Well we left the country life behind today for the Cote d'Azur! So exciting! We will be spending the next two nights here and discovering everything from Monaco to Nice to Cannes, plus all the little villages in between. It was about a 2 hour drive down and very pretty. Big decision.....where to go, where to go???
We had entertainment the entire drive down. I don't think London stopped talking or singing the whole way here!!! Who said kids sleep in cars??? Not ours!!!!! ;->
I was looking at hotels on the promenade in Nice and then actually Steve has a friend that recommended a B&B in Roquebrune Cap Martin. It has 6 rooms and is right on the coast just past Monaco. Since it came highly recommended we came here. Also, small additional note, Steve's friend represents La Pausa, the former Riviera residence of Coco Chanel and mentioned that the lady that owns this B&B could give us a tour!!! YAY!!! This is also going to be a Chanel experience.....I LOVE France!!!!! For any Chanel fans out there, this website describes the property we will be seeing tomorrow.
http://la-pausa.tumblr.com/about
The view as we arrive into the coastline. We were surprised that the coast is basically all one - it is completely developed along the whole coast with no distinction between villages/towns.
We arrived at Le Charme/Le Roquebrune and London couldn't wait to take pictures of the beach!
Patricia, the owner gave us the most amazing welcome and we had champagne & apple juice (London) with her while she told us of everything around and the best way to get around. I felt like we were arriving at a family member's home instead of a hotel/B&B, it was so nice!!!
Once we dropped off our luggage and got situated in the room, we were off to Monaco for lunch.....hello Monte Carlo Casino!!! ;-> We were starving as it was way past our normal noon lunchtime - so we parked at the Casino parking lot and headed to Cafe de Paris right in the square. It was the busiest cafe ever and the greatest people watching!! I love to see what people are wearing and the bags they are carrying in a place where money is no object!
This guy made me think that we were in a Mission Impossible scene.....was Tom Cruise going to pop out somewhere??? What a look for a afternoon in the cafe, very fancy & mysterious!!!!
The Monte Carlo Casino - the cafe had the greatest views of everything important in Monte Carlo - the casino, Hotel de Paris, all the couture shopping and the greatest valet stand in the world. Steve went in to check it out but didn't opt to play anything considering we were outside since London couldn't get in.
Hotel de Paris with the Louis XV Alain Ducasse restaurant. Dinner here will only set you back 425 euros pp.....yikes!!!
Cafe de Paris, where we had lunch
The Casino's valet parking.....
They have this stadium seating set up all around the square getting ready for the Grand Prix which in mid-May. That would be wild to attend!!!
Yes, I know it's hard to believe...more ice cream!! Actually we are so close to Italy, they have gelato stands everywhere, how lucky!!!!
I was very sad when we got to the shopping area because today is a holiday in France and the stores and everything is closed. London was sad because her gelato fell off her cone......now that's a sad face!!! Way to tarnish the entrance to Chanel with some pink gelato!!!
No shopping for us today.....;-< Another French holiday!!!
Steve was paying for our parking when London found these mirrors and started playing....yikes, twin London's!!! I don't think I could handle that!!!! ;->
These were our views on the short drive back to our B&B. Simply amazing. I do wish is was a little warmer and sunnier!!! I'm afraid my 'Riviera attire' won't be able to be showcased this trip, it's just too cold!!!! Maybe we can come back later in May for some sunshine and beach wear!!!!
We of course took our afternoon naps as it is a wonderful ritual here in France. Then we went for a drive to discover more of the area where we are staying. Unfortunately, the combination of rain and the holiday with everything closed made it uneventful. We came back to the B&B. We were a little concerned how we would feed London dinner, seriously everything is closed! When we got back to the B&B, there were people in the small 4 table dining room. Now, they don't have a restaurant, but if you order in the morning, you can have what looked to be an amazing 5 course dinner. Obviously we weren't here in the morning, but they went to the kitchen and made us the most delicious melon and prosciutto and homemade spaghetti for London with a 2007 bottle of Bordeaux Pomerol. I could certainly get used to it here!!
This lady was at the table next to ours and took a liking to London. She lives in Grenoble outside of Lyon and is on a 2-3 week holiday. She gave London a french lessons throughout dinner on everything on the table and what she was eating. Then two of them discussed their dogs and the beach and of course Disney princesses and their english vs french names. She was so lovely, we hope to see her again tomorrow!!! Again, it was like having dinner at your family's house. So amazing!!!!
Au Revoir & Bon Nuit!!! We have to go to bed & get our beauty rest for our big French Riviera Chanel day tomorrow!!!!
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