Day 17 Sat 13/5/17
We woke up to sunshine this morning which was a nice surprise.
The view from our balcony
We had an early start and a decent breakfast at the Firenze and left Ospedaletti at 8:30am with the temperature already at 17C. We both had shorts on for the first time!
Our first destination was Monaco and we decided for reasons of speed to take the autoroute rather than plod along the very busy clogged coast road as we did yesterday. As a result we were in Monte Carlo in less than an hour.
Our first view of Monte Carlo
There were lots of police and security about and we discovered the E-Prix was taking place today. Roads were closed to allow it to follow the same route as the F1 Monaco Grand Prix in two weeks time. We parked in the Casino car park and walked around Monte Carlo, checking out the yachts in the harbour including Lionheart owned by Sir Philip Green and all the temporary infrastructure being setup for the Grand Prix.
Whilst enjoying a coffee at the Café alongside the casino we were disappointed to see fog rolling in on the hills behind the town. This could seriously hamper our plan to drive the Grande Corniche, the highest of the 3 Corniches. However, when we set off again we decided to give it a go. We did have some fog but the sun shone for a good part of the way. The road is a bit hairy in places but the main dangers are the other drivers and the gazillion cyclists. We did see some great sights from the route and passed through some beautiful little towns, La Turbie and Eze, but they were absolutely chockablock so we couldn't stop for photos.
The fog rolling in
Looking inland from the only section we were able to find a place to stop. Note snow on the hills.
Nice from the last section
On arrival in Nice we drove the promenade and got to our accommodation at the Adagio Aparthotel by 13:00 only to find that reception was closed 12:00 to 14:00 so we parked the car in the underground car park and walked down to the beach to eat our lunch on a groin surrounded by sunbathers and fishermen.
Back at the Adagio at 14:00 we found out that we couldn’t check in until 15:00 so we went to a local Casino supermarket to buy some provisions. When we eventually checked in we were upgraded from a studio to a one bedroom apartment with a big balcony which is absolutely great. We took the opportunity of a two night stay to unpack completely and Kay used the laundry to clear our dirty washing. Kay then went out for an explore and I joined her later for a drink in a Plaza.
Kids playing in the fountains at the park
We strolled back along the promenade for a home cooked dinner of sausages, salad and couscous - the first time we have cooked for ourselves this trip.
52 miles Ospedaletti to Nice. 1902 miles in total.
