After our previous early morning train dilemmas we decided to order our taxi 45 minutes before our train left. Stocked up on some goodies for the train, and chance to catch up again on some work, which includes Issue 26 of the NZ Photographer magazine.
A relatively quick trip given Nice is at the very south of France, it is crazy how fast these bullet trains get up to! About 300km/hr. Is a great feeling seeing cars on the motorway flying past the window as we speed through the countryside.
We arrived in Nice around 1:30pm, where we decided to catch a taxi. There was one dodgy looking bloke in the stand, who told us it would be $35 for a taxi about 5minutes drive away. We opted for the bus, who charged us $8 for a $1.50 ticket (which we only discovered later on). Needless to say we need to start being a bit more careful as everyone over here is trying to make a quick buck!
We arrived at our hotel, nice and basic, but central to Nice, and less than 5 minutes walk to the train station, which will be very handy in the morning when we have a 5:30am train!!
Ditching our bags, we head out on the streets wandering around submerging ourselves in French culture.
A few hours later we headed down to the beach and soaked up some rays for a bit, which was a nice change from the rest of the fast paced holiday.
Back to the hotel we got changed and headed to the train station, heading off to Monte Carlo for the evening.
The plan had been to go into the casino, but arriving there I have never felt so out of place in my life. Ferrari after Ferrari pulled up at the entrance as the mega-wealthy tossed their keys to the awaiting valet staff. Lamborghinis, Bugatti Veyrons, Aston Martins, Rolls Royces, and Mclaren F1’s – they were all there!
So we wandered around, admiring the cars and amazing super yachts instead. We busted out the tripod too and had some photos… First the standard posie one, then something more us! haha.
After relaxing by the water for a bit, it was back on the train for an earlyish night before our hellish awakening of 4:30am!
Discovering nothing was open for dinner at 10pm between our hotel and train station, we opted for McDonalds – cheap and easy, and in this case, the only thing open!
Sad to see France off in the morning, but very much looking forward to Pisa and Florence tomorrow, and our second stint of luxury accommodation!