I had never heard of this place prior to the visit, but our tour guide told us that it’s a wonderful place, that there’s a saying which if Jesus is to be born onto earth again, it will be at St Paul.

The statement might be over-exaggerating, but St Paul was a lovely place indeed. The fortified village structure was something that I had never seen before; and its environment, the narrow streets and stony buildings were simply mesmerising.

The only regret I had, was that we were not able to spend much time there to fully appreciate the place. Back then, I had vowed to visit the place again… I am not so sure about the feeling now, but at that moment, I think I was in love with St Paul de Vence.

Photo of Saint Paul de Vence

Photos at Saint Paul de Vence

Me and my sister decided to take the elevator to go up the hill and walk down the stairs on our way back. We just didn’t have the energy to walk up hundreds of steps for the view… walking downwards offered just about the same experience, probably.

Some remains of the castle (I guess)

Panoramic view of Nice from Le Château…

The town, beach and ocean… from Le Château

Harbour and some buildings

Canon of Sir Thomas Coventry

We were told by our tour guide to expect a loud bang at noon time, from the Canon of Sir Thomas Coventry. The British army colonel in 1860 requested the municipality of Nice to fire a canon ball everyday at noon to remind his forgetful wife to serve his lunch.

We were on our way back to our hotel from Le Château when we heard a loud bang; we thought it was a car accident or something but found no clue about the bang. It was later at night that we somehow managed to link the bang to the cannon.

I never know where the cannon is located though.

We had to be careful though, there were lots of dog poo on the pavements.

The streets and colourful buildings in Nice

A small market selling fresh fruits, veges, flowers, mushrooms etc.

Promenade des Anglais

Promenade des Anglais (Promenade of the English) got its name in 18th century as the coastline in Nice was a hot spot for winter vacation for the English. It was first named Camin dei Anglès (The English Way) before changing its name to Promenade des Anglais in mid-19th century.

At Promenade des Anglais; the Castle Hill is clearly visible at the bottom pic

The experience wasn’t bad though, sunrise is always beautiful. Besides, it was still a nice feeling spending the early morning on the quiet pebble beach… it was peaceful and tranquil.

Promenade des Anglais was quiet in early morning

Not the usual sandy beaches

Sun started rising

The other side of the beach was still dark when the sun was rising

Sunrise, sunrise…

We had a night visit to Monaco, which was about an hour journey from Nice. The bus dropped us by the famous F1 tunnel (tunel); we walked by some buildings and gardens on our way to the Grand Casino of Monte Carlo.

It was just a short tour at Monaco… honestly I can’t remember much of it besides some of its stories and the casino, the cruises and boats at the harbour, and the song we played on our bus journey (Kenny Roger’s “The Gambler”).

Monte Carlo Casino at Place du Casino

Le Grand Casino de Monte-Carlo

The Monte Carlo Casino, sometimes referred as the Grand Casino, or simply The Casino, is arguably Monaco’s biggest attraction. The casino was built in 1878, and has featured in numerous movies, including the recent Bond’s movie, “Casino Royale”.

Me and my sister paid 10 euro each to get into the casino area; it’s not really an entrance fee as we were handed with wager chips of equivalent value. The casino was not as grand as I anticipated, probably because we didn’t have the time to wander the whole casino area. I preferred casinos that are a bit noisier and crowded, more Vegas style.

One thing that you shouldn’t miss at the Monte Carlo is its toilet. Even if you are not a gambler, remember to use their toilet (and the flush)… it’s a wonderful bit of experience.

Some history and background of Monaco

Monaco has been ruled by the House of Grimaldi since 1297, when François Grimaldi seized the fortress of Monaco from a rival Italian faction. Disguised as a Franciscan monk, he successfully led a small army into the fortress reclaiming it in the name of the Pope.

According to our guide, Monaco got its name from the monk disguise, as a Franciscan monk is known as Monaco in Italian. There are however another saying that Monaco already got its name before the Grimaldi’s reign, that the Monaco-monk is merely coincidence.

You can read more history of Monaco from Monaco’s Official Site and Wikipedia.

Some people are confused with Monaco and Monte Carlo… fact is Monte Carlo is just one of Monaco’s 5 wards (quartiers), namely Monaco-Ville (the oldest part of Monaco), Monte Carlo, La Condamine, Fontvieille and Moneghetti. Monte Carlo is probably the most famous area for foreigners, for being the location of the famous casino.

Monaco is an independent country, but is closely linked with France in their administration. Monaco has a small troop of soldiers, as France is responsible for its defence for both nations’ interest.

Boats at the La Condamine harbour (left); and the Prince’s Palace across the harbour

Côte d’Azur International Airport (Aéroport Nice Côte d’Azur)

We arrived at the city after a day long journey from Lyon. Most of my tour mates preferred to take some rest at the hotel, but I decided to have a closer glance at the beach, which was just 10-minutes of walking distance from my hotel.

There were benches along the Promenade des Anglais, facing the sea. I sat there for half an hour, just sitting there, feeling the breeze from the Mediterranean Sea, and people watching… it was a wonderful and peaceful feeling.

I would love to wait for the sunset, but I had to go back to the hotel for dinner, and to prepare for a night trip to Monaco.

Beach of Nice and the Mediterranean Sea

Mountains, trees and bushes

Not sure if these are vineyards… the scenery reminded me of China somehow

Mountains or rocks?

We had some time to have a short tour around Cannes before heading to Nice; we stopped by a small park at Le Cannet (a town connected to Cannes)…

Some sort of logo for Le Cannet

Palm trees are synonymous to Cannes

I was not too impressed by the Palace. Set aside its history, the only thing that worth mentioning is perhaps its enormous size. There might be some interesting stuff in the palace, but I didn’t have much time to explore it… we were just stopping at Avignon for lunch and a short break as we were heading for Nice.

Photo of Palais des Papes

History of the Palace

Avignon became the residence of the Popes in 1309. The current Palace was a reconstruction of the old bishops’ palace; the reconstruction was initiated by the 3rd Avignon Pope, Pope Benedict XII (1334-42), and continued by his successors to 1364.

Besides serving as the Popes’ Palace, the building was also built as a fortress.

The last Pope that stayed in the Palace was Pope Gregory XI; he decided to move back to Rome in 1377 and died in 1378.

Papal Schism

The death of Pope Gregory XI has led to Papal Schism (or Western Schism) which saw a split within the Catholic Church. Pope Urban VI was elected as the successor, but his dignity and capability was soon questioned by some cardinals. Majority of the cardinals then removed themselves from Rome and elected Pope Clement VII, whom re-established a papal court in Avignon in the same year.

The Papal Schism lasted almost 40 years (1378-1417), by the end of the era, there was 3 men simultaneously claimed to be the real Pope (Rome, Avignon and Pisa). The papacy was continued by the Roman line in the end.

Photos of Palais des Papes

L’Hôtel des Monnaies, a 17th century hotel just opposite the palace

The cathedral was built in 12th century; the most prominent feature of the building is the gilded statue of Virgin Mary on top of the tower.

Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Doms d’Avignon and its Virgin Mary statue

We stopped by Avignon on our journey from Lyon to Nice for our lunch and a bit of extra time to have a walk around the city.

City of Avignon, France

Random photos of Avignon

Opera Theatre in Avignon

Avignon Cathedral and Palais des Papes

Avignon branch of Banque de France (Central Bank of France)

Hotel de Ville… also the city hall of Avignon

A unique sculpture alongside the old city wall

Photo of Basilica de Fourvière

Fourvière is the site of the original Roman settlement of Lugdunum in 43BC, or in simple words… it is the place where Lyon was founded.

Basilica de Fourvière was not built in that era though; it was built built between 1872 and 1896 instead.

I guess most visitors would tour the basilica at day time, but it should be a good idea to check the basilica at night as well…

Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon

Notre-Dame de Fourvière, from distance

We didn’t have much time in Lyon; it was just an overnight stay on our way to Nice from Paris. I didn’t manage to see much of the city, but I met some nice people.

After dinner, my sister and I decided to visit Fourvière, the highest hill in Lyon to have a night view of the city. We headed to the funicular station; the walking journey was a bit scary because the streets were dark, but we reached there safely… only to find out that we didn’t know how to purchase the funicular tickets.

We asked for help from some people standing nearby, they couldn’t understand English, but one of them was nice enough and went into the station office and led their station officer to assist us.

The officer could understand us but couldn’t communicate well in English… so he bought us the tickets, and led us to the waiting point, and told us that we would need to come down in 45 minutes because that would be the last funicular trip available.

Some people might think that it was some basic hospitality, but I really appreciate that. It might be a simple gesture for those people, but it helped us from lots of headache and troubles.

We were on our way from Paris (or Versailles to be precise) to Lyon. I didn’t see many vineyards though; perhaps we were on the highway and not really the wine region.

Corn field

Vineyard

A rest station with general facilities, a restaurant, bistro and convenient store

The main attraction of the park is probably the variety of fountains that runs during weekends and some special holidays. My visit was on Tuesday unfortunately.

Garden, fountains and statue at Park of Versailles

Nudity is common art in those days

Goodbye Versailles

Groups of Africans were selling merchandises (mostly scarves) outside of the palace ground, without proper permits obviously. I thought I would only see that in 3rd world countries… didn’t expect to see that in France.

The visit to Versailles was pretty rush; I only had less than 3 hours to visit both the palace and the park, which obviously was not sufficient. 3 hours is probably not enough to explore the palace in details, let alone to walk through the massive garden.

I can’t be too disappointed though; that’s part of the pros and cons for following an organized tour… you got to see a lot of things, but you probably won’t see much of it in depth.

Me, Versailles and the statue of Louis XIV

Goodbye Versailles

Château de Versailles in early morning

Photos of Château de Versailles

We were the earliest group of visitors; in fact we were so early that we had to wait for half an hour before we were allowed to get inside of the palace.

Versailles is said to be the most luxurious palace in the world, and I think it’s probably true… as most of the rooms show amazing craftsmanship, and are decorated with gold, crystal chandeliers, paintings and antiques.

The famous Hall of Mirrors (La galerie des Glaces); too bad that large section of the hall was closed for renovation back then… I couldn’t feel the glamour that was often said about it

Art gallery in the palace

The palace witnessed some important historical events. The huge maintenance cost of Versailles and luxurious lifestyle of the royals was one of the main factors that triggered the French Revolution, which witnessed the beheading of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette.

The ceiling of Versaille’s chapel

The palace also witnessed the signing of Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which officially ended the World War I between the Allied & Associated Powers and Germany.

Besides the palace building, Versailles’s garden is also a huge attraction for tourists. Read my next post for some pictures from the garden.