Nice is nice... on to Italy

Today we woke up early and drove to Nice. The water here, the Ligurian Sea I am told, is like a blue jewel. Stunning in every direction. The beach is lined with a huge walkway - Boulevard Anglaise (literally English Street as it was built by wealthy English aristocrats and lined in marble... now paved). The walkway is wide with a bike lane and frequented by roller bladers, bikers and people watching tourists.

The beach is covered in every kind of person with every degree of tan, and level of clothing. They really let is all hang out here.

We left Crystal on the beach to sunbathe and people watch and hit the town to check out Nice. We saw a stunning hotel (Hotel Negresco) with an enormous chandelier and Eifell-designed dome. This was certainly the most expensive hotel I have ever been in and the door had a posted sign that they were no longer open for tourists to view inside. I however have become pretty good at walking around like I own the place and we perused the lobby, ballroom, bathrooms (v. fancy) and restaurant and left impressed.

We continued our walk through town on a huge park that bisects the city. Remarkably this park is actually covering the river. It flows underneath the city park for miles. How very strange... at one time the river was fortified to defend the city (that was Italian) from France and neighboring Antibes but now it is remanded to subterranean flows.

We continued to the central plaza in Nice that is incredible - fountains everywhere of various ages and styles. We watched a Brazilian dance troupe mix it up on the plaza and marvelled at the terra cotta colors on all the buildings and the sidewalks. The colors of Nice are beautiful and the city is a palatte of reds, yellows and oranges.

We stopped in the shops to look at the pottery and fabrics that are typical here. I wish that I could pack up so many things from this lovely town. We also visited an olive shop where locals buy their oil from ENORMOUS vats and olives from barrels. Further along we stuck our heads in a shop that has been making candy in the same family 'father to son' since 1820 and looks like it hasn't changed since it opened.

The market was open and we perused fresh flowers of every kind it seems. Apparently the climate here makes it a flower region and I have never seen so many. We also saw bakeries, cheese shops, incredible fruits and vegetables and paintings for sale here. We bought a loaf of bread covered in artichoke hearts and fresh herbs and hit the beach to eat our finds.

Reunited with Crystal we took a swim in the very salty and rather warm sea before we hit the road. We passed through Monaco and Monte Carlo and marveled at the opulence - the yachts, the businesses, the buildings. Everything here seemed to be just a little higher dollar than anywhere else.

We moved on down the road and into Italy where we quickly learned that traveling the local highways is VERY VERY slow. We abandoned the wild drive along the coast with scooters popping out around every corner for the turnpike and made some headway towards Florence.

After consulting the map we choose to stop as close to Cinque Terre as possible - five little Italian villages that you can only walk to as they are surrounded by park land. Cruising along the coast looking for a campsite was an experience as the only road is one lane and follows an old railway bed. I must explain that the highways here are basically: bridge, tunnel, bridge, tunnel, bridge, tunnel... ad nauseum. Well, one lane roads are one lane tunnels that you must wait for the light to change on before you drive. In the middle of a particularly long set of tunnels there was a camping sign out of nowhere. We took it.

This turned out to be the greatest campsite that we will likely stay in on this trip. I sincerely doubt that we will do any better. We were perched over the Ligurian on a ledge aside an old railway tunnel. The people were so friendly and warm, they showed us every campsite in the place before we were asked to decide!

Our tents were set up on the edge of the water facing a tiny town, Moneglia towards the coast and the sea as far as you could see in the opposite direction. I should add here that our tents are TINY compared to what the Europeans camp with here. Their tents are absolutely ENORMOUS and the one next to us has a tent inside a tent. They also travel with fold up picnic tables and chairs and stoves. We must look like hobos.

After setting up camp we walked along the water to Moneglia to explore the town. It is a quaint little town with gelaterias, pizzarias and other shops around in addition to a tiny traveling kids' carnival. The church was also incredible inside and it appears that every tiny town has one that is likely very similar in age if not quality.

Our night ended sitting on the water and watching a lightening storm move in that brought rain on our tents most of the night.