Our third rental car pick up where we were given a small Opal Asta - manual shift. It was either that or the huge Mercedes! We opted for the smaller car after seeing all of these narrow streets to date. Hank and a manual - not a pretty picture. I kept asking him what was burning and he kept saying it was the clutch! Yes I was laughing. I offered to drive - but noooooo it wasn’t going to happen.
Anyway - off we went. We had decided not to kill ourselves today on our itinerary. So our first stop was Eze-le-Village up high on the hill above Monte Carlo. It was a walled town where again no automobiles are allowed. We wandered around the alleyways and shops and enjoyed the views. As we were stopped in front of a Chateau Hotel, a couple was just coming down out of their room. They asked us if we wanted to see what one of the rooms looked like and to see their view. We went to their room and it was fabulous! Oh my gosh - the entire room was rock and it looked like a suite. Beautiful fixtures, separate bedroom - and all of this at a Relais and Chateau property (which are upscale hotels). Then you head into the living room and look out on their terrace and the view of the Mediterranean was magnificent! Blue azure water that stretched for miles. It turned out they were from Oregon and were doing a driving trip for a few days in Provence and this part of France. What a neat unexpected event.
From Eze we drove to La Turbie which is known for having a monument built in honor of Augustus by the Romans. Rick Steves’ France guide and noted the city was a find as it too had a back area with little twisty streets and homes that in no way could you get a car there. He was so right. We thought it was delightful. The monument was fascinating. There was an American woman there by herself going through part of France and on to Italy as a research trip for her master’s thesis in art history. She said it was the reason she came to La Turbie to specifically see the monument. We chatted for awhile before going on our way. We had lunch here at a restaurant recommended in the RS guide. The view of the Mediterranean was beautiful and the owner Jacques came over and took our picture while. He laughingly commented he had to send Rick Steves a check every year for putting his restaurant in his book. It was a nice break.
By now it was 3:00 p.m. so we headed back to Monte Carlo. We turned in the car and then caught the hop-on/hop-off bus to see the sights of Monte Carlo. We got off at the Casino stop and went inside. Talk about opulent! If we want to go into the actual casino portion where the gaming tables are located you: 1) had to be dressed to code (ha - tourists); and 2) pay 10 Euros just to go in. After 8:00 p.m., men had to be in a jacket and tie. So needless to say, we only looked around the part we could see for free which was still pretty impressive. I took a picture of Hank on the steps in front of all the Ferrari cars. More money there than you can imagine. We headed over to the Café de Paris and had a beer to see and be seen before catching the bus again and making the rest of the loop. Again, all of the yachts in the harbor were amazing.
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