I'm melting, or Boats!

It was burning up today, with thick sticky air, but after a nice breakfast at the hotel it was off to Monte Carlo. Just in case you are wondering where the 1% hang out, we passed by their yachts along the way while on the 1 euro bus (such a bargain!). Honest, I told Mark that one of these things must be a small cruise ship, but not so much. Just a guy's boat. We also weren't allowed in the casino with the Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Rolls Royce parked in front. But we were plenty able to pay 40 euro for three cool drinks at the Cafe Paris, which graces the Grand Prix course. Don't bother converting, it is ridiculous.

The main casino is beautiful in its architecture, and worth the bus ride along the cliffs to get there, but I like Nice much better, its little streets, shops, and soaking tub of an ocean gently lapping up on the beach.

Before getting to the casino, though, we had a nice walk along the Monte Carlo harbor and the kids carnival that was set up. Included was an American Ninja Warrior style obstical course.

Once back, we took a moment to relax, I took a quick dip in the ocean, and we met up with Neil, the first of our ridding partners for the coming week. A beer, some catching up, and then off to dinner. We seem to not be able to turn down sea food while here in the Med. Fish, scallops, and a big bucket of mules-frites that I could barely make a dent in - it was gigantic.

The muggy heat was still with us after dinner, so B and I took a moon-lit swim in the ocean, before calling it a night.

Tomorrow, the fun begins with hooking up with David and starting to get things ready for the big ride. Hope I can finally adjust to the time difference and sleep tonight!

Love to all at home.

Nice is nice

A big day in Nice today. I started with a lite breakfast and then a swim in the ocean at the Castle Beach in front of the hotel. After meeting up back at the hotel and a little relaxing in the sun we headed out to the Monday morning antique market. Some amazing, odd, and strange things up for sale all along the ocean-front promenade.

We then headed up the hillside to the musse Marc Chagall, which was incredible. While some of my favorites of his are not included in the collection, the museum includes the entire biblical collection. As much as I thought I knew about his work, we decided to get the audio tour, and I learned so much about the symbolism he was using. Really genius.

After a little lunch of salad a cold rose, it was back to walking up the hill to the musee Henri Matisse. Honestly, you could skip this one if you are ever in Nice. None of his work from Tahiti, only two sculptures. A lot of photos of him sitting in his room in Nice, and paper cut-outs he never used. And, I was scolded for trying to take a photo. So I snuck a photo of one sketch. I'm such a rebel!

But the Roman ruins sitting next to the museum and the olive garden (not the restaurant, literally an olive garden) were worth the long walk. B and Gunther went gladiator style in the amphitheater.

A quick bus ride all the way back down to the water, a quick dip in the ocean for B and me, a sip of wine on B's terrace, then a great dinner together along the pedestrian mall where the antique fair was in the morning .... seemed most of Nice joined us .... before we call it a night. Yummy pizza for me, fish for B and Mark.

Maybe Monte Carlo tomorrow.