On to Nice!

Saturday,  Sept 7th
We are moving on!   We see a last look at the beautiful sunrise over the Parador in Tortosa, Spain.

We head for Nice and the French Riveria.  Again, we see millions of olive and orange trees, still amazing.  The scenery along the way makes the car ride easy and the time go fast.
We began seeing signs for the Cote d'Azur.

Our B-n-B is high on the hillside overlooking the entire city of Nice--beyond magnificent!!  Girard and Noell are our hosts.  Their house is beautiful and they are delightful.

As night falls the lights encircle the Mediterranean Sea like a sparkling necklace.  And, we are treated to a fireworks show because the President of France is in town.

After a light breakfast Sunday we take off for Monaco.  It is definitely a little gem.  There were lots of tourists, lots of fancy cars and lots of hopeful gamblers.

The Gran Casino is truly grand.

We had fun strolling around taking it all in before taking  on Lady Luck ourselves.  I played the "Golden Wheel" and tripled my 10€'s, and cashed out.  But a few minutes later, I was sucked back in by my small streak of good fortune.  This time I gave back 10€ kept my original 10 plus a 10€ profit and quit for good.  Time for Tom to try his luck--off to the Black Jack tables.  He started off really well, but in time gave it all back.  So we took off to do something less expensive.We saw the yachts in the marina and a bonus--the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship was in the harbor.  What a treat to see that most magnificent vessel.

We saw the Royal Palace high up on the bluff overlooking the city.  The palace has a pink cast to it, maybe because its always bathed in sunlight.

Back to Nice to see the city.  The Russian Cathedral is a true highlight.  Russian nobility vacationed in Nice.  The cathedral was funded by Tsar Nicholas II and dedicated in 1912.

We found a place to park not too far from the beach and walked down and enjoyed a refreshing drink.  Later we walked over to the plaza and found some pasta and some outdoor dining.  As we walked back to the car there was a parade in remembrance of the seige of Nice in 1543.
We enjoyed our time in Nice, it was really nice!