Late last night I spent a few hours figuring out how to spend the remaining day and a half of the trip. With the flight out of Nice Airport in the late afternoon of Day 3 I decided that staying in Nice that day was the best option – no need to waste travel time on an already-shortened day, or leave myself stranded somewhere too far from the airport. That meant today would be for somewhere outside of Nice.

I had a few options within easy train journey, Cannes and Monaco being the most obvious/well-known options. A Facebook friend, Juliet, suggested going to Èze, a picturesque little town on the coast between Nice and Monaco. It looked like a good option so I decided to combine it with Monaco when they were so close together.

I wanted to get going early so was ready for breakfast at its supposed start time of 8.00. Unfortunately the relaxed attitude of the host continued, eventually showing up with breads and cheeses at about 8.20. But no matter, small breakfast inside me I was all set for the day!

On the way to the main train station (about a 1.5km walk) I took a slight detour to tick off seeing a famous Russian Orthodox Cathedral – one less thing to try to squeeze in tomorrow. Unfortunately it seems to be undergoing some heavy construction/maintenance work so is closed and not very photogenic; well, see for yourselves:

Got to the train station, bought my ticket to Èze-sur-Mer, got there 10 minutes later. Trains are easy.

Èze-sur-Mer train station isn’t actually in Èze; the -sur-Mer bit there is important! Èze village, where I wanted to get to, was essentially straight up a cliff at an elevation of 450m from where I was after disembarking. I had been aware of this, though; in fact, I even had known that it’s possible to get a bus directly to the village from Nice (as well as from Èze-sur-Mer), but I was planning to engage in some madness – climbing the apparently-famous Nietzsche Trail.

Madness indeed. The sun was baking down (approx 23C, perfectly clear day), the trail is steep and fairly broken – definitely a proper hike. I was reasonably-well prepared with water, sunblock, good shoes and a light bag, but it still took a hell of a lot out of me on the way up. Took about 40 minutes altogether. The views were well worth it though, of the bay but also of the hillsides nearby etc. Many pictures were taken. I managed to not die. I definitely hallucinated a crazy jogger who passed me on the way up though; surely he couldn’t have been real?

After climbing steadily for about 45 minutes I now definitely stink. I’ve been sweating buckets for most of the climb and I’m at the point where I can even smell myself – never a good sign. No fixing that until I get back to the B&B tonight though!

Eze Village lay at the top of this climb, and the most interesting bit is the mediaeval walled old-town area at the peak. It’s also an incredibly expensive place (the old town at least) as there are a couple of five-star hotels and the odd Michelin starred restaurant sitting there, and a reputation for the rich and famous showing up. That didn’t matter too much to me, though; apart from looking askance at some of the food pricing I was happy to wander the narrow alleys and stairways. Quite a lot of art gallery-type shops, some expensive tourist tat.

On top of the hill that Èze Village sits on, within the walled town, is the “Jardin Exotique” – a cactus and rock garden across the site of the original fortifications that would have existed but are mostly long-gone. There was an entrance fee but it was well worth it – the gardens were very pretty, tranquil and relaxing, and the views from the peak in all directions were outstanding.

That was it for Èze so the next step was to head onwards to Monaco. I had just missed the direct bus so I had a spare hour to wait for the bus down to the train station. It was just before midday so I decided it was a good time to have an early lunch. I already had dinner planned (more of last night’s haul) so this would be the main meal of the day. Found a non-ridiculously-priced restaurant (2 course lunch for €14) with WiFi, job done. The lunch was quite tasty, too – a smoked sausage salad followed by fish in some tasty buttery leek sauce.

Belly filled, internet needs satisfied, I caught the bus down to the train station (a much less strenuous effort than my journey up!) and from there caught the train to Monaco, 15 minutes further along the line. While waiting at the station I had a brief conversation with another backpacker who was a Canadian living in Bristol and had been exploring the Mediterranean coast for the past few weeks. Sounded fun!

I didn’t know much about Monaco before today, apart from it being a very well-to-do very small principality. My research last night had uncovered a few things I wanted to do – the exotic gardens, the Rock of Monaco and Monte Carlo (the particularly-rich district of Monaco).

Monaco is very hilly. And by “hilly” I mean it’s just one huge hill. Basically there’s the area directly around the port and then everything else is built at varying levels of what is essentially a cliff face. To give you some idea, a good way of getting from sea level to one of the higher levels is to go to the main train station and take an elevator up 14 floors, then a couple of escalators, to come out to the road at the top. What I’m saying is, it’s hilly.

Here are some pics of Monaco-Ville; the monolith/promontory thing is the Rock of Monaco on which the Prince’s Palace sits.

Anyway, first up was a walk up some of that hill to the exotic gardens. Very similar in style to the one at Èze – cacti and other succulents – but different views and also a surprise! Part of the garden is an entrance to a cave system in the face of the cliff, and they run guided tours down there every hour. I was lucky enough to arrive just before one was scheduled so I was happy to go along.

The caves go down 300 steps (approx. 100m descent) and are filled with the usual impressive stalactites and stalagmites. Quite a nice cave system. Note the 300 steps, though, and the fact the gardens are also built vertically on the cliff side: when I finally got back to street level my well-abused (from Èze earlier) calves were quaking!

From the gardens back down to sea level then up to The Rock, where the Prince’s Palace stands as well as some cathedrals and other old impressive buildings. The interior is narrow market streets selling lots of touristy stuff and food. It was definitely time for some ice cream!

After sitting and enjoying the ice cream and the excellent views over the port I wandered around the rest of the Rock. The Prince’s palace looked imposing and impressive, but I decided not to pay to go into the display portion of it. There was a very imposing (that word again) cathedral up here as well – dark inside, lots of straight lines, didn’t feel like the same kind of architecture as most mediaeval churches seem to have.

Back to sea level after finishing wandering around The Rock, I got back to the main train station and was just about ready to head home. But then I realised/decided that I couldn’t leave Monaco without having a look at Monte Carlo, so off climbing I went again!

I don’t think anyone lives in Monte Carlo; it seemed to be all casinos and very fancy hotels. And a port full of large yachts. I’m not sure what I was expecting but I think I was surprised by how (relatively…) understated everything was. Sure, the buildings were large and impressive, and it was obvious the was a lot of money available, but it certainly wasn’t gaudy. The least tasteful bit was probably all of the tourists standing around gawking.

Anyway, after seeing the (outside of the) Casino Monte Carlo I decided I was definitely done now so made my way back down to the train station.

Back to Nice, still very aware that I stink and I’m now in a busy train. Oh dear.
Walked the 1.5km back to the B&B, bought a pastry on the way because I felt the day definitely deserved it!
Had a shower. That felt good. Am now less stinky, hopefully my jeans no longer feel a bit moist/damp in the morning. (Ewww.)

That was a good day. I feel worn out and it certainly wouldn’t be a sustainable pace over a longer period, but I think with just a half-day tomorrow I should be fine.

More realisations that this B&B is weird. I’ve not had to pay (although I assume they’ll sort that via hostelworld?). I’ve not been asked for id or booking reference. Pretty sure passport should be mandatory so that immigration can track/verify where I am?

Tomorrow will see me mostly exploring Nice’s Old Town, which I’ve not been in yet. Apparently they’re famous for their fresh food markets, but I’m assuming they’ll have edibles as well so I can use that as lunch before heading to the airport.

Tonight, I will sleep well.