Côte D'Azur

We returned to Nice, France to spend a week relaxing beachside and exploring the French Riviera. Nice is the perfect place to do this because you can reach many French coastal cities within 30 minutes by train and with our train passes every ride was free. And the hostel, Villa Saint Exupéry never ceases to amaze (see the previous Nice post).

We explored, in particular, three towns along the Riviera.

Monaco
Not French, Monaco is actually the second smallest country in the world (next to the Vatican City) and is home to many of the world's wealthy for the simple reason that residents of Monaco are not subjected to taxes. The monarchy of Monaco (yes there is still an active royal family that rules the country) has found other ways to raise money for the state, the primary source being tourism (I don't know how much we contributed to the economy, I think Corey bought a Coca Cola but that's it). That being said, Monaco is famed for the Grand Prix, a Formula 1 race through the streets. While there, we got to see the city setting up for the race, missing it by only two weeks. We also visited the famed Monte Carlo Casino, and if I can put things in perspective some people were winning easily 7,000 Euro in one hand and so naturally felt compelled to tip the dealer upwards of 300 Euro. Naturally, right? I would.

Cap D'Ail
Just south of Monaco, Cap D'Ail is where you move if you would like to live in a gated mansion with a pool instead of a flat (Monaco is so small and so crowded that there aren't mansions like you might expect there to be). There is not much here besides these mansions, owners of these mansions, their cars, yachts, beachside restaurants and of course beaches. Being of the financially deficient variety, we spent our time on the beach. Funny story in this town: I had scraped my knee a bit while swimming to the cave. Later in the day I was getting hungry and determined to find a sandwich of some kind. This was harder than I thought since there are only a few things in this town (as stated earlier) so I was walking around, alone mind you, for quite some time. I noticed that strolling couples would double take when they saw me walking, often the wife would whisper something to her husband and their pace would quicken. This struck me as strange until I realized that my leg was bleeding. To these people, I was seen as a threat. Me. Ha. I don't blame them, though I may try to aide the wounded.

Antibes
I visited the town of Cap D'Antibes as a child and wanted to return to see what it was like with an older perspective on things. The trip with my family as a child was under much different circumstances. Needless to say we stayed with an incredibly affluent friend of my Grandfather. Their estate was so great we barely left. This time around, the only rich part of my trip to Antibes was my humor (I hope at least one person laughed when they read that). We explored the old town, the marina and the beaches.

Highlights: