The French Riveria

Over Easter weekend, we (Gene, Tammy and I again), went to the French Riviera. We stayed in St. Laurent (near Nice). It was right on the beach (the beach was rock not sand though)!! However, the weather was still cool enough that we couldn't really enjoy the Mediterranean too much. We went to Monaco on Saturday and walked around the entire country all day. The country is small enough that you can walk around it all in a few hours. Monaco is a very wealthy area. We got to see lots of luxury super yachts in the marina. One even had a helicopter landing pad. There were also lots of luxury vehicles in the area. They were starting to set up the bleachers for the Formula 1 Grand Prix race that is in May. This is a road race, so the track is right on the road and we got to see the starting line area right in front of the marina. We walked through some very pretty gardens and went to the Monte Carlo casino and hotels in that area. We also got to see where Prince Albert lives and amazingly enough, it is NOT a can. Again, the train ride to and from St. Laurent and Monaco was beautiful. The train follows the water front. The water is a beautiful turquoise color and is so clear! It looks like the Corona commercials. On Easter Sunday, we took another guided tour. We went to St. Paul de Vence, Cannes and Antibes. St. Paul is a tiny little village at the top of the mountains overlooking the Mediterranean. It is a midivial village and you really can't drive cars in the streets. And it is a very "artsy" village. There are many amazing art galleries that we saw. I definitely may have to drive to this area the next time so I can purchase something! :) Cannes was fun to see! We got to see where the film festival happens at. They did have sand beaches here. Antibes was cool. There is a street market on every Sunday. We got to walk through this! It was VERY crowded. You had to squeeze through everyone to get from one end to another. After our tour was over, we walked from St. Laurent back to Cagnes along the beach front and then back. It was about a 3 hour walk. We stopped and sat on the rock beach for a while. We were amazed...the rocks were actually comfortable (probably not in the hot summer in a swim suit and sandles though). Gene and I may try and go back to here sometime in warmer weather to enjoy the Meditterean more!! :)