Nice and Monaco

Warning: visiting 2 cities in 1 weekend can be exhausting!

I left the Gare Routière in Aix at 9 AM on a rainy Saturday. About 2 ½ hours later I arrived at the Gare Routière in Nice. I bought some delicious French food at the bakery next to it. Seeing the beach in the rain was very depressing. So my Asian friends and I decided to visit the old city. We ate socca, the (in)famous crêpe of Nice, and did some sightseeing. We had booked 2 rooms in a hostel near the train station of Nice named Hotel Pastoral. It was quite nice and I enjoyed the shower*. I ate a pizza in the evening at one of the restaurants near the Lafayette shopping center. We had to go to bed early, because the cathedral of Monaco was waiting for us!

We went by bus (only 1 euro) to Monaco from the Gare Routière in Nice. First, we went to the cathedral in Monaco-Ville, because the Monaco Boys Choir would sing in a service. The guard in front of the cathedral told us that we couldn’t visit the cathedral during the service. I waited outside on one of the benches**. Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III were married and buried in that cathedral. In front of the cathedral is a nice garden with a beautiful view over the Mediterranean Sea.

The change of the guards of the palace in Monaco-Ville was at 11.55 AM. I visited the cathedral and walked to the port of Monaco. I dreamed of a rich future, while I was seeing the yachts. The casino of Monte-Carlo was another tourist attraction. I said goodbye to the other international students and went back to Nice by bus. The bus to Aix was already waiting for me at the Gare Routière in Nice. At 8 PM I entered my room, ready to go to bed. I still have some blisters from the long walks in rainy Nice. They will remind me for a long time of the “Nice Weekend” in Nice and Monaco…

* I can’t regulate the temperature of the showers in Estelan. So it’s either too hot or too cold. I even woke up an hour earlier to enjoy the 20 minutes in the shower of the hostel!
** Unfortunately, I didn’t hear the Monaco Boys Choir (more men than boys) that well outside. But it was still a good decision, because many guided groups (in all languages) went by. I learned much about the cathedral, the parliament and the oceanic museum.