Adventures With Amy | Europe 2002: The French Riviera

Europe 2002: Nice, Monaco,Cannes

Map of Nice
Map of Monaco
Map of Cannes

I arrived and stayed in Nice, France while I used the trains to travel to nearby Monaco and Cannes. I found hotel prices to be significantly cheaper in Nice and the train ride to be short. One interesting thing I noticed is that in Nice the beach was rounded stones, in Monaco the beach was small peebles and in Cannes the beach was sand.

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Finding Promenade de Anglais near the coast, I got my first real look at the French Riviera- at dusk. The Hôtel Négresco, a Victorian wedding-cake hotel, is only one of the super-glamorous hotels along the French Riviera. It was built on the seafront, in the French château style, with a mansard roof and domed tower. No, I did not stay here. I stayed at the Hotel Luxor - anything but glamorous! The owner/managers are extremely nice people though and the rates and proximity to the train station cannot be beat.

The Monaco train station is one of the most luxurious that I saw on this trip. Visitors have two options to exit the train station.

One exit is shown in these two pictures. Visitors may take the "ground floor" exit and see preparations for the Monaco Grand Prix in early May. The other exit, via an elevator, allows visitors to exit part way up the gorgeous building-filled cliffside. Unfortunately, it is a bit of a hike to find the tourist information office in Monaco. Unlike many destinations, there was no tourist information in or near the train station. I took the upper exit. The views of Monaco were beautiful. I probably spent longer in this location than I had time to, but I was so amazed and impressed by what I was seeing. Although not visible in the picture on the left, there is a terrace with a private pool on one level of this amazing cut into the mountain.

After finally being able to move on from the location near the train station, I found a beach in Monte Carlo, Monaco. This lounge chair and umbrella only cost 15.50€ for half a day. Of course this trip allowed no time for sun bathing and I only laid here for about 45 minutes. In addition to being able to rent lounge chairs and umbrellas, guests may rent these small sailboats.

The 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Since I was in the area and the event was in progress I decided to check it out. I actually did this wrong. I planned to spend only a late afternoon and early evening in Cannes. I heard that people that were there early in the day were able to go to numerous movie premiers and hang out with celebrities. One girl I met on the train said she talked with a couple that was invited to a black-tie party. Apparently, they did not have black-tie attire and were unable to attend. If going to Cannes, be prepared to attend black-tie events.

I was able to get very close to the red carpet though! Not knowing the events for the day, I waited with about 30 other people for something to happen. Eventually, several apparently famous people finally began arriving. I did not see anyone that I recognized. Had I known what to expect in Cannes I could have planned better and made much more use of my time in the area. As it was, I found Cannes to be crowded and I did not really know what to do while there.

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