Europe Day 10: Free Day on the French Riviera… and Monaco

.: October 04, 2012. Thursday :.

I was super excited, we were going to Monaco! I always imagine Monaco as an exclusive, rich, little country, oblivious to the world, so it would be interesting to see it up close. But first, a photo session on the beach. It was my first time seeing a pebbled beach, and it was strange. Even more foreign to me was to see people sun bathing on the pebbles. On the pebbles! Wearing a bikini! In a cold day! Interesting.

 

I collected some pebbles to paint from this beach. At that time, I was feeling a bit like a fool when I told hubby I wanted those pebbles haha Now, I wish I'd brought back more stones. I like painting on them.

 

Alright, off we went to Monaco! We took a train and the view along the way was superb, you could see a marina with yachts, cliffs. The train, in and out of tunnel. It was like waiting for a surprise every time the train went into the tunnel, because you know that once out, there the beautiful scenery awaits you.

 

We had our lunch at a busy restaurant on our way to the Prince's Palace of Monaco. Finally I had my escargot. Yum.

 

Now let's tackle the palace!

~ A view of Monaco from the fortress ~

Europe Day 9: Off to French Riviera

.: October 03, 2012. Wednesday :.

We were back to France! On our way to French Riviera, we visited a famous French perfumery, Fragonard. They explained the development of perfume making method since the olden days until now. It was interesting to know. I bought some small bottles only for friends and colleagues since my mom gave me one bottle of perfume from this shop when she went to Europe before us.

 

~ Love the soaps in various shapes, my fave is the egg! ~

 

Once we reached Nice, French Riviera, it was late evening. Our dinner hunt began! The four of us walked along the beach to the city area, looking for a nice local restaurant. I wanted to eat something local, something French, but the guys looked like they could eat a horse. Since French food portion is quite petite, we opted for something with lots and lots of carbohydrate, hence the Italian food. We found one small Italian restaurant run by a super friendly Italian lady. The food was amazing.