DAY 36 - 16.7.2006

We arrived in Nice after 7am. We parked our car next to the ocean. This day was the second last chance to get a good tan. So the day was dedicated to our wonderful sun shining once again from a clear sky. Before eight there was already several people on the beach and after some time we noticed that there wasn't any more parking places free. So it was perfect timing for us.

Nice is part of the French Riviera along it's famous neighbours Monaco and Cannes. Riviera's beaches are not like the ones in Spain and Portugal. There is no fine sand, instead there are big round rocks. Because of that it required some adjusting when trying to find a comfortable position for sun bathing. But the beach had it's positive sides too: no sand flying and it was nice to search beautiful stones. I took few as a souvenir.

We stayed at the beach till 5pm. After that we went to walk along the beach avenue. We wanted to eat in one of the restaurants which had a sea view, so we chose this one place with free wireless internet connection to customers. We all took pizzas from there. After our late lunch we walked back to our car through the old town. We wanted to see Monaco on the same day so we had to hurry.

Unfortunately many others were leaving the beach at the same time so we got stuck in traffic. We wanted to drive to Monaco along the shore. The scenery was great. Finally we got to Monaco. As we were looking for parking spots we drove by the casino Monte Carlo. The parking area was full of expensive cars and people trying to see famous people. Once we got the car parked the sun had already set down. It was a shame as we also wanted to see Monaco on daylight. The good way to see Monaco fast is by walking along the famous Monaco's Formula 1 Grand Prix as it goes by all the important landmarks. Lots of people were also driving alont the circuit with fast cars. At the harbour there were many big ships with their proud owners eating on the back deck. There's also many people in nice clothes so the city feels really glamorous as you walk there. After seeing enough we returned to our car and went to drive along the circuit. Monaco GP was about a month earlier so of course the streets looked normal by now, but luckily we had our F1 specialist, Lauri, with us who knew all the turns:)

It was time to go to a new country. We welcomed Italy and said goodbye to France and Monaco. Although I'm pretty sure I will return there as Nizza was such a lovely place and I want to visit Monte Carlo casino with a pinstripe suit:) We drove across the border and spent the night in one of the gas stations.