French Riviera - Cannes

I did a day trip to Cannes from Nice. The train from Nice took about 45 mins to reach Cannes. The  entire train ride pretty much goes by the coast, so the journey itself is as much a part of experience. The Cannes train station is  chaotic and walking out of the station through the  main shopping district  and onto the waterfront was really quite uneventful. We all know then that through the years this place has become famous for its film festivals, which in turn has given the town the 'glamour' tag. I would say that only a tiny part of the town lives up to that expectation, but most of cannes doesn't. 


The main waterfront promenade, Le Croisette is lined with palm trees and surrounded by grand Belle Epoque buildings on one side and sandy beach on the other. These building were loaded with designer stores that makes no apologies for their flamboyance . The promenade is one of the most touristy and liveliest places in Cannes.  

I walked towards the harbor passing Palais de Festival which hosts the Cannes Film Festival.   You can see the hand prints of the movie stars near the entrance of the tourist office. Again, the auditorium itself is  hardly glamorous.

The harbor is lined with restaurants and cafes and the port was filled with yachts. 

After walking around the port for sometime, I headed up the hill to the Old City "Le Suquet" overlooking the west end of the port. The Le Suquet area has narrow streets climbing up and around the hill, with 12th-16th-century church Notre-Dame  giving a touch of medieval flavor to the city.  And you get a 360 degree view  of Cannes from the top .

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French Riviera - Monaco

Monte Carlo is not far from Nice as it took less than an hour on the bus from Nice. We just walked up to the bus in Nice and purchased the tickets from the driver. I think they were about 1.50 Euro per person.  The view getting there along the mediterranean coastline was beautiful.You pass  lots of nice looking homes, two or three stories high usually on sides of mountains overlooking the ocean. 

Monaco definitely lives up to the hype. When we first got off the bus this was immediately apparent with the incredibly clean streets, and all types of expensive cars around. It was uber posh and aesthetically beautiful. Monaco itself is a pretty weird-to-navigate place with all kinds of fancy underground walkways, stairs and elevators. Monaco is built up the very steep mountains surrounding it. Monaco has 35 public lifts and travelators to help with the hills, so its not challenging to stroll around Monaco, if you do your homework. 

View from the Palace

Harbour

We strolled around the old town. The old town doesn’t seem that old but  the palace is grand  and the garden has some pretty views of the Blue ocean and green hills. We  strolled  down around the bay to the harbor and walked around the streets which is part of  the Monaco Grand Prix circuit. The harbor had great views of  the expensive yachts and water.  From there we  walked up to the  mountain known as Monte Carlo. It is here the famous Monte Carlo Casino is located.  We walked over to the casino which was lined with some of the flashiest and most expensive cars in the world.I have never seen so many pretty and expensive cars in one place! It was almost like I was in a car show. The building is old and looks impressive . However, Monte Carlo is more than the casino; it's actually an entire district. Lots of restaurants and shops.

Monte Carlo casino

We then walked back around the bay and into the famous tunnel  under the Fairmont hotel (which is part of the Monaco grand prix circuit )  towards the harbour to catch our bus back to Nice .

The famous tunnel

Overall, I would say that compared Nice or Cannes, Monte Carlo is spectacular.

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