Monaco – Gardens and Aquarium

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Monaco

I was somewhat dreading another trip to Monaco. I had already visited it twice and I didn’t find it particularly appealing. From the water, it looked like a crowded jungle of modern high rise apartments and buildings. But G wanted to visit it to see the Jardin Exotique and the Musée Océanographique de Monaco.

We walked over to the Menton bus station just beyond the train station and took a bus 100. The day was sunny and lovely. We got off near the casino and made a quick visit to the Visitors Center for information on the buses. We knew from our guide books that the local Monaco bus would take us up the hill to the Jardin. Conveniently, the stop for route #2 was right outside the visitors center.

Jardin Exotique de Monaco

The bus went up above the malls, past several expensive automobile showroom and ended at the entrance to the garden. We paid our fee and walked over for the stunning views of the city laid out below the garden.

You quickly realize why Monaco is nicknamed the Rock. The garden is built within the rock wall above the city. It faces south and gets full sun – perfect place for cactus and succulents. I would not want to visit the garden in the summer. The heat would be intensive. But on an early October morning, it was quite pleasant.

The paths zig-zag across the rock wall with little nooks of water and balconies overlooking the sea. The cactus are huge. It is interesting to see what does well in the climate and what did not. Many of the North American cactus such as the saguaros did not do well. It makes sense when I remember that Tucson is higher up in altitude and not on the hot desert floor. Many of the African succulents and the South American cactus were doing fine.

Jardin Exotique de Monaco

I did find the garden a bit boring after a while. There wasn’t a large diversity of plants. Once you had seen several of the large specimens and admired the view, it was time to go.

We waited a bit and took the bus back. The other end of the line was near the old town and palace so we decided to take all the way. Monaco is not that big so the ride took use 15 minutes at most. But the bus is nice to take since Monaco is not flat.

We walked around the older town. It was extremely clean and rather sterile. We grabbed a sandwich for lunch and ate it in the plaza near the palace. We watched the tourists queue up for the Palace tour and the guards walk between their stations.

After a short rest, we walked over and checked out the Cathedral. It was very nice. All the former kings and royal family are buried near the alter. Of course, I had to see Princess Grace’s final resting place.

Just beyond the cathedral was the second main attraction for us, the aquarium. It is an older aquarium but good. Interesting displays of the local fish along with a large aquarium with some sharks and turtles. There was also a nice view from the roof.

We took the local bus back to the Casino. There were some other tourists on the bus who were speaking in English. They raved about how much they enjoyed Monaco and felt it was great compared to Nice. They also thought it was so nice that they had ‘free’ parking in the city. I tried not to snicker. They thought the parking signs that said Libre meant there was no cost to park instead of meaning places available for parking.

We walked around the park near the casino and we thought about stopping and having a beer. We decided not to because it seemed so touristy. We walked back up and caught the bus 100 to return to Menton. Unfortunately, it was late in the afternoon and school had gotten out in Cap Martin. It took quite a while for the bus to crawl along through the traffic. Once in Menton, we found another grocery store on the way between the bus and the old city. We grabbed some items for dinner and called it a day.

I know that many people do not like Monaco. I don’t regret visiting it. I am glad that we finally got a chance to see the Jardin Exotique and the aquarium. Both have been on our list of places to visit for years. But it is not the same as the rest of the coast which I prefer.


Created with flickr slideshow.

Enjoy the slideshow of Monaco

La Fête de Saint-Michel Menton

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The day was bright and sunny and the only thing on the agenda was to visit the gardens of Menton. It was Sunday and we didn’t feel real energetic. Our apartment had a great information book and it said there was a boulangerie just a short distance away. I headed out. The boulangerie was doing a brisk business and the smells were intoxicating. I purchased four warm fresh croissants. With strong coffee and fresh croissants, we sat at the dining table in the apartment and watched the harbor boats through the window.

The decision was to spend the morning exploring Menton. Down the stairs and out onto Rue Longue. A short distance from our apartment were the ramps leading up to Basilique Saint Michele. We noticed people gathering in Place St.Michel in front of Basilique Saint Michael. I remembered that September 30th was St Michel day. There was a special celebration at St. Michel Church in Villefranche sur Mer. I guessed that there would be a similar celebration for St Michel in Menton. I glanced in the church and Mass was being held. The scent of incense was strong and the church was packed. After Mass, the congregation lingered around the Plaza including several officials.

We heard the sound of flutes and drums and shortly saw several men in stripped Menton fishermen shirts carrying the St. Michele archangel statue down the church steps. The congregation gathered and followed them down Les Rampes Saint Michel towards the La Plage des Sablettes. Local women in Mentonaise dress carrying flower baskets led the procession. The procession walked towards oceanside where the garden show had been held. At the the Esplanade, the local orchestra, La Guard, and several choral groups had gathered. When St. Michele arrived, the orchestra played “New York New York”. That was very strange.

We lingered for a while and then headed back to the apartment for a light lunch. I realized that the garden Val Rahmeh was just a short distance from our apartment. I checked the schedule from the brochures in the apartment and thought it opened at 2:30. But I was wrong.When we arrived at the garden, it was closed. I forgot that it was still September so it would not open until 3:30.

There was a path behind the garden entrance heading up the hill – Escalier Saint Jacques. We climbed the path to the sound of children playing and families gathered for Sunday picnics. At the top was Le Parc du Pian and Boulevard de Garavan. Parc du Pian is an lovely ancient olive grove, terraced above the harbor. We decided to walk along the boulevard to check out the views of the harbor. We noticed beautiful tropical vines and trees growing in the houses and along the sidewalk. Looking closer, we discovered botanical plant names embedded along the sidewalk. We started reading the botanical names and locating the plants. The houses were also beautiful as were the vistas.

I realized that we were not far from Clos du Peyronnet, the garden that I visited on my earlier visit. Along the way, we also met a charming local French woman out for a walk. She had gathered a beautiful bouquet of flowers. We had a nice conversation with her; switching between my limited French and her limited English. She pointed out her apartment and told us a few places to visit in Menton and the area.

It was almost 3:30 so we returned to Val Rahmeh. The garden was originally started in 1905 by Lord Percy Radcliff. It was later acquired by Maybud Campbell who expanded it and passed it on to National Museum of Natural History. The entry is lined with lovely tall Canary Island palms. The terracotta house is now the office and small museum.

The plants are a wild melange of warm weather plants. Lord Radcliff collected plants of the Solanaceae family which includes tomato and Brugmansia. Miss Campbell added lovely waterlily ponds. It is warm enough in Menton for Victoria waterlily to grow outside. We also found many interesting salvias growing. Overall a very nice afternoon.

Here is a slide show of the Saint Michele procession.


Created with flickr slideshow.

It was a great day

St Paul de Vence

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St Paul de Vence

After graduation, I rolled my suitcase down the hill to catch the bus into Nice. G arrived Friday afternoon and we planned on meeting up at Hotel les Cigales. I stayed there when I arrived. It was nice and a good location. Most everyone else had ordered taxis but I just couldn’t justify the 50 euros into Nice. The bus was 1.30 euro and it took me a bit over an hour.

I walked into the room and G had just returned from walking around the old town. He had really enjoyed the piano player in Place Massena – Steve Villa-Massone. He had spent time listening to him play. I remembered seeing him several times as I walked around Nice.

G was doing well but I thought it would be best to eat early. We headed off to Rue Massena to have pizza at La Pizza. We had eaten there on our previous trip. They serve the pizzas as a half-crescent overflowing the plate. They are cooked in a wood burning stove. Great fast food for about 30 euros with drinks. After we walked to the old town and had an ice cream (of course!)

We both crashed and slept well. At 10am, we headed over to Eurocar to pick up our car. I rented it through AutoEurope. It was supposed to be an economy car but it got upgraded. It was a Fiat. After it was cleaned and we got a short explanation of how things worked, we headed off down the Promenade des Anglais towards the airport. I had visited St Paul on our school trip and I knew which way to go. I was hoping to find a way so I didn’t have to go onto the Autoroute like the bus did. We were following the same route as Bus 400 that I took to Biot but when we passed the Hippodrome I knew we must have missed the turn off. We backtracked to Cagnes sur Mer and found the road.

We arrived around 11 so we decided to go into the town first and eat lunch. We explored the shops and climbed the walls. You could see the snow dusted foothills of the Alps fro the storms earlier in the week. We were walking in the cemetery when I got a call on my cell phone. Who could that be? It was Europcar calling. The previous renter was missing his computer and would I check to see if he left it in the car? Hmmm. I doubt since I watched the agent vacuum the car but I would go check. Nothing.

But it was time for lunch. This time I choose to eat at the Fondation Maeght. It was as enjoyable as my first visit. I love the Miro statues. There were several musicians throughout the museum playing music from Spanish composers which added to the ambiance. It was getting late and we needed to get to Menton so we headed back to Nice. We drove along the Basse Corniche. I had wanted to drive up by my apartment and show G where I stayed but we were running late. We did stop at the Villefranche sur Mer overview.

Around 5pm, we arrived in Menton, the city of citrus and gardens. The traffic was busy from Monaco on to Menton. We followed the directions to the apartment the owner sent us. It said to go down a street ‘where you think you can not be in the right place’ until you come to a small arch – Porte St. Julien; our entry from the 21st century to the 17th century. We didn’t see anywhere to park so we carefully turned around and went back down about a block. We rolled our luggage up to the slatted door. We turned on the minuterie and climbed the stair. The door opened to a wonderful apartment.

The Vieux Ville area of Menton reminded me a lot of Venice. Menton is a very Italianate town. The Vieux Ville buildings dates from the 14th to 17th centuries. Our apartment is on Rue Longue which is part of the Via Julia, an ancient Roman road between Vintimille and La Turbie. It was originally owned by a member of the Grimaldi family. Menton area was once an independent country before joining France in the 1800’s.

We opened the window and discover the most wonderful view of Italy. It would enchant us throughout our stay.

View from our Menton apartment

Fini

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Graduation

Last night I packed and did some final cleaning around the apartment. That took hardly no time what so ever. I tried to study but I just could not focus. The verbs just blurred. I knew what I needed to work on. My teacher gave us a big hint on what we would be included in the test today. It was very similar to the original test including the part that I just seem to be able to do – creatively describe a family’s day based upon a series of drawings. It should be so simple but not for me. I couldn’t sleep at all. I tossed and turned. And I probably doomed myself by expecting to fail.

The morning was busy taking the tests. And as expected, it was just like the first day. I was such a ball of nerves by time I was called to do my oral exam, I blanked and just mumbled garbage.

Finally at 4pm, it was graduation time. Names were called and I received my certificate. I had improved my oral skills. Later my teacher gave me an overview of how I did. I improved a little but did not improve my ability to express myself.

But I’m not going to give up. I know what I need to work on. I’ll continue to study and I hope to be back. I learned so much and it was a wonderful experience.

Le Quatrième Semaine

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Time is going quickly and it is almost over. I had a couple of lovely dinners recently at Le Serre and the restaurant next door to Le Serre whose name I can not remember. Le Serre is a favorite of the students. You can get a great pizza, nice pasta or a decent entrecôte or veal dish all at reasonable prices.The owner is familiar with the school and will try to make you speaking French although we ended up speaking English. I love how the tables spill out into the alley next to St. Michael’s church.

Alley in Villefranche sur Mer

The weather turned cool and stormy on Tuesday. The storm would crawl across the sea and over Cap Ferrat. Dark clouds rumbling on the horizon, wind rattling the windows and splashes of lightening. Later in the day, a beautiful rainbow came out in the golden sunlight.

Rainbow over Villefranche sur Mer

Several of us decided to go out together instead of going to the organized dinner at the restaurant in Rue Obscure. It was cold and we decided to eat at the restaurant next to Le Serre which has some cozy seats inside. We swapped stories and walked together back to up the hill. I later found out more about the dinner at Rue Obscure and it also sounded like fun. A couple of the teachers got out their guitars and sang after dinner. That is what I love about the school.

At the beach

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Another lazy Sunday. I walked up to the bakery and got a couple of croissants for breakfast and a London Times. I love relaxing on Sunday and reading the newspaper while drinking my coffee. Not as much in the news this week about the lost child (Maddy) in Portugal. It was quite the sensation last week. Very gossipy.

I had a request from a person on Trip Advisor to find a house that they had stayed several years ago. I headed out to find it and explore a different area of VF. I found it! I took a couple of pictures. Since I was in the area, I headed for a view point that I had passed on the bus up above Villefranche. Too bad it is an overcast day. But the view was still great with the harbor, ships and town spread out below.

I decided to visit the beach today. I hadn’t been swimming in the Mediterranean since we visited Corsica in 1996. The beach at VF is not bad. It is made of small white pebbles – much better than Nice which is made up of large black rocks. Unfortunately, there were warning about the beach being closed because of pollution. I continued on farther away from town and selected an area a bit away. It was great. I went ahead and went for a swim although I suspect it was also polluted in the area. It was cool but felt wonderful. They also have a few showers along the beach so you can wash the salt water off. Maybe I’ll go again one of the evenings or in Menton.

Now I’m watching the Australia – Fiji rugby game. The Wallabies are winning and the bar is full of their fans. Lots of cheering! I’m still holding out for the Springboks (South Africa). Lots more to come – the finals are not until later in October.

Melancholy

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It is a melancholy night for me. I’ve realized this is the last weekend and there are only 5 more days left here in Villefranche sur Mer. I’ve been so comfortable here. I love the ability to awake with the sun shinning in between the slats of the shutters each morning. Every evening, the lights winkle on the harbor boats and the cars on the Moyenne Corniche. There is just a hint of fall in the air. It is so slight – the sun is rising later, the shadows are longer and it has become cool enough to shut the windows at night. It is still a bit humid but that is probably only because I am at the ocean. The mosquitoes have also become less ferocious. I was being eaten alive earlier in the month. Now there are only a few. I probably should have gone to the pharmacy and practiced my French but I chickened out.

These three weeks have really been a dream come true. I have a small drawing in my kitchen of the view of an azure blue sea from a balcony. I bought it from an artist at the Edmonds Art Fair. For years in the dark grey days of a Seattle winter, I have looked at that picture to brighten my winter. I never realize that some day I would live it. It has been my life for these three weeks.

I still have a few more weeks here in France before I return. My classes will come to an end on Friday. I’ll still have another week to explore the region and see it through G’s eyes. It will be fun to show him all the places I have found and where I lived. Then on to Provence!

Biot

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I did not realize how close Villefranche was to Menton. Many of the places that are easy to go to are the same ones that we planned on going to on our vacation. So I decided to go to the Var region for a change. We do not have many plans on visiting this region so it would be a good opportunity to visit someplace different.

I did my speech on Seattle and I talked about the Museum of Glass. The village of Biot is similar. It is an artist community with glass blowers and pottery. Perfect.

At first I was going to take the train but it seems to run only once an hour. Plus they are working on the track between Nice and Menton so it would not be running in the afternoon. So I changed my plans from taking the train to taking the bus. I had stopped earlier in the week at the tourist bureau but didn’t get much help. I stopped in again and the woman who gave us a tour of the city was working. She was so much more helpful and gave me a bus schedule. You have to take the Cannes bus and then a smaller bus to the village.

It took about 2 hours to get to Biot. It was pretty easy with the schedule. It lists all the stops so you can keep track of where you are and ring your stop. They also have the stops posted in the bus. I got off at the train station and then walked across to get the local bus. I had a pleasant surprise – it was free today.

The village is on a hill and over looks the valley. It is a medieval village that has a few remnants of when the village was a home to Templiars. I walked around the village and stopped in a few of the art shops. The glass blowers are out of town as is a museum that I wanted to see. I happened to get a historical walking map but it was time for lunch. The one restaurant that looked really good was closed on Saturday – Darn. But another restaurant was open in the main plaza so I had a lovely lunch underneath the plane trees – spicy raviolis, dorado with rice and haricot verts and a coupe of sorbets. Yum.

After lunch, I headed off to walk the historical tour. There were several interesting buildings which had walls from the 1600’s. A lot of the population left the town in the early 1900’s but after the war, it was repopulated. It is not as charming as St Paul de Vence but if you slow down – it will charm you.

In the hot seat

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I finished giving my speech (expose). I think I did okay. I took it easy Wednesday and Thursday to prepare for it and make certain that I rested. It worked because I was able to control my nerves on Friday. I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to control my nerves or blank out. I didn’t do too well with the questions asked by my class mates. My instructor said I spoke very clear and that she could understand me but that I talked too softly. Yes, big mouth me! But she said she could tell that I still think in English and I translate which means it is often wrong. There are some things that you shouldn’t literally translate from French to English. I don’t think I’m going to be able to make the jump to thinking in French but at least I have a bit more confidence.

After my speech, I took it easy and treated myself to dinner. It was pretty good although the restaurant I choose still served too much food for me. I had season baked mussels for starter, bouillabaisse soup for entree and a large serving of Profiteroles. The soup was very good but large.

I am so glad that it is over.