The French Riviera

Early saturday morning, i took the shuttle from Grenoble to Lyon St.Exupery, and boarded the 1-hour flight to Nice. I was a bit disappointed to get the aisle seat again, but as my luck would have it, the guy next to me didnt turn up. I promptly moved to the window seat, and thoroughly enjoyed the take off. Of course, the last 15 min of the flight was the most exciting. The pilot takes you south, and turns left near Cannes. He then flies along the coast, over Cannes and Antibes. I cannot explain in words how beautiful the french riviera looks from up there. The water is clear turqoise in colour, and by 9:30 in the morning, the adventure sport fanatics are on the waters. To top it off, Nice airport is on a peninsula, and as the plane descends, you feel like he's landing onto the water. When your heart is in your mouth, you will see the runway below you, and he touches down on the edge of the land. Absolutely worth the money you pay for the flight (which, by the way, was only 15 euros more than the train!)

I took the shuttle to the railway station, and met Shashwat, who was cursing me cuz he hadnt had breakfast on his overnight train. I hadnt either, thanks to Air France idea of a breakfast (un petit cake aux fruits). We had an early lunch, and dumped bags in the room we had booked. Took a 20 minute train ride to Monaco, along the coastline.

Monaco. This is the place to be on a summer day. It's a stinking rich place, and i think every house here has a yacth in the bay. Even better is that it hosts one of the most challenging F1 races, and thats why i was here. We walked the streets that form the F1 track, a good 4 kms. Felt absolutely exhilarating to walk the streets where men have raced and won... Senna, Hill, Mansel, Schumacher, Hakkinen... I even got a picture of the pole position on the start-finish straight, and a video of a car driving through the famous tunnel, albeit slowly. We ate at a cafe that is located on the stretch that forms the pit lane during the race weekend !!


Boats at Monaco
 


Pole Position for Monaco Grand Prix
 


We got back to Nice later that evening, before the sun set (which is like 9pm or something), and learnt that there was a "fete du port" at Nice port. So off we went to a carnival, with a parade and eateries and dance and music. But the feature of the evening was the fireworks, or "feu d'artifice". Brilliant, 20 minutes of nonstop fireworks. Got back to the hotel by midnight, and crashed.


"Fete du Port" at Nice
 


Nice Coastline at Night
 


Had planned to go to the beach on Sunday morning, but went a bit haywire thanks to the weather. Nice gets 300 days of sunshine in the year, and we woke up to a rainy morning. We were totally disappointed, and headed to a nearby hill and chateau. By the time we were up there, the sun was out, and people were starting to head out to the beach. When we got down, the beaches were crowded, and that is wat Nice is famous for. Beaches without sand, only pebbles. And crowded.


Nice Port from the Chateau
 


What i am about to describe next, absolutely dumbfounded me. Of course, i had heard before going to the riviera that the place is famous for sunbathing, and there is no distinction between a "clothing optional" and "public" beach. But i was still amazed to see people (read women), just basking in the sun, and not feeling one bit conscious about onlookers. And mind you, this beach is not outside the city or anything. It is the heart of the town. It is like going to Marine Drive in Mumbai, standing near the wall and seeing a topless woman sunbathing just 10 metres from you !!


 


Well, who's complaining ??!!?? But yeah, i guess for me it was a big big culture shock !!

We had lunch at a private beach, and walked the length of the "Promenade des Anglais", and noticed that the beaches were getting really really crowded. The whole of Nice seemed to descend on the beach when the sun came out !!

Had another snack in the evening, and boarded the TGV back to Valence. This TGV track was not a superfast one, but surely fast. A stone hit the train when another TGV went past, and the train was delayed by 14 minutes, for a thorough inspection of the damage. Got to Valence, and took a local train back to Grenoble, and got home well beyond midnight.

Awesome, awesome weekend !!
In 7th/8th Standard, we studied world geography, and out teacher told us about "hot dry summers and cool wet winters" of the Mediterranean region. At that time, i'd never have dreamt of ever visiting the place, but here i was !! The entire trip, i kept thinking "I'm in Nice, i'm in Nice"