From the Inside Out

The weather was perfect today — sunny and warm. It was, without a doubt, the best day so far! See below for a short photoblog.

I’ll upload more pictures in the gallery tomorrow. It’s late, and I need to get some sleep so I can have enough energy for another fun-filled day of sightseeing.

Walked out of the hotel and enjoyed the warm weather and gorgeous views on the promenade

View of Nice from the promenade

Me enjoying the lovely day

Visited the flower and food market in Old Nice. This is where the locals shop and they had everything — fresh fruit, fish, veggies, spices, desserts, flowers, etc. It was great.

Stopped and watched a local street performer tap dancing. He also sang “Johnny Be Good” in English and was actually quite good at both.

Traversed the streets of Old Nice

Toured an old Italian Palace from the 1700s

Gary in one of the palace rooms

We climbed up castle hill where the city of Nice was first settled. The views were AMAZING!!!!!

Having a blast

Park on top of castle hill — people were juggling, playing soccer (or football if you’re French), reading on park benches, and simply enjoying the day

View of the Nice lighthouse and port…look how blue the water is…gorgeous!

Ah, I LOVE Nice!

The port of Nice…more yachts.

Walked out to the lighthouse

Relaxed on the beach and watched kids playing in the ocean — even saw people sunbathing in swimsuits earlier in the day!

Watched an amazing sunset — God painted a beautiful sky for us tonight

Had dinner at a strange “American” restaurant called Buffalo Bills

We made it to Monte Carlo/Monaco today, and it was worth the wait. Below is a short summary of our day in pictures. A complete photo tour is loaded in the “Photos” section (look for the Monte Carlo album). You can also check out the 2nd half of the Nice 09 album for the pictures I was supposed to load last night…sorry about that!

First stop of the day…the world famous Monte Carlo casino

Gary in front of the fountains leading up to the casino

The port of Monaco

View of Monte Carlo and the port below

Walking up to the Prince’s Palace

One of the entrances to the palace

Front of the palace where the reigning prince lives. We also visited the Napoleon museum located on the palace grounds.

Cathedral where Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier III are buried

Aquarium and museum built in 1910 in the cliffs

The Monte Carlo casino at night.

Yes, I did say Nice, not Monaco as I had mentioned in yesterday’s blog. Why didn’t we make it to Monaco? Well, it’s an interesting story. Our hotel room has blinds that you can lower to filter out the light from the balcony doors and windows. When we received our nightly turn-down service, the maid lowered them, and since Gary likes to sleep in a dark room, we left them down.

The blinds had small openings between them so we thought some light would filter into the room. We were wrong — very wrong. They were blackout blinds. Gary and I woke up a few times this morning, but since it still looked dark outside, we didn’t get up. The room was so dark that I couldn’t see my watch, and there isn’t an alarm clock in our room.

Finally, Gary got up, and I asked him what time it was — it was still pitch black in our room. Gary casually checked his watch…

“It’s 2 pm,” he said.

I jumped up, “Are you kidding me?”

“No.”

We freaked out. It was impossible. That couldn’t be right!

Alas, it was.

We opened the blinds, and yes, it was the middle of the afternoon. So much for making it to Monaco today.

Since we didn’t have enough time to venture outside of the city, we stayed in Nice and explored the city a bit more today. We strolled the beach, walked up the Avenue Jean Medecin towards the hills, ventured into the local mall, ate dinner near Place Messena, and wandered through Old Nice, a charming area with buildings dating back to the 16th century. The streets and buildings of Old Nice reminded me alot of the streets in Florence. This area is great — during the day, there’s a market, and at night, it’s bustling with activity as people visit the restaurants with live music, brasseries, clubs, and theatres.

A few pictures from today are posted below, but if you want to see more, check out the Photos section of the blog.

Walking along the Promenade de Anglais

The Mediterranean Sea and Nice — in front of our hotel

Old pier at the beach…I like the cloud patterns in the sky

Hotel Negresco, one of the most famous hotels on the beach

Avenue Jean Medecin — lots of restaurants and shops here

Old Nice, the Place Charles Felix with a view of Castle hill in the background

The streets of Old Nice

After spending 11 hours in the air, we arrived in Nice around 3:30 local time. The flight from London wasn’t full so we breezed through passport control and customs — no lines, yay! After exiting the customs area, we met our driver who escorted us directly to our hotel, the Palais de la Mediterranee on the Promenade Des Anglais, one of the most sought after locations in Nice.

The Palais de la Mediterranee opened in 1929, and it was restored in 2004. The Art Deco style remains both inside and out. Our room is nicely furnished and spacious by European standards. And the location can’t be beat. You walk out the front door and are treated with an amazing view of the Mediterranean Sea!

After settling into the hotel, we set out on foot to explore the area — and find food. Shops, cafes and restaurants line the street across from the beach and the streets behind our hotel. We found a neat area which was designated for pedestrian traffic only. Along that stretch were many interesting places to eat. We eventually selected a small Italian food restaurante to provide our first meal in Nice. Tres bon!

After dinner, it was dark outside, so we strolled around checking out the local sights and shopping in the stores along Promendade Des Anglais.

When we arrived back at our hotel this evening, we decided to investigate the small casino on the first floor of the hotel. Compared to Vegas casinos, this one is not notable, but it did have some really cheap slot machines, so we decided to take $20 and entertain ourselves for a while on the 20 cent slots. After playing for a few minutes, Gary hit a jackpot and won $200! We cashed out immediately and walked out happy — not a bad way to end the evening.

Tonight, we will try to get caught up on the sleep we missed while crossing the pond. Tomorrow we plan to visit Monte Carlo.

NOTE: For a complete photo album of Day One, check out the Photos section of the blog.

I’m sitting on American Airlines flight 78 bound for London Heathrow airport. The time is 9:45 pm, and I’m about 2 hours into a 9-hour flight. The lights are dimmed and a movie is playing on the overhead screens. The baby in the row ahead of me has settled down to sleep (why do I always get seated next to the babies…argh!). Luckily, the flight isn’t very full, so Gary and I can move if it wakes up and starts screaming in the middle of the night.

I’m avoiding the below-average inflight movie, choosing to watch the pre-selected programming on my trusty iPod while I write a few words for today’s blog post.

The day was largely uneventful. Gary and I spent most of our time getting ready for the trip, packing and running errands. I think our dogs could sense the excitement, and when the suitcases came out, they knew something was happening. Of course, they love it when we both travel because they get to stay at my parent’s house and play with my mom’s dog. Thanks again, Mom, for watching the boys!

We ate dinner at Cozymel’s near the airport — it’ll be our last time to get good Mexican food until we return to Texas! After dinner, we arrived at the airport early and walked around Terminal D grabbing last minute snacks and water for the long plane ride.

Once we arrive in London, we’ll have a 2-hour layover and then a quick 2-hour flight to Nice that should put us in the city around 3:30 pm on Thursday afternoon.

This vacation is long overdue. It was originally scheduled in October, but because of a strenuous work schedule, we had to postpone it. Now it’s finally here, and I’m “tres” excited. Look, I’m using some French…haha! Actually, I’ve been reading through my language books and listening to tapes on the plane in the hopes that some of it will stick with me when I arrive.

Only 11 more hours to go!

I’ll try to report daily once we arrive…until then, au revoir and bon soir.