On this day my 3rd day in Nice, dona and I scheduled a guided tour of the area. We were very excited about it as we would not have to worry about finding the right buss, getting lost, and having to walk a long way. It was good to be able to leave the directions, driving and parking to someone in the know, We had a wonderful guide, named Silvio. He has been living in Nice about 2 years. He is actually Italian and from the Northern part of Italy: He however knows a lot ablut the area and is able to speack several languages.I do not think however he knows Japanese: He is a good driver too. He has a wonderful sense of humor which kept me smiling. If you ever get to Nice, book his services: He works for Med tours.
But on with the tour. To our luck Silvio picked us up first at our Hotel Trocadero: This was good as we had the first choice of seats in his mini van. We chose to sit in the middle seat section. He then went to pick up two Australian ladies from a hotel overlooking the Medteranean. this is the road called the Promenade Des Anglais, This was a much more expensive hotel than our hotel he told us as we were picking them up that the Chinese President and the French President, Mr Sarzosy were meeting that day between 3 and 9 at a hotel close to the hotel these ladies were staying at. He said he thought they were meeting to strenghten relationships with the two nations. He said that there would be lots of military and security in the area and that we mignt have a hard time getting back to Nice. He said with tongue in cheek, that we might not get back tonight at all as there was talk of protesters that might close off Nice. At that moment I thought he was joking. The two Austrailian ladies names were Slyvia and Alma. They appeared to be friends traveling together. Slyvia was in her 50s and Alma was around 85: Alma was actually a native of italy and had lived in the Florence area. Unfortuanately I never found out how she happened to land in Austrailia. the next people he picked up was a young japanese couple: I do not know if they spoke any English. During the trip I did not hear them say one work to the guide or to each other. They never spoke to ask a question but during the trip they always managed to get back to the van on time and seemed to follow Silvios directions.
Our first stop on the trip was a town calle Eze. Eze was a typical walled medieval city. It is the location of a Perfume factory. The town had narrow lanes and winding streets. It was on the top of a hill with a stoned wall around it, Before we walked the streets of Eze we went on a little tour of the perfume factory, Here a lady was our guide. It was very interesting and she explained how perfume came to be. Apparently in the days of Louis the 14th, ladies wore leather gloves to be fashionable. But the leather had a bad smell and so they made perfume to make the leather smell better. The name of this perfume factory was called fragomont. The perfume factory guide was very good and also a good salewoman too, I say this as we all had a chance to purchase some perfume items and I bought quite a few items. After the tour we went to the streets of Eze and saw the enchanting village and had a chance to purechase some more items
The next stop on our tour was Monaco and Monte Carlo. This was very exciting. As we were driving along the coast and into the mountains surrounding Monaco, Silvio showed us the road that Prince Grace had been in a fatal accident. Of course everyone in the van knew about Grace Kelly. Except maybe the Japanese couple who were in their 20s and did not talk. In Monaco we saw the beautiful Cathedral where all the nobility including Princess Grace and Prince Albert are buried. Our guide explained to us the very wealthy and profitable life style of those individuals who come to Monaco. It is a millionaries or billionaires haven. they cater mainly to the rich. He showed us the palace and we saw the changing of the guard. After seeing this we had time for a bite to eat and we found a smal cafe which had pizza. We split a piece of pizza and had some mineral water. I thought it was quite good. However the Australian ladies had a similar sandwich and asked us if we liked our pizza. I told them mine was good. They had not liked theirs. They asked me if I liked the pizza I had in Italy. I could not lie and I told them that I did like the pizza I had in Italy but that I liked the pizza I get back in Chicago better. I do not think this made the Australian lady from Italy happy but this comment led to a conversation about food. we came up with the concensus that going to new places one must look at it as a cultural experience. I told them that I love Italian food and that I know that if it were not for the Italians inventing pizza and pasta I would not have the delicious italian food at home to eat. Bravo the Italians.
Our next part of the trip was a drive though Monaco and past the the Casino, Monte carlo where he said only the wealthy really gambled. He said the casino was only open from 2pm to later in the night. He said that a cup of coffee in the area would cost about 20 euros. He said that middle class people were not encouraged to partake in this rich life style. He said that the rich are the people who makes Monaco rich. He showed us the road and drive of the Grand Prix. From Monaco we drove back to Nice to pick up another couple for the afternoon part of the tour. This was a couple from Brazil who did not speak english. But Silvia was able to speack to them in Spainish. Dona and I know a little Spainish and so we could make out a little of what they said.
Our next stof was a town called Antibes where there is a harbor that is set up with slips for only the most expensive yatchs or I might call them leisure ships for the rich. He let us walk around the yatchs which were enormous and very unique. They reminded me of the yatchs that the travel channel and the wealth channel shows of the rich and famous.
The next stop was the colette drive in cannes. This is the drive that leads up to the auditorium of the Cannes film festival. When the Cannes film festival occurs every spring, only the rich and famous can afford to stay in the hotels. He showed us a hotel called the Hotel Carleton wher Cary Grant and Grace Kelly stayed and filmed the film TO CATCH A THEIF. The theather that the films are shown is not a lavish building. it is actually quite plain but around the building are sqares in the walkway of the famous entertainment people who have visited there. I found a hand print of my favorite actor, Gregory Peck. I placed my hand print on his and found it to be a perfect match. I also found bo Derecks hand print and I matched that too. LOL
The next stop was a town in Provence called.Saint Paul de Vence. It is considered the jewel of Provence. Provence is an area in south France where many of the french impressionist and followers feel is a perfect place to paint because of the climate, colors and enviroment. This is another walled village on top of a high mountain. As we came into town Silvio showed us a restaurant where the owner in the late 1800s would take payment from the artist for their meals in the form of their paintings. He would do this when the painters were poor and out of money. The restaurant owner made a fortune from the paintings as the Artists became famous. The town had many narrow streets that could not allow a car to drive down. bikes and motor schooters would only beable to go down these lanes. On the narrow streets were many shops which sold art works, jewelery, clothing, table cloths and other tourist items, dona and I had a delicious cone of gelato. Yum. before we got back in the van.
This concluded our tour and as we were waiting for the others to come down from the town, Silvio told me he was worried about getting back and if the city of Nice was tied up ecause of the \presidents visit. He said me might have to stay the night somewhere as we might not beable to get back in Nice. I did not seem to be concerned and I told him to think positive. He gave me a reluctant smile.
Back in the van and on the way back to Nice it turned out that the highway was very backed up. He told the group that the road he usually took to Nice was closed. He warned us that it might be along way to Nice and that we might eventually have to stop and pull off the road somewhere. He said that usually it only took 20 minutes but now it had been a hour and we were still in traffic.
So here we were 9 of us in a mini bus and a clear picture of where we would end up that evening was unknown. We knew this was not Silvios fault and so we encourage him to do his best but that we had confidence in him. Or so we told ourselves. Silvio then tried to go another way and he seemed to slip though the traffic the back way. None of us of course knew where we were. I kept humming to myself the Gilligan;s island theme. Read my next blog to find out how and when we got back to our hotel.
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