25/08/2017 (Friday) – arriving in Nice

We took the flight from Dublin at 5:40 pm and after a 2.5 hour journey, we arrived at the airport. Nice, which reminded us a bit of Santos Dumont airport in Rio de Janeiro. We took bus 98 (6 euros per person), which goes along the city's coast (Promenade des Anglais), and in less than half an hour we arrived at our hotel.

We chose the hotel Club Inn, very well located with excellent reviews for 90 euros a night without breakfast. It is hidden away on a dead-end street and the surrounding area is pedestrian-only, so it is a pleasure to walk around there. The room was tidy and the bathroom, fortunately, had a separate toilet and shower! I loved it 🙂

We left our things in the room and went out for dinner, using TripAdvisor as a reference for our choice. Some restaurants were already closing, but we managed to go in the Cote Lounge and we ate seafood with wonderful vegetables! The atmosphere is super nice, but the service left a little to be desired. After that, we walked around the pedestrian streets for a while and then went back to the hotel.

08/26/2017 (Saturday) – Day 1

Day to visit Monaco, but first a summary of the morning tour of Nice:

Since our hotel didn't have breakfast, we got ready and went looking for one. Patisserie typical to start the day well. We chose the At Maitre Pierre and everything we ordered was delicious.

We walked towards the beach, crossing a park, and wow, what a view! I was enchanted by the turquoise blue sea water and the wide avenue with coconut trees and charming buildings. I couldn’t help but compare it to the Copacabana beachfront…

We continued walking towards the Port of Nice, as that was where the receptionist at our hotel told us to catch the bus to Monaco, and we took several beautiful photos along the way! Here are some for you:

As soon as we arrived at the indicated bus stop, bus 100 had just passed, but after 5 minutes, another one arrived for us to board (1.50 euros per person). We were able to sit and enjoy the view, but it wasn't a very comfortable trip because there was no air conditioning. (Tip: sit opposite the driver for the best views!) We got off the bus when we got close to the bus stop. Palace of Monaco and off we went, climbing a considerable hill to visit this attraction. The climb is quite tiring, especially if you are short of breath because of pregnancy and the heat, but it was worth it! Just look at the view:

This area of the Palace is super pleasant and has several narrow streets with little shops. souvenirs and restaurants for tourists. We decided to first visit the 13th century Palace (8 euros per person – no photos) and then we went for a walk through the streets.

We didn't find any restaurant that caught our attention, so we had to resort to a touristy one, because we were really hungry. We went to Bar Restaurant l'Express and we ordered the dishes of the day, which were delicious.

Then we walked calmly through the streets and visited the St. Nicholas Cathedral, which is the principality's cathedral and where several kings and family members are buried, including the famous Grace Kelly.

We went down that hill I mentioned earlier without any difficulty (every saint helps when going down!) and walked through the city to the famous Monte-Carlo Casino. It was a long walk, but we stopped several times along the way to take pictures and rest from the blazing sun. Photos from the trail:

When we arrived at the casino, we were amazed at the number of cars parked in front of it. Each one more sinister than the last! The casino building is beautiful inside and out, but when we found out that we would have to pay almost 40 euros to get to the betting tables, we decided to just stay there. hall of entry itself.

We got off nearby to see the famous curve of the Formula 1 track and even went into a mediocre casino to gamble a bit (what an addiction!!), but we lost really quickly and thought it was a good time to catch the train.

On the way back to Nice, we stopped in a village that we knew was cute, Villefranche sur Mer, and we took the opportunity to have dinner there. We chose a tapas restaurant facing the sea and found everything delicious, but the peace of the place was something that left its mark… The name of the place is The Terrace.

We took the train back to Nice and walked for about 20 minutes to the hotel, stopping at a market along the way to get some snacks for the evening and for breakfast. Long day…

08/27/2017 (Sunday) – Day 2

Day to meet Nice!

Summary of the itinerary through the city:

We woke up relatively late, had breakfast in the room and went out for a walk without much planning. We ended up going back to the boardwalk, after all the view is wonderful, but this time we walked in the opposite direction. Our first stop was to visit the famous hotel The Negresco, but when we arrived at the door, we came face to face with a sign saying that tourists could no longer enter to take photos, only guests. We had to make do with it from the outside and the little hall input only.

We entered the Gardens of the Masséna Museum and it was a great idea, because it gave us a chance to escape the blazing sun and rest on the benches spread out.

We kept walking until the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas, but I strongly recommend that you take a bus or a taxi there, because it's a long way to go to see very little interesting things, you know? The Cathedral is beautiful and entry is free, but you can't take pictures inside.

We left there and took a bus to the old part of the city, Old Town, and we loved the narrow streets full of restaurants and little shops. We were hungry but since we didn't want to spend too much time on lunch, we stopped at the creperie The Trimaran and soon it was packed. The crepe was delicious, guys! Then we went to a place fried finger foods super trendy (I couldn't find the name) and we got some more treats to top it off.

We took a quick look at Nice Cathedral, built in the 17th century, and then we continued walking to the Castle Elevator, which is an elevator that takes you to the Castle Hill, from where you can see almost the entire city. I would even pay to go up without making any effort, but we got there and were surprised that we didn't have to pay anything. I'm not sure if it's always free because there was a sign there when it was free, okay? Better check beforehand. We spent hours up there enjoying the view of the city on both sides of the hill and took the opportunity to relax and have a snack at the only snack bar available. The only problem we found was that the bathroom was a little out of the way and on top of that you had to pay, but we thought it was worth getting to know the area. Check out the photos, even with a bit of fog:

We went back to the hotel and I took the opportunity to rest a little, while Celo went for a swim in the sea. He said the sea water was wonderful, but all I could think about was sleeping…. We went out for dinner in the area and chose a SENSATIONAL little restaurant called The Kitchen. It's quite small with just a few tables, but the owner is very attentive and prepared everything with great care, you know? We felt like VIPs and loved the food. We recommend it!

 08/28/2017 (Monday) – Day 3

My darling's birthday! <3

Summary itinerary for the day:

We woke up, had breakfast in the room, did the checkout and we went to pick up the car we rented from the company Europcar, very close to the hotel. We drove straight to the village of Èze, which is half an hour from Nice, because we knew that the road was beautiful and the view of the region was worth it (and it really is, even with the fog we got!).

When we got there, we tried to park in the designated spots, but it was super crowded, so it was quite frustrating. We found a sign for a parking lot that was a little outside of town, but that offered shuttle to the center, so there we went… I recommend it if you can’t find a spot nearby. It cost 5 euros and we also got a 6 euro discount on the tickets we bought afterwards. We went straight to the Exotic Garden of Èze, which with the discount came to 6 euros for the two of us, and we loved the plants from all over the world and the view of the region, even with the fog. Take a look:

We spent some time enjoying the garden, strolled through the charming streets, went into a cute little church, bought some snacks and water and took the shuttle to the parking lot.

We drove for an hour until Saint Paul de Vence, tip given by my mother-in-law expert in France, and it was a great stop, because the city is lovely! It's all medieval with chic shops, especially galleries, it enchanted us and we ended up choosing to have lunch there.

We went to the restaurant La Fontaine, with prices a little salty, but it was one of the few open with good reviews, so it was perfect to celebrate Celo's birthday!

We left there satisfied, walked a little more around the city and then drove to our hotel, Cap Riviera, which is located in the Fréjus region. We chose this hotel as our base to visit the beaches in the region and I told you all about it in this post.

Read all about this trip in the links below

• Summary of 10 days in the south of France – this post!
• 3 days in Nice, Monaco and surroundings – see details here
• 4 days on the beaches of the South of France – see details here
• 2 days in the Provence region – see details here

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