Trip Report- Kathryncee's very late trip report on So. of France, Italy, Monaco, and Paris!
Jan 2nd, 2007, 05:56 PM
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Trip Report- Kathryncee's very late trip report on So. of France, Italy, Monaco, and Paris!
Better late than never.. here is the first part.. thanks again for everyone's help in planning my trip.
Firstly, I would like to thank everyone on Trip Advisor who contributed to making my first trip to France wonderful. I used so many of the tips and suggestions, and could not have asked for better feedback. I apologize that I have not been able to write a trip report until now, as things have been hectic since returning.
My husband and I (38 and 35) booked our first trip to the South of France and to Paris in June. We departed for France on August 24, via business class, on Continental Airlines. We arrived in Paris the next morning, and caught another plane to Nice. We opted to rent a car vs. using the train system once in Nice as we had planned for a few days in Italy as well and wanted to come/go as we wanted.
I’m glad we rented a car, though driving to and in Nice was terrifying for me. The lanes are SO thin, and the drivers, while polite and very adept at maneuvering the traffic, were pretty aggressive. If you were not going fast enough for them, they would literally push up against your bumper! I got used to it after a bit, but I was kicking myself for renting the car the first two days I was there. That being said, I would probably rent again.
We had a difficulty time selecting a hotel. I am a bit of a hotel snob, and we had the option to use our Starwood Points to stay at the Le Meridian on the Promenade in Nice. I had read many reviews of the property on various sites and ultimately decided to stay at the Palais de la Mediterranean instead (also on the Promenade). I am so relieved that I chose this hotel as it was fantastic. It was spotless, the rooms were large, and it was luxurious.
We ate breakfast (continental) at the Palais twice while there as it was included in our stay, though would not recommend this. There are so many great restaurants in the area; this would really be a waste, though my husband said his scrambled eggs were “ok”.
When we arrived in Nice, we unpacked (about 5pm or so) and were planning on taking a nap before going out. However, both my husband and I were too excited to sleep and decided to walk around a bit and get something to eat.
We strolled around Nice and found the city lovely. It did not have the “feel of a large city”, it was clean and had tons of great little restaurants and stores. We had planned to go to recommended L’Arrchido for dinner, but found it to be closed for “holiday”. On Friday night, I found it interesting that so many restaurants closed, and others were jam packed. After walking around some, we found a great little family owned place that was full with locals.
I can’t find the name of it anywhere and will try to find it, but it was fantastic and the best place we could have ended up on our first night.
We were still not tired, even after dinner so we strolled along the Promenade we people watched. The weather was beautiful and the walk was very relaxing. I was intrigued by the lack of sand (I knew this ahead of time), but was really surprised at the rockiness of the beach. The rocks were HUGE!
We ended up have overpriced drinks at our hotel’s casino, where we met some Parisians on vacation and staying there.
The next day we slept in and headed out for Antibes. We did not get to Antibes till lunch time and we got a bit lost following Mappy directions. By the time we got to Antibes, we were starving and found the one restaurant that appeared to be open. We had pizza and wine, and the food was just okay, but it gave us a chance to again people watch and get our feel of the town.
We found Antibes adorable. A good descriptions of Antibes would be charming- clean, lots of little boutiques which surprisingly not too expensive, and friendly shop owners. We ended up on a public beach, La Gravette. For a Saturday, it was not totally crowded, and we were able to find a “spot” on the sandy beach. The water was freezing!
We found that many of the sunbathers on this beach were locals; many were families and students who were topless. They had a great little concession stand on the beach where you could easily get a quick snack and some water.
We had a very relaxing first day in Antibes and would defiantly go back. It was much prettier than I had expected.
Upon return to our hotel, we took a quick nap and again slept a bit longer than I had wanted to- not allowing enough time to get to Eze Village for our 8:30 pm reservation at Le Troubadour. I had selected this restaurant because while it did not look overly inexpensive it looked less pricey than some of the other restaurants we were looking at.
It took us about longer to get there than I had estimated, likely due more to my being scared during the drive and going slower than I typically do. The roads leading to Eze Village are very steep and a bit scary, and driving while dark was a bit harrowing at times.
When we arrived in Eze Village, we had difficulty finding a parking spot, but eventually did. There is metered parking to the right, but Saturday nights are pretty packed. We did not get to our restaurant until 9:30 pm and were unsure as to if the restaurant would be able to accommodate us.
When we “climbed” to our destination (not easy in heels by the way!), we were told that there no available tables for us. We must have looked extremely disappointed and Dominique, one of the owners, set up a table outside, in front of the restaurant.
We were the only table here, and it was really fantastic and romantic. It was just the two of us in this very private area outside in beautiful weather. Outside of a few people who climbed past the restaurant the servers with our order, it was completely private. We really enjoyed ourselves.
We ordered two appetizers (crab soup and pastry with goat cheese and salad) which were excellent, especially the crab soup. We shared a ½ bottle of red wine, we both had Evian water, and we both ordered the steak with mushroom sauce. I ordered my steak medium, and it was a bit too rare for me. For dessert we both had crème Brule and coffee. The food was excellent and the service as fantastic. Altogether, our meal was 136 euro including tip. We would absolutely go there again.
On Sunday, we woke early for our day trip to St. Tropez. In planning our trip, Stu from TA was extremely helpful, and we followed his suggestions to a tee. Our trip (taking A-8) was good, very little traffic and we made good time (about 1.5 hours). We arrived in St. Tropez at 9:30 and followed Stu’s suggestion for croissant and café at Bar Clemenceau- which was fantastic.
We drove out to Tahiti Plage, found parking easily once there, and headed for the beach. We arrived at around 10:30 and were surprised to find that we were one of the first beach goers there.
We paid 18 euro each for a chaise lounge with pad, chair, and umbrella even though the beach was sandy. They were very comfortable and worth the price- though the beach attendant tried to rip us off- we were owed a fair amount of change and had to ask three times for it throughout the day. I had been warned that making a reservation for our chairs were likely a good idea- we did not but also did not have a problem with the space, so it worked out well.
The beach and the water were beautiful. It was no quite as “decadent” as I imagined it to be, but the experience was worth it. We just relaxed, walked along the beach, and enjoyed the beautiful day. We had lunch there and the food was surprisingly good and fairly inexpensive. We noticed the beach was very, very crowded at around noon and after.
After lunch, we drove into town, were lucky enough to find a parking spot and spent a bit of time walking around. St. Tropez was nice, but again, not really what I had expected. I think I expected it to be a bit ritzier than I found it to be. However, it was a nice day to walk around and have gelato and just relax.
We had been warned that driving into and out of St. Tropez could be a nightmare, but we did not find the traffic bad at all. We took the scenic way back to Nice and arrived in about 2 hours.
Once back in Nice, and there for our last night, we walked around more and did some shopping. We had wanted to try a restaurant that had been recommended called La Tempana but when we got there the menu did not look appealing to us, so we just strolled around until we finally decided on Le Safari on the Couers Soyeur (spelling?)
The place was jam packed, as was most restaurants on this busy street, but we managed to get a table for two outside. Our service was not very good, but the overall environment and street was nice and though we were starving, we could see that the staff was doing their best.
We ordered two appetizers, two entrees, a bottle of house red wine, and the bill was 75 euro including the tip. I had the gnocchi and gorgonzola which was quite possibly the best thing I have ever eaten. We met a couple sitting next to us from Paris. They told us that they have an apartment in Nice and travel to Nice several times each year- and that Le Safari is one of those restaurants that draw a ton of locals. I would recommend this restaurant, despite how busy it gets.
On our last night in Nice, we again strolled the promenade and just relaxed. We had a terrific time in Nice and the surrounding area and decided we will defiantly come back, and stay longer this time.
We left for Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy the next morning. I had up until this point thought that the driving in Nice itself was scary, I had not expected the drive from Nice to Santa Margherita Ligure to be 100x worse. It is not an overly scenic drive, but one where if you drive over 30 miles an hour over the speed limit, you are likely going to get bumped off by some of the worse drivers I have ever seen (I am able to drive in NYC without getting stressed in the least by the way!).
The drive took 3.5 hours. We finally arrived in Santa Margherita and at once were impressed with the quaint town and its cute shops, parks, and restaurants that wind around the coast. We had decided to stay at the Hotel Jolanda, a few blocks from the water.
We had been tipped off that you could reserve a parking space at this hotel ahead of time, which we did thankfully because parking around it was a nightmare. I won’t do a detailed description of the hotel, but will just say the staff was some of the most unfriendly people I had ever been in this industry.
The rooms were spacious and spotlessly clean. I would have preferred to, stay in an area of the town which was a bit nicer/cleaner, but found that one night’s purposes, it was fine.
We arrived at about noon, checked in the hotel, and immediately went searching for a restaurant that had been highly recommended by another TA person, MaureenB, and easily found Ristorante da Emilio, Piazza Martiri della Liberta 20- For about 30 euro, he had a ½ carafe of wine, Bob had a liter beer, and some of the best pasta we have ever had. Bob had the spaghetti and clams (real baby clams, not clam sauce) and I had the ravioli which was terrific.
Since we arrived around lunchtime, it was really crowded, and we had to a wait a really, really long time for our check. Outside of that, the service was very good.
From lunch, we walked across the square to where the day ferries left for Portofino. We paid 12 euros for two round trip tickets to/from SML and Portofino and arrive in Portofino 10 minutes later. Portofino was much smaller than I had expected, but it was pretty, clean, quaint, and well kept. There were a lot of day trippers, and it became really crowded when the ferries came and went.
We climbed the steep climb to the Brown Castle, which afforded excellent views of the harbor, town, and surrounding areas. The area was very pretty, and even though I complained about the “hike” I felt the views were well worth it.
We had a gelato and cappuccino while waiting for our ferry back to SML and had the most expensive snack I ever had! It’s the little café directly in front of the ferry dock- and they only take cash.
Overall, we had a nice time in Portofino, but would likely not return as there was not a whole lot to do- unless we are completely missing something!
On our return to SML, we just walked around the town, visited a few churches and relaxed. We headed out to dinner later with some recommendations for dinner, yet all the ones that were recommended were closed. We ended up choosing a Rick Steve’s recommendation which was a place we never would have happened upon ourselves. I did not jot down the name of it- but the food, service, and price was perfect.
After dinner, we headed back towards the water where a stage had been set up, and a talent local talent show was happening. The piazza was very lively and we ended up going to the Miami Bar in the middle of things to people watch. It was a really nice evening.
We stayed only the one night in SML at the Hotel Jolanda (was not impressed and would not return to this hotel). We had breakfast in the garden area of the hotel which consisted solely of yogurt and cheese, but was in itself a nice little area. We departed for our return to France.
The ride back was not as scary as I felt that I know had the bad driving down! We decided to stop for lunch in San Remo, Italy about 20 minutes from the French border. San Remo seemed very loud to me, there was a lot of traffic and it almost had the feel of NYC. I was really surprised by this. In fact, my husband and I finally decided to leave San Remo and have lunch elsewhere but then found a small restaurant named Manoal that looked appealing.
The restaurant was directly across from the beach and it was evident that this was a place where locals liked to eat. Most of the restaurant’s patrons knew the staff and vice versa. They had nice outdoor seating and the day was beautiful so we took advantage of it. I had spaghetti and pesto which was just so-so, and Bob had gnocchi and marinara sauce which was very good. The prices were good here as well.
After lunch, we continued on to France, and our ultimate destination of Monaco. We were booked at the Marriott in Cap d’Ail and had received an email the evening prior confirming our reservation. We arrived in Monaco in about 45 minutes and precisely followed our directions provided by the hotel. We also followed signs to the hotel that were posted around town- it took us nearly 2 hours to get to the hotel once we arrived in Monaco!
When we finally arrived at our hotel (they don’t have valet parking, you have to park about ½ mile behind in an attached parking garage, we were told by the hotel that the people who were in our room the previous night had not checked out, “We can’t find them, so we need to put you up elsewhere”. The “story” the manager kept giving us was not making sense, and we finally agreed to go where they put us up- The Columbus hotel which as one of the best hotels I had ever been in.
It was stylish, luxurious, and the spotlessly clean. It was directly across from the Princess Grace Rose Garden- and about 10 steps from the water (not beach). The staff was gracious and went out of their way to be helpful. I was thrilled with the hotel.
The staff at the Columbus recommended a restaurant called Michelangelo’s in Fonteville Harbor, and they made reservations for us. This is a small, intimate and casual restaurant across from the harbor. Their food was beyond great, the service was exceptional, and I would highly recommend this restaurant. It was not inexpensive, but you are in Monaco and most things are a bit pricey. The portions were big and the food was terrific. Bob had the sole which he said was great. As I mentioned, the staff was wonderful, they even bought us a bottle of wine since it was our first time in the area!
We took a taxi to the casino where we were in awe of the setting. We played slots for a bit, but casino’s are not really our thing, so we mingled and took it in, but were done in about an hour and just sat outside the casino at a café and had a cup of coffee.
The next day we left for the Nice airport for the final leg of our stay in Paris. We took a flight to Paris and arrived there at about 2pm. At the airport, we took a taxi (about 50 dollars) to our hotel- the Hilton Paris, very near the Eiffel Tower.
PART TWO WILL COME LATER
Firstly, I would like to thank everyone on Trip Advisor who contributed to making my first trip to France wonderful. I used so many of the tips and suggestions, and could not have asked for better feedback. I apologize that I have not been able to write a trip report until now, as things have been hectic since returning.
My husband and I (38 and 35) booked our first trip to the South of France and to Paris in June. We departed for France on August 24, via business class, on Continental Airlines. We arrived in Paris the next morning, and caught another plane to Nice. We opted to rent a car vs. using the train system once in Nice as we had planned for a few days in Italy as well and wanted to come/go as we wanted.
I’m glad we rented a car, though driving to and in Nice was terrifying for me. The lanes are SO thin, and the drivers, while polite and very adept at maneuvering the traffic, were pretty aggressive. If you were not going fast enough for them, they would literally push up against your bumper! I got used to it after a bit, but I was kicking myself for renting the car the first two days I was there. That being said, I would probably rent again.
We had a difficulty time selecting a hotel. I am a bit of a hotel snob, and we had the option to use our Starwood Points to stay at the Le Meridian on the Promenade in Nice. I had read many reviews of the property on various sites and ultimately decided to stay at the Palais de la Mediterranean instead (also on the Promenade). I am so relieved that I chose this hotel as it was fantastic. It was spotless, the rooms were large, and it was luxurious.
We ate breakfast (continental) at the Palais twice while there as it was included in our stay, though would not recommend this. There are so many great restaurants in the area; this would really be a waste, though my husband said his scrambled eggs were “ok”.
When we arrived in Nice, we unpacked (about 5pm or so) and were planning on taking a nap before going out. However, both my husband and I were too excited to sleep and decided to walk around a bit and get something to eat.
We strolled around Nice and found the city lovely. It did not have the “feel of a large city”, it was clean and had tons of great little restaurants and stores. We had planned to go to recommended L’Arrchido for dinner, but found it to be closed for “holiday”. On Friday night, I found it interesting that so many restaurants closed, and others were jam packed. After walking around some, we found a great little family owned place that was full with locals.
I can’t find the name of it anywhere and will try to find it, but it was fantastic and the best place we could have ended up on our first night.
We were still not tired, even after dinner so we strolled along the Promenade we people watched. The weather was beautiful and the walk was very relaxing. I was intrigued by the lack of sand (I knew this ahead of time), but was really surprised at the rockiness of the beach. The rocks were HUGE!
We ended up have overpriced drinks at our hotel’s casino, where we met some Parisians on vacation and staying there.
The next day we slept in and headed out for Antibes. We did not get to Antibes till lunch time and we got a bit lost following Mappy directions. By the time we got to Antibes, we were starving and found the one restaurant that appeared to be open. We had pizza and wine, and the food was just okay, but it gave us a chance to again people watch and get our feel of the town.
We found Antibes adorable. A good descriptions of Antibes would be charming- clean, lots of little boutiques which surprisingly not too expensive, and friendly shop owners. We ended up on a public beach, La Gravette. For a Saturday, it was not totally crowded, and we were able to find a “spot” on the sandy beach. The water was freezing!
We found that many of the sunbathers on this beach were locals; many were families and students who were topless. They had a great little concession stand on the beach where you could easily get a quick snack and some water.
We had a very relaxing first day in Antibes and would defiantly go back. It was much prettier than I had expected.
Upon return to our hotel, we took a quick nap and again slept a bit longer than I had wanted to- not allowing enough time to get to Eze Village for our 8:30 pm reservation at Le Troubadour. I had selected this restaurant because while it did not look overly inexpensive it looked less pricey than some of the other restaurants we were looking at.
It took us about longer to get there than I had estimated, likely due more to my being scared during the drive and going slower than I typically do. The roads leading to Eze Village are very steep and a bit scary, and driving while dark was a bit harrowing at times.
When we arrived in Eze Village, we had difficulty finding a parking spot, but eventually did. There is metered parking to the right, but Saturday nights are pretty packed. We did not get to our restaurant until 9:30 pm and were unsure as to if the restaurant would be able to accommodate us.
When we “climbed” to our destination (not easy in heels by the way!), we were told that there no available tables for us. We must have looked extremely disappointed and Dominique, one of the owners, set up a table outside, in front of the restaurant.
We were the only table here, and it was really fantastic and romantic. It was just the two of us in this very private area outside in beautiful weather. Outside of a few people who climbed past the restaurant the servers with our order, it was completely private. We really enjoyed ourselves.
We ordered two appetizers (crab soup and pastry with goat cheese and salad) which were excellent, especially the crab soup. We shared a ½ bottle of red wine, we both had Evian water, and we both ordered the steak with mushroom sauce. I ordered my steak medium, and it was a bit too rare for me. For dessert we both had crème Brule and coffee. The food was excellent and the service as fantastic. Altogether, our meal was 136 euro including tip. We would absolutely go there again.
On Sunday, we woke early for our day trip to St. Tropez. In planning our trip, Stu from TA was extremely helpful, and we followed his suggestions to a tee. Our trip (taking A-8) was good, very little traffic and we made good time (about 1.5 hours). We arrived in St. Tropez at 9:30 and followed Stu’s suggestion for croissant and café at Bar Clemenceau- which was fantastic.
We drove out to Tahiti Plage, found parking easily once there, and headed for the beach. We arrived at around 10:30 and were surprised to find that we were one of the first beach goers there.
We paid 18 euro each for a chaise lounge with pad, chair, and umbrella even though the beach was sandy. They were very comfortable and worth the price- though the beach attendant tried to rip us off- we were owed a fair amount of change and had to ask three times for it throughout the day. I had been warned that making a reservation for our chairs were likely a good idea- we did not but also did not have a problem with the space, so it worked out well.
The beach and the water were beautiful. It was no quite as “decadent” as I imagined it to be, but the experience was worth it. We just relaxed, walked along the beach, and enjoyed the beautiful day. We had lunch there and the food was surprisingly good and fairly inexpensive. We noticed the beach was very, very crowded at around noon and after.
After lunch, we drove into town, were lucky enough to find a parking spot and spent a bit of time walking around. St. Tropez was nice, but again, not really what I had expected. I think I expected it to be a bit ritzier than I found it to be. However, it was a nice day to walk around and have gelato and just relax.
We had been warned that driving into and out of St. Tropez could be a nightmare, but we did not find the traffic bad at all. We took the scenic way back to Nice and arrived in about 2 hours.
Once back in Nice, and there for our last night, we walked around more and did some shopping. We had wanted to try a restaurant that had been recommended called La Tempana but when we got there the menu did not look appealing to us, so we just strolled around until we finally decided on Le Safari on the Couers Soyeur (spelling?)
The place was jam packed, as was most restaurants on this busy street, but we managed to get a table for two outside. Our service was not very good, but the overall environment and street was nice and though we were starving, we could see that the staff was doing their best.
We ordered two appetizers, two entrees, a bottle of house red wine, and the bill was 75 euro including the tip. I had the gnocchi and gorgonzola which was quite possibly the best thing I have ever eaten. We met a couple sitting next to us from Paris. They told us that they have an apartment in Nice and travel to Nice several times each year- and that Le Safari is one of those restaurants that draw a ton of locals. I would recommend this restaurant, despite how busy it gets.
On our last night in Nice, we again strolled the promenade and just relaxed. We had a terrific time in Nice and the surrounding area and decided we will defiantly come back, and stay longer this time.
We left for Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy the next morning. I had up until this point thought that the driving in Nice itself was scary, I had not expected the drive from Nice to Santa Margherita Ligure to be 100x worse. It is not an overly scenic drive, but one where if you drive over 30 miles an hour over the speed limit, you are likely going to get bumped off by some of the worse drivers I have ever seen (I am able to drive in NYC without getting stressed in the least by the way!).
The drive took 3.5 hours. We finally arrived in Santa Margherita and at once were impressed with the quaint town and its cute shops, parks, and restaurants that wind around the coast. We had decided to stay at the Hotel Jolanda, a few blocks from the water.
We had been tipped off that you could reserve a parking space at this hotel ahead of time, which we did thankfully because parking around it was a nightmare. I won’t do a detailed description of the hotel, but will just say the staff was some of the most unfriendly people I had ever been in this industry.
The rooms were spacious and spotlessly clean. I would have preferred to, stay in an area of the town which was a bit nicer/cleaner, but found that one night’s purposes, it was fine.
We arrived at about noon, checked in the hotel, and immediately went searching for a restaurant that had been highly recommended by another TA person, MaureenB, and easily found Ristorante da Emilio, Piazza Martiri della Liberta 20- For about 30 euro, he had a ½ carafe of wine, Bob had a liter beer, and some of the best pasta we have ever had. Bob had the spaghetti and clams (real baby clams, not clam sauce) and I had the ravioli which was terrific.
Since we arrived around lunchtime, it was really crowded, and we had to a wait a really, really long time for our check. Outside of that, the service was very good.
From lunch, we walked across the square to where the day ferries left for Portofino. We paid 12 euros for two round trip tickets to/from SML and Portofino and arrive in Portofino 10 minutes later. Portofino was much smaller than I had expected, but it was pretty, clean, quaint, and well kept. There were a lot of day trippers, and it became really crowded when the ferries came and went.
We climbed the steep climb to the Brown Castle, which afforded excellent views of the harbor, town, and surrounding areas. The area was very pretty, and even though I complained about the “hike” I felt the views were well worth it.
We had a gelato and cappuccino while waiting for our ferry back to SML and had the most expensive snack I ever had! It’s the little café directly in front of the ferry dock- and they only take cash.
Overall, we had a nice time in Portofino, but would likely not return as there was not a whole lot to do- unless we are completely missing something!
On our return to SML, we just walked around the town, visited a few churches and relaxed. We headed out to dinner later with some recommendations for dinner, yet all the ones that were recommended were closed. We ended up choosing a Rick Steve’s recommendation which was a place we never would have happened upon ourselves. I did not jot down the name of it- but the food, service, and price was perfect.
After dinner, we headed back towards the water where a stage had been set up, and a talent local talent show was happening. The piazza was very lively and we ended up going to the Miami Bar in the middle of things to people watch. It was a really nice evening.
We stayed only the one night in SML at the Hotel Jolanda (was not impressed and would not return to this hotel). We had breakfast in the garden area of the hotel which consisted solely of yogurt and cheese, but was in itself a nice little area. We departed for our return to France.
The ride back was not as scary as I felt that I know had the bad driving down! We decided to stop for lunch in San Remo, Italy about 20 minutes from the French border. San Remo seemed very loud to me, there was a lot of traffic and it almost had the feel of NYC. I was really surprised by this. In fact, my husband and I finally decided to leave San Remo and have lunch elsewhere but then found a small restaurant named Manoal that looked appealing.
The restaurant was directly across from the beach and it was evident that this was a place where locals liked to eat. Most of the restaurant’s patrons knew the staff and vice versa. They had nice outdoor seating and the day was beautiful so we took advantage of it. I had spaghetti and pesto which was just so-so, and Bob had gnocchi and marinara sauce which was very good. The prices were good here as well.
After lunch, we continued on to France, and our ultimate destination of Monaco. We were booked at the Marriott in Cap d’Ail and had received an email the evening prior confirming our reservation. We arrived in Monaco in about 45 minutes and precisely followed our directions provided by the hotel. We also followed signs to the hotel that were posted around town- it took us nearly 2 hours to get to the hotel once we arrived in Monaco!
When we finally arrived at our hotel (they don’t have valet parking, you have to park about ½ mile behind in an attached parking garage, we were told by the hotel that the people who were in our room the previous night had not checked out, “We can’t find them, so we need to put you up elsewhere”. The “story” the manager kept giving us was not making sense, and we finally agreed to go where they put us up- The Columbus hotel which as one of the best hotels I had ever been in.
It was stylish, luxurious, and the spotlessly clean. It was directly across from the Princess Grace Rose Garden- and about 10 steps from the water (not beach). The staff was gracious and went out of their way to be helpful. I was thrilled with the hotel.
The staff at the Columbus recommended a restaurant called Michelangelo’s in Fonteville Harbor, and they made reservations for us. This is a small, intimate and casual restaurant across from the harbor. Their food was beyond great, the service was exceptional, and I would highly recommend this restaurant. It was not inexpensive, but you are in Monaco and most things are a bit pricey. The portions were big and the food was terrific. Bob had the sole which he said was great. As I mentioned, the staff was wonderful, they even bought us a bottle of wine since it was our first time in the area!
We took a taxi to the casino where we were in awe of the setting. We played slots for a bit, but casino’s are not really our thing, so we mingled and took it in, but were done in about an hour and just sat outside the casino at a café and had a cup of coffee.
The next day we left for the Nice airport for the final leg of our stay in Paris. We took a flight to Paris and arrived there at about 2pm. At the airport, we took a taxi (about 50 dollars) to our hotel- the Hilton Paris, very near the Eiffel Tower.
PART TWO WILL COME LATER
