The French Riviera : A Perfect Destination to Unwind

The next step after spending magnificent four days in Paris was to explore the French Riviera Coast. So we caught a very early morning Euro Rail and headed off to our prime destination, Nice.

The French coast is known for its fabulous beaches and hotty-hot summery weather. So four of us conditioned ourselves to become some sort-off professional beach-bums but unfortunately Mother Nature had something totally opposite in store.

On are arrival in Nice, we were coldly greeted by the Rain Gods and so was the scene the entire trip. But un-deterred we kept moving right on.

We decided to keep Nice as our main base, since it’s the only town on the coast which has international airport plus the railway system is pretty good here so traveling to other nearby towns isn’t much of a hassle.

Besides Nice the other places we could manage to fit in our 5 days stay were Monte-Carlo & Monaco, Grasse and Cannes. But it is advisable to at least spend good 10 days or so here in order to get an absolute feel of these beautiful small cities.

In Nice you will find folks from all corners of Europe. Inspite of being a tourist hub, English language is not an easy node of communication. Though the place has loads of museums and churches, we guys preferred to just walk around the old town and indulge in some street shopping. At night we hopped from one restaurant to another, since we were there on a weekend most dinning places were open till wee-hours in the morning. A must place for dessert would be the Haagen Dazs Cafe and you have try out their finger-licking Strawberry/Banana crepe.

Grasse has nothing much to offer besides its famous perfume factories. From Nice, just hop on a local train (cost around 18 Euros) and it takes around 45 minutes to get there. Once at the station, you have a free bus shuttle service which takes up the curvy mountain to the main town. Absolutely no one here speaks in English besides a few people at the Perfume factory, so moving around could a little problematic. The town itself is breathtaking; since it was raining one would get a feeling of being in the clouds.

When visiting Cannes, its best to check out the place on your way back or to Grasse, since they both are on the same train route. I would say Cannes in many ways is like mini-Paris. The only difference is that it is Paris with sandy beaches. As expected it is very expensive for shopping cause of the presence of absolutely every international brand known. Thanks to various International Films Festivals that take place here, Cannes is always bustling with people from all across the globe. And they have their very own “Walk of fame”, but sadly it mostly consists of celebrities we haven’t heard of.

Now when it came to picking Monte-Carlo & Monaco, we were advised by some not to go there simply because it’s just like any other metro city and is known only for its pricey lifestyle. But guys, I am so glad that we still went ahead with our choice. Both Monte-Carlo and Monaco (which is the second smallest country in the world) have totally mind-blowing landscape; the view from the top facing the Mediterranean Sea with tons of yurts docked is priceless. From Nice it’s just a half hour train journey (costs around 12 Euros or so) and once there, you can buy a 4 Euros buss pass which is valid for 24 hours. Besides the Bond-movie made famous casino there are many other places and things one can do here. Like take the mini-train ride which takes you around the entire hill, check out the fish aquarium cum museum, Roman Catholic cathedral which has graves of the members of the royal family with the church premises and you can take few clicks with the Royal Guards outside the famous Palace.

Monte Carlo’s thin curvy roads, no wonder makes it a popular circuit for Formula One. Shopping again is very expensive here but a little window shopping won’t harm anyone, especially the ladies.

Overall, I would say that the French Coast is a perfect honeymoon spot or for those who simply want to un-wind from regular life’s constant struggle. However as mentioned earlier, time is a very crucial factor so one must keep good number of days aside for this trip in order to make the whole experience worthwhile.