It was already 25 degrees C at 8:30 am, Thursday, September 15th as we waited for our van pickup to go on our tour to Monaco and Monte Carlo. The bus was late getting to us as we where the last stop and apparently there was a lot of traffic. We climbed in to make it a full van with 8 passengers. There was a mother and daughter from New York and Connecticut, a couple from Toronto, a couple from India (relative of the Toronto couple as far as I could tell) and us.

We were soon climbing the hills to the northeast leaving Nice. After a short drive we stopped for a photo opportunity at a familiar looking place – Villefranche-sur-Mer, only from the top looking down at the harbour and not the other way around like yesterday.

After a quick stop we started down the mountain road and traveled to Èze. Our guide had stated that Èze was a magical village. (Looked nice but to me it was mostly shops in old houses.) Still, it had it’s charms and I did like the other lemmings and took photos.

We only had about 20 minutes to explore the village so paying the 6 euros to get into Le Jardin Exotique – botanical garden, just wasn’t worth it.

We jumped in the van to get to the Parfumerie Fragonard – L’usine Laboratoire Èze – Fragonard perfume factory and lab for a tour.

The tour itself was interesting but I wasn’t there to shop so I think the tour guide was put off a bit by my indifference to her explanations. Lynda liked some of the scents and did get a couple little hand soaps.

The factory direct pricing was pretty good but for us travelling with carry-on luggage for the first time, we just didn’t have the space to buy any more.

Tour and shopping done, we all piled back into the van for our trip to Monaco.

Soon we were driving through Monaco on our way to Monte Carlo where we get dropped off near the casino.

We had less than half an hour to explore Monte Carlo before we had to be back at the van to go see the changing of the guards at Le Palais des Princes de Monaco, Monaco.

The other couples were late getting back to the van and our irate driver tried to get us there on time but this is the extent of what I saw.

We had another half and hour or so to explore Monaco. Seemed a bit anti-climatic now but we gave it a shot. We didn’t even venture very far from where we were dropped off to take a photo or 12.

The van pulled up and everyone was on time. (Now that we were heading back to Nice it didn’t matter as much.)

After driving through 2 or 3 of the 7 road tunnels in Monaco, we headed towards the expressway back to Nice.

This place was about 10 blocks from our apartment but I feel the name may be a bit misleading.

It was around 30 degrees C when we got back to the apartment so Lynda changed into her swimsuit and I put on shorts. (Yeah, and for those who know me, that is a rarity indeed.)

We headed out for lunch and for Lynda at least, a swim.

We were between meal times by the time we went for lunch and not all restaurants were still serving lunch. Luckily, we found El Merkado. The food was good and the staff seemed friendlier by the time we were done than when we arrived. Both waitresses did take a break while we were there so I think they were just tired. And, since it was right across the road from Hotel de Ville, Nice…

We got a bubble tea on our way to the beach and it was now about 33 degrees C out so I had it done by the time we walked the 3 blocks there.

The beach has never, ever been a thing for me and I found a spot to sit and wait for Lynda. I had my wide angle lens on and with the wind blowing like it was, I wasn’t about to change lenses to get a better shot of her enjoying herself.

Unlike the day we arrived, the waves were really high and she was a bit nervous about going in. It’s an all rock beach and there is about a 6 foot hill of loose stones before you get to the normal level of the water but the spray was coming well up the incline. Lynda sat on the top of the pile and let the water splash into her.

She was enjoying herself until a particularly big wave came in and hit her so hard it rolled her over on the rocks. She realized she still had her hearing aids in so she grabbed them before she even tried to get up. When she got up, she brought them over to me and was more concerned I’d gotten a photo of it than if she had been hurt. (She did get a couple of nasty bruises out of it.)

After laughing it off, she went back to try again. She did say she wasn’t going to try to swim in those waves.

After an hour or so on the rocks, I was starting to have trouble getting comfortable and Lynda said she was cooled off. (But we still got gelato on our way to our apartment.)

Our Airbnb listing stated it faced the sea. This is a true statement but the view of the sea isn’t all that easy to see.

We had noticed that sunset colours don’t last very long and I thought I’d try to at least get a shot or two before it was gone.

I decided to go out on the steps to see if I could get a better angle to shoot.

Lynda even got her camera out to get a few shots.

Only got 13k steps in today but we saw quite a bit of stuff and had a blast.