The storms over here have been fierce. We were apparently very lucky in Civitavecchia that all we broke were our mooring lines. Other ships have had entire itineraries changed (staying Europe longer, changing ending ports from NYC to Port Canaveral - that’s a huge one!), hit other vessels, even offloading passengers in the middle of the night from an unscheduled port for bus rides back to Rome in order to make flights the next day. It has been crazy. And on land, the destruction has been intense. We’ve only seen a little bit of it in our travels, but there have been floods (historic floods in Venice) and destruction up and down the coasts and further inland. Which leads to our next diversion – Nice. The Monaco port is closed to incoming vessels due to damage, so we are going to Nice instead. It isn’t a big deal for us because we are on a tour of Monaco, Nice and Eze – so who cares? We’ll just leave from Nice instead of Monaco. But for others who planned to spend the whole day in Monaco, it is a little bit more complicated. But, Azamara comes through. They have shuttles ready for people who want to go to Monaco, and if you want to stay later than the last shuttle, they will pay for your train fare. They have been more than accommodating, going out of their way to help and to make sure everyone and everything is taken care of properly.
So, for us, we just meet in the lounge, then get on the bus. Even though our mantra is “Don’t get on that bus!” we have cabin credits to spend, so this is essentially a free tour. And it is actually quite a nice little overview the area with great historical details (which of course we can miss while traveling on our own).
Our tour begins on the lower Corniche road – so named because “corniche” is the name they have given to winding roads that overlook the water. It is a beautiful drive up and out of Nice, through Villefranche, with sweeping views of the coastline.
As we make our way along the coast, we learn that Nice only became French in 1860, and really began to boom as a tourist destination when aristocrats started coming here for over winter, and then again in the summer months for the sun and the sea. The city’s name originated from the Greeks, who named the city after the goddess Nikia, which over time evolved into Nike and then finally Nice.
Approaching Monaco and the quick drive through the country, our tour guide gives us tons of interesting history on how the country was formed. At some point in time (I forgot the exact year), Prince Charles (a Grimaldi) owned a huge swath of land here on the coast. But he had major debt, so he agreed to sell 90% of his land to France, keeping the lucrative coastal port area for his own. He named the area after himself – “carlo” is “charles” in french – and the mountain area still remaining in the country – “monte.” Monte Carlo. It is the 2nd smallest country after the Vatican. The guide gave a whole explanation – most of which I either zoned out or just didn’t grasp - about how the Grimaldi’s switched protection from France to Spain, so they could only become a principality and be given the crown of prince, not King.
At any rate, it is a very informative ride, and the guide also tells us about all the rich residents, the lack of tax and points out new buildings with 300 Million Euro price tags for penthouses. We are in and out of the country quite quickly – passing the little stone statue/memorials that mark the boundaries – and climbing up in the French mountainsides for sweeping views back down into Monaco.
There are some great shops here, one of which catches my eye with some fun hippie jewelry. After chatting with the sales girl about the artist who made the jewelry – and other cool things like a speaker for your smartphone made out of wood, we end up walking away with 2 very cool wrap around leather bracelets. Nice. Then climbing explorations. We decide it is time to sit down for a cappuccino and follow a sign for the Salon d’The. What we find instead is the Deli – a really neat little “salad bar and olive oil shop” tucked into one of the stairways at the top of Eze.
Bonus! The cappuccino comes with Peanut M&Ms. Yum. As we are leaving, the owner is fixing little olive bowls we guess they will serve with lunch. We made some remark, and he prepared us a small little bowl topped with basil oil. They are fabulous – even Ed liked them! They are so good in fact, that it convinces us to buy some of his olive oil (not the olives since they would be a tad too hard to carry home). We debate about individual cans vs. flavor packs and end up settling on a salad dressing mixed pack that has three types of oil mixed with balsamic. The owner also gives us little sample bottles of the oil/vinegar dressing in case we want to try it before we go home. Sweet.
On our way back down the village, we wander into the church (because the free bathrooms are right next door), detour onto the plaza outside the church and window shop for pottery ideas as we head to the bus.
Returning to Nice, we take the middle Corniche road, stopping at a great viewpoint where we can stare out over the Cote d’Azure – and our ship – before boarding the bus for a quick tour of Nice, including the great “blockhead” building that houses the central library, La Tete Carree Library, in Nice (the building’s title is “thinking inside the box,” a clear metaphor for what is held within), the Russian St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral and the little statue of liberty replica on the seaside promenade.
All in all, an excellent tour, which has given us a lot more insight into Monaco, and Nice, where we have visited twice, but never really got a well rounded view, or understanding of the city.
We’ve got a ton of time before we sail, so we grab a quick lunch on the ship, then head back outside to explore the old town of Nice – something we’ve never managed to do on our previous visits. We catch the little port shuttle that gets us over to the edge of the quay so we can walk easily into the old town. It doesn’t take more than 10 minutes until we are wandering through the little narrow lanes of old Nice, dodging tourists and locals and crew members alike while window shopping and marveling at the architecture. Time is getting on, so we circle back toward the seaside promenade for the ship, stopping first to quench our thirst. We pop down at a table at Granny’s Salon de The. We order wine and beer, and the owner (who is definitely not Granny, I wouldn’t even say he was Grandpa!) says drink only? We say yes, and he says, I can’t serve you, its not me, he adds! I thought the little line of French line under the alcohol might say we have to eat too. So no problem, we’ll just order a sugar crepe. I’m not going to argue! Now all is well, as we sit and enjoy the street side café along with our mid-afternoon beverage and snack.
On our way back to the port, we pass by the Veteran’s Memorial at the bottom of the hill that the Colline du Chateau sits, snap a couple of quick pix there, before making our way back to the quay to get the shuttle.
We meet a fellow passenger at the shuttle stop, who says she’s been waiting for 10 minutes. We figure there is just a back up somewhere and wait alongside her. After 20 minutes though, it’s clear the shuttle is not coming, so we decide to hoof it back to the ship – it’s a completely flat walk around the harbor, and the weather is quite pleasant. We leave our shipmate behind (she really doesn’t want to walk) and stroll along the marina, looking at all the boats (big boats! Including the boat used in one of the James Bond movies, I think Goldfinger?) and enjoying the fresh air and exercise. After getting back aboard, we hang out on our balcony, watching the day turn into night – and wondering why the shuttle bus is parked outside the pier area and doesn’t move all afternoon and evening? Hope our fellow passenger made it back on foot or by taxi, because we’re thinking that bus is done for the day!
We sail as scheduled, have a lovely dinner and get ready for a day at (hopefully peaceful) sea.
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