ronin.

Thank you ajmat! I had watched Ronin but do not remember the places. I will watch it again and it will be great to see familiar places.

Originally Posted by avi_swift

Excellent travelogue BlackPearl with picture postcard quality shots of Nice and Monaco.
.....
However, your song was different.

Thank you avi_swift! Yes, the name Goa does not suit the vehicle, the Scorpio sounds much better. But I think the name Scorpio was already taken by Ford - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Scorpio
The song that I recorded has a strange haunting tune and I keep listening to it. I wish I could follow the procession and record the full song. But we did not have time that day.

[turbowhistle]

Beautiful travelogue , we had similar itinerary planned for the Easter holiday but COVID has changed all the plans. Thank you for sharing, I know what to expect now

Monaco has been on my list since I landed in Europe and I hope 2021 brings better things for us. Cheers!

[nirvanaguy19]

Very well written travelogue. I did the a similar itinerary in 2018, driving along the french riviera (Nice , Monte-Carlo, Cannes) was a dream. Even though I was driving a lowly Ford SUV, it was an unforgettable experience.

[Samba]

You might have missed driving in this trip, but the pics you have clicked are really amazing. Perfectly balanced & well processed pics with some thoughtful composition.

In my case, the trips where I do not drive, I get better pictures! Maybe concentrating on driving diverts my attention from photography and at the end of the trip, I can hardly find any good frame, most of them looks like snapshots.
Would like to hear from you on this, whether you feel the same or not?

[ampere]

Nice is an awesome place to travel. One of the best of the French Riviera. The train ride is another awesome one along the coast.

Cannes-Nice-Antibes

Did you try the old town on the hill on the way to Monaco. (The perfume factory at Eze?) Another location that gives a brilliant view of Cote D'Azure.

Brilliant Log as always.

[Thermodynamics]

Wow, colorful!

Those narrow alleys in wide angle, simply amazing. I guess the bus tour in Monaco with a vantage view from the desk would have presented frames that cannot be captured otherwise on a car.

How is life in Monaco. I have read, there is no income tax, one of the highest per capita GDP, lowest unemployment, lowest poverty rate etc.,