Dates: June 2nd to June 6th, 2006
Marseille, Toulon, Cannes, Antibes, Nice, Monaco
I had to go to Cannes for a Business Objects user conference in May. Unfortunately, I didn't take Nadya with me, but promised to take her back to the South of France ASAP. So, without delay, we decided to take a five day vacation to Marseille, Toulon, Cannes, Antibes, Nice and Monaco a month later.
We started the trip off with a 3 hour TGV train ride from Paris to Marseille, where we rented a car and started driving along the coast. Since we had been to Marseille a few months earlier, we decided not to spend any time and and just head on off to Cannes.
For our first night, we stayed in Cannes. We mostly just spent the evening having dinner at a nice Italian restaurant near the shore and wandered around the promenade for a few hours.
The next day, we headed off to Nice. The drive from Cannes to Nice was, well, nice and the beautiful turquoise water was just like all of the pictures we'd seen of the area. We spent two nights in Nice with trips to the market, wandering around town and two drives along the corniches to Monaco.
We actually ended up going to Monaco twice. First, we drove through the grand corniche during the day. This was an incredible drive with incredible views and a rather scary, winding scenary. In Monaco, we visited the museum and walked through the gardens and to the palace. Monaco was beautiful; very much like an adult disneyland. Clean, shiny, safe, but beautiful. In the evening, we had dinner in Villefrance sur mer and spent another evening in Monaco. This time, we just sat outside the Monte Carlo drinking cafes and eating a great ice cream sundae. Just watching the people and incredible cars was quite a scene. Sometimes there is nothing better in the world than just sitting there watching and taking in the ambience.
After two nights in Nice, some walks around town and long walks along the beach, we headed off to Marseille to spend the 4th night and relax. Our plan was to go to Chateau D'If but, for some reason, the boats weren't running that day. This was a let down since we'd now been to Marseille twice in the last few months, but not once being able to get to Chateau D'If.... well, better luck next time.
All in all, we had a fantastic trip. Gotta love those French RTT days that you can wrap around the weekends to take a 5 day break in some of the most beautiful places in the world!
Some of my thoughts from abroad. You can also have a look at my photos from abroad.
