The French Riviera

Spring & Summer 2005

My friend Cindy obtained a European Union Visa to attend The CERAM School in Sophia Antibes to get her Masters Degree and I decided it would be a great place from which to explore Europe.  Her sister Nicole, was already in Northern France so in early March, Cindy flew from Shanghai to France where she visited with Nicole and her boyfriend in Normandy for a week before I arrived from Sri Lanka on March 9^th.

Cindy and Nicole met me at the airport in Paris and we took a cab into the heart of the city for a couple days of sightseeing.  Although the French workers were on strike, preventing us from visiting the Louvre, we were able to go up into The Eiffel Tower, walk up Champs-Elysees to L’Arc de Triomphe and visit Norte-Dame.

After a couple days in Paris, the three of us went to EuroDisney, a half hour east of the city.  We stayed at The New York Hotel right on the property and spent three days visiting the park before Nicole had to return home and Cindy and I took the train to Nice on Cote d’Azur.  I had reserved an room at Citidines, an apartment-hotel owned by Ascott, Equity’s international partner, where we could get our bearings during the first week.

Cindy is not scheduled to start school at CERAM until September, but has enrolled in a French language school here in Nice which starts in April. 

Our first week in Nice included a visit to her school in Sofia Antibes, a orientation tour of Nice, visits to several real estate agents to locate an apartment and a day at the boat show.  We also spent a day in Monaco where we visited the Exotic Gardens (founded by Princess Grace), the Royal Palace, Cathedral and, of course, Monte Carlo.  We located an apartment at Port Nicea, an apartment community near the port which offers furnished apartments.  The first availability would not be until April 1^st, so we decided to take a ten-day trip to Italy.

On March 21^st, we took the overnight train to Venice where we found a great hotel just off St. Mark’s Square.  We wandered around the city for a few days visiting the markets and tourist attractions before taking the train south to Florence on the 24^th.  After cramming as many museums and churches into our forty-eight hours in Florence, we stopped in Pisa to see the Leaning Tower before continuing on to Rome later the same day.
      We spent four days in Rome including Easter.  We had a great room at The Hotel Regno on Via del Corso and each day ventured out to visit the ancient ruins and museums.  We extended our stay for an extra day so we could visit the Vatican which is closed on Easter Sunday and Monday.  I was a little disappointed that we did not make it to St. Peter’s square in time to see what turned out to be Pope John Paul II’s last public appearance, but the Easter crowds forced us to walk instead of taking public transportation.

On Tuesday, we were in line early to get into The Vatican Museums, but still had several thousand people ahead of us.  We spent all morning in the museums and then went to St. Peter’s Cathedral where we climbed up into the dome where you can look a couple hundred feet down into the nave of the church or outside over the cityscape.  Our visit to Rome, and the Vatican in particular, became much more memorable in the weeks ahead with the media coverage of John Paul II’s death and the election of a new pope.

We left Rome on the afternoon of the 29^th, taking the train south to Naples and changed there for Sorrento.  Arriving after dark, without a reservation, we settled for a small hotel at the port, but moved the next morning to The Antiche Mura, an excellent hotel in town.  We spent the 30^th on Capri where we took the funicular to the town and then rode a bus over to Annacapri.  The weather was excellent so we rode the chairlift up to the top of Mt. Capri where we had an excellent view of the whole island, before returning to the mainland by ferry.

On our last day in Italy, we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast before we checked out of The Antiche Maura and went up to Pompeii.  We were able to visit Pompeii for four hours before reboarding the train to Naples.  We ate an early dinner in Naples and then took an overnight train back to Nice.

Arriving back on the morning of April 1^st, we went directly to the real estate agency and picked-up the key to our apartment.  We will stay in one apartment for 10 days, move to a second for 20 days before finally getting into the unit we really want, in the same complex, on May 1^st.  Port Nicea is only one block from the port and close to the old section of Nice.  We are also close to the Colline du Chateau, a park located at the top of 400 steps, which was where the Romans defended Nice from the Barbarians.  From our apartment we can climb up one side of the hill and down the other to the Quai des Etats-Unis which has a 4 kilometer pedestrian walk extending to the airport.  From the top of Colline du Chateau we can look down on the Port of Nice, two blocks from our apartment.'

We used the weekend to settle into our apartment and Cindy started her language classes on Monday.  She will go to school four hours a day for the first month and then two hours a day for the next two months.  Her weekends will be free.  I made a list of places I wanted to go and started planning some trips.

My first excursion was to Digne les Bains, a small town in the Southern Alps. There is a narrow gauge train which runs up through spectacular countryside into the mountains terminating at Digne three hours later.  I found a wonderful little hotel in town where I spent the night.  Although it rained on and off during my two day stay, I was able to walk around the town and think it would be a great place to go back to in the summertime.  I returned to Nice in time to move our belongings to our next apartment.

On April 13^th, I took the ferry to Corsica, the French island five hours out into the Mediterranean.  The ferry was huge and comfortable with several restaurants and cabins available for overnight trips.  I debarked at Bastia on Corsica’s northeastern tip.  The town is much larger than I anticipated.  It was after 9:00 PM when I located a room at the Hotel Bonaparte (Napoleon was born on Corsica and his name is everywhere) and checked in for two nights.

Corsica has a rail network and I had originally planned to visit several cities, but decided that much more than two days were necessary to really see the whole island, and confined my stay to Bastia.  I had also considered climbing Mt. Cinto, Corsica’s highest mountain at 2700 meters, but discovered that it becomes somewhat technical near the summit and I did not want to go alone.  Hopefully I will be able to return to Corsica while I am still in France to explore if further.

Cindy’s friend Chen who works for KLM Airlines in Beijing came for a short visit in April.  I acted as tour guide while Cindy was in school.  Nice has many great museums so one day we visited the Matisse Museum in the old Roman section of Cimiez and then walked around the park and Roman ruins.  Later that day we also went to the Chagall Museum which contains only his works dedicated to religious subjects.  The next day we took the bus over to Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat where we visited the estate and gardens of Ephrussi de Rothschild.

The day Chen returned to China, Nicole came to visit for a week.  We entertained her with visits to Monaco, Cannes and the beaches of Nice.  Monaco has been in the international news lately due to the death of Prince Rainier and the elevation of his son to be the new ruler.  The Nice Half-Marathon was held on April 24^th and we spent the day watching and cheering on the runners.  The race motivated me, and Cindy to my surprise, to start jogging again.  Nicole returned to Normandy on the 26^th and we moved to our permanent apartment a few days later.

I hiked up to the Nice Observatory one day.  It is situated on a hill overlooking the city and took a couple hours to get there.  I learned that it is only open on Saturday nights, but would be an interesting place to go, especially when my dad comes to visit in late August.  There is another observatory about five kilometers further in Eze, but I did not go that far.

On April 30^th, I took the train to Turin, Italy.  I had to change trains twice, but arrived in Italy’s former capital six hours later.  As my train was pulling into the Turin station, there was a huge commotion coming from another train that was just leaving the station.  It turned out to be an entire train-full of soccer fans celebrating a victory by their local team, Juventus, earlier that day.  I found a room at The Hotel Roma and visited the tourist information center to get some ideas as to what I could do in Turin.  The northern industrial city is the site of the 2006 Winter Olympics and there is quite a lot of construction.  I found a nice jogging trail along the Po River and went running twice during my visit.

On Sunday there were large May Day celebrations in the main square.  I walked up to the Museo dell’Automobile, a museum dedicated to the history of automobiles.  Turin is the home of Fiat and was a major center of automotive manufacturing in past decades.  The family who controls Fiat also owns the local soccer team and is much loved by the local people.  I also visited the cathedral on Sunday afternoon to see the Shroud of Turin.  There is a replica on display at the rear of the church, and the original is kept in a silver box in a chapel up near the altar.  I returned to Nice on May 2^nd.

Cindy had a four-day weekend from May 5-8^th so we decided to go to Western Provence.  We took the TGV to Avignon where we found a room at The Hotel de L’Horloge, located inside the walls on the town square.  The Palais des Papes towers over the square and was the center of the Christian world during the reigns of seven Popes who lived there instead of Rome in the fourteenth century.  When we visited the palace, it was crowded with floral enthusiasts who were attending the French Rose Exhibition which was being held in the courtyard.  Admission to the palace also included a visit to the Pont St. Benezet, or at least its remains as it was mostly washed away by flooding in the 1600’s.

On Friday, May 6^th, we took the train over to Nimes.  We visited the Roman Amphitheatre (still used as a venue for bull fights and other outdoor events), Masion Carree and the Castellum where water used to arrive in the city via the aqueduct from Uzes, some 50 kilometers away.  The 2000 year old aqueduct is best know for the Pont du Gard, the highest and one of the best preserved bridges ever constructed by the Romans.  We took a bus out to see the huge structure which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and discovered a wonderful museum with all kinds of exhibits about the construction and purpose of the aqueduct.  With its constant supply of water, Nimes was able to become a center for the weaving of cloth.  The cloth ‘of Nimes’ is now known as denim.

We left Avignon on Sunday morning but stopped in Arles and Marseilles on the way back to Nice.  We only spent a few hours in each city, but were able to ride the tourist train in Arles, a home to and inspiration for many works by Vincent Van Gogh, and had lunch at the port in Marseilles.

The week of May 8^th was the Cannes Film Festival.  A friend of Cindy’s from China was accompanying her father who was a member of the Chinese Delegation to the event.  We had considered going to Cannes, but the major events are only open to industry insiders, and I was not interested in gawking at movie stars.  Instead, Vicky came to Nice where we entertained her for two days before she continued her European trip with her father.

The Monaco Grand Prix was held in the streets of Monaco on May 22^nd.  The event was sold out by the time I seriously thought of going, which is probably just as well because the tickets were extremely expensive.  There were two practice days before the race on Thursday and Saturday.  Tickets for Saturday started at $300 making Thursday’s $80 seats seem like a bargain.  I sat in the bleachers for a couple hours watching the F1 cars race around two sharp curves in front of the casino.  They are very loud, but I cannot imagine spending 3-4 days watching the same thing over and over.  The Monaco Grand Prix is famous for the fact that it is the last F1 race which is still run on the city streets.

While on a MTSobek trip to Patagonia a few years ago, I met Erik Perez, a guide from Spain.  He has written a couple books on hiking in Spain and high on my list of trips this summer is to meet up with him again.  In consulting the MTSobek website, I found that Erik was, in fact, guiding trips in the Picos de Eurpoa and Pyrenees this summer so I signed up for one trip in June and a second in September.  I’ll add a few days in Madrid to the first trip and a few days in Barcelona in September.  I also made arrangements to fly back to the USA for a month to take care of some personal business and visit family in California.  I flew to Madrid on May 24^th.

I returned from Spain on June 5^th and spent a few days in Nice before flying to New York on June 9^th.  I was in Connecticut for a week, taking care of some personal business and helping Trish paint the new addition on her house in Fairfield.

On June 20^th, I flew to San Francisco after missing my scheduled flight on the19th.  I stayed with my parents in Novato, attended my niece’s wedding celebration in Colfax, and spent 4 days in Las Vegas at the Venetian.  Carolyn, Halley and Ayden, Halley’s one week old son, visited in Novato July 9^th and I returned to France on July 11^th. 

In mid-July, Cindy and I visited Lyon and Chamonix for a week.  We traveled by train to Lyon, one of the famous gastronomical centers of France, and found a hotel in the center of town.  By 4:00 PM on the 18^th, we had checked into the Hotel Carlton, a beautiful old property with an antique elevator ideally located within walking distance of Old Lyon.  For dinner on our first night, we found a traditional restaurant where we had calf trotters, chitterlings and tripe.

Tuesday we took the scenic bus tour of Lyon and spent the afternoon walking around the older parts of town.  We returned to the same area we had eaten last night and had another wonderful meal.

Wednesday we had breakfast at an outdoor café, and then walked along the Rhone River admiring the barges, which have been converted to houseboats.  We walked over to Old Lyon and took the funicular up to Fourviere where we visited Notre Dame Basilique.  From there, we walked down to the Museum of Gallo-Roman Civilization and the ancient Roman theatres which dominate the hillside.  We ate lunch in Old Lyon and then returned to the hotel to rest.

For dinner on our last night in Lyon we enjoyed frogs legs, foi gras and rabbit.  The food here in Lyon has been exotic and wonderful.  Even the chitterlings (pig intestines) became edible with enough beaujolais sauce.

We left Lyon Thursday morning and took the train four hours east up into the Alpes arriving at Chamonix around 1:00 PM.  At the tourist information center, we found a hotel in the center of town and checked into The Hotel Croix Blanche.  We spent a couple hours exploring the village and ate lunch at one of the many outdoor cafes.  We spent the afternoon discussing what we wanted to do over the next few days.

Friday morning we got up early and set out to hike up Le Brevent, the 2525 meter peak which rises on the opposite side of the Chamonix valley from Mt. Blanc.  We started hiking at 7:30 AM and took about three hours hiking up through the forested mountainside to reach Planpraz, terminus of the lower gondola and a popular launching point for parasailers.  The views of Mount Blanc and the Aiguille du Midi across the valley with a dozen colorful parasails peppered above the village were fantastic.

At Planpraz we continued up along the ‘Tour du Mont Blanc’ trail to the summit of Brevent which we reached at 12:30 PM.  The weather was fantastic and we ate lunch at the restaurant at the peak before taking the upper gondola back to Planpraz where we connected to the lower gondola for the ride back to town.  In the afternoon we found a hotel we liked better than where we were staying and made arrangements to move there tomorrow.

Saturday we got another early start.  After checking out of The Croix Blanche, we dropped our luggage at Le Grand Hotel des Alpes, and walked over to the base of the Aiguilla du Midi and bought lift tickets to the summit.  The ride up consists of two rapid gondola rides, the highest and longest single-span in the world.  It is possible to continue on other gondolas all the way down the other side into Italy, but we decided to stay on the French side.
 

  Visibility was perfect and we could look down on climbers ascending the snow ridges below, and across the valley to Brevent which we climbed yesterday.  It is hard to imagine that the summit of Mount Blanc is still 1000 meters above the summit of Aiguilla du Midi.

Cindy had been looking forward to going to Switzerland for a day, but this proved to be impossible without a visa, so instead I suggest she try parasailing.  Although nervous, she was excited about this idea so when we returned to Chamonix, we went to our new hotel where the concierge was able to arrange an immediate flight.

I wanted to photograph the launch and the landing so Daniel phoned a friend to drive me from the base of the lift to the landing site.  I was able to take a couple pictures from the gondola on the way down and Cindy was also able to take pictures as she descended into the valley.  She landed about a half-hour after takeoff and I am sure she will remember her experience for years to come.  Saturday night we went to dinner at another great restaurant where we had bison and orange crepes flambé for dessert.

Monday, July 25^th, we checked out of our hotel and boarded the train for the 9-hour trip back to Nice.  This has been a great trip and I would head back to either Lyon or Chamonix anytime.

Cindy went to visit her sister Nicole in Grenoble for the first week in August.  My Mom & Dad were coming to Europe for a cruise up the Rhine River in August and I thought it would be fun to go with them, but by the time I got around to making the reservations, their cruise was fully booked.  I was able to find a different cruise line which offered a similar itinerary so the four of us met in Amsterdam and traveled in Holland, Germany and Southeastern France for a couple weeks.

We arrived back in Nice on August 25th.  Saturday we drove to Old Nice in the rental car I had kept from the previous week and visited the farmers market.  After stocking up on fruits and vegetables we walked around the old town for awhile.  We found a place which sold unusual ice cream and sampled flavors such as tomato, avocado, thyme, rhubarb and lavender…all of which were surprisingly good.  I dropped Mom, Dad & Cindy off at the apartment before continuing on to Carrefours where I bought additional food for the week.

Sunday morning we took a driving tour of Nice, visiting the Roman ruins at Cimiez, the Gardens of the Franciscan Monastery and some of the newer portions of the city.  I drove through the narrow streets of Old Nice and then dropped everyone off there and went to park the car close to the beach while they continued on foot through the tourist shops.  We met up again an hour later, had coffee at a local café, and then rode the Petite Tourist Train up Castle Hill.  Before returning home, we drove to Cap Ferrat and Villefranche-Sur-Mer.  Sunday night Dad made a wonderful dinner while we emailed the photos we had taken to family members.

Monday we went to Monaco.  I wanted to go by boat so we could see the coastline, but driving gave us more flexibility.  I dropped them off at the Exotic Gardens and parked the car.  Both Mom & Dad did a great job walking down and up the steep embankment which is covered with all types of cacti.

We drove over to the Royal Palace and boarded a tourist train which took us through the entire country of Monaco in 40 minutes.  Before lunch we toured the Maritime Museum & Aquarium and then Mom & Cindy went on the palace tour.  Our final activity was to watch a documentary film about the history of Monaco and the Grimaldi Family.  We got home around 5:00 PM where Dad carved a watermelon and cooked dinner.

   Tuesday we took a break from sightseeing, but started up again on Wednesday with a trip to Cannes.  We visited the market, walked through the tourist streets and drove by the Cannes Convention Center where the Film Festival is held each year.  We drove up to Grasse, the center of perfume production, arriving at the Fragonard Perfume Factory just in time for a guided tour of their facilities in English. 

Cindy needed to meet the landlord of the new apartment she was renting in Antibes so we drove there for lunch.  Antibes has a beautiful old section of town near the 1600-slip harbor which is enclosed by a high wall which we drove on.  Mom visited the Picasso Museum while Cindy signed her lease and we all drove back to Nice at 3:00 PM where Dad cooked for us again.

Thursday Mom went to the Chagall Museum in Nice while Cindy and I took a load of stuff to her new apartment while I still have the car.  We picked Mom up on the way back and returned to the apartment where Dad had made lunch.  We went to the Negresco Hotel for tea  and then spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for Mom & Dad’s departure tomorrow, and watching the continuing coverage of the hurricane in New Orleans.

I returned the rental car Friday morning.  The cost of the rental wasn’t too bad, but the tolls in France and the almost $100 per tank of gas was amazing.  Mom & Dad flew to Amsterdam on September 2^nd where they met a friend for dinner and then flew home on Saturday the third.  Cindy and I will be in our apartment in Nice for another week, when I will leave for Eastern Europe and Cindy will move to Antibes and start her Masters Degree.

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