Bonjour Nice!!! Yesterday (Saturday 26/04) Kurt, Aaron and Myself flew out of London to Nice, France at 07:00am for a few days on the Mediterranean coastline. Now before I begin my story about our trip, I'll let you know a little bit about our taxi drive. Let me set the scene: It is Friday night, Kurt has finished his first week at work, I'm about to experience my first Friday in London, and it was Anzac Day! What do you think we did? Well after the tea and scones we went out and had a few beverages. The Poms love the famous Aussie beer (which no Aussies drink) Foster's, so we had plenty of that. There was an interesting concoction called a "Snake Bite" which has Strongbow, Foster's, and some red colouring in it...oh and a few rum and coke's. I apologise to all those reading who are thinking.."why would you drink that rubbish?" Well it was Anzac Day, it was the Walkabout Inn, and it was cheap. Anyway back to my rant...We had a big night and stumbled home at midnight, needing to wake at 04:30 am the next morning to leave at 05:00am when the taxi was to arrive. Well we were a little late getting our gear into the taxi (05:20am) and the driver thought he could charge us a late fee. Now by no stretch of the imagination was I going to have a bar of this so I decided to question the driver on his reasoning behind charging us this fee. He claimed, with little conviction, that he had another job booked back in London at 06:30am...or was that 07:00am...wait no it was 06:30am...and he wouldn't get there in time. As you can see he was clearly talking rubbish so my arguement was that we will see what time we arrive at the airport and if infact he cannot make it back in time (which he would anyway given his next pick up was at 07:00 am), then maybe we might look at a fee. Aaron stepped in at this point and said it was best I be quiet given we hadn't started our journey to the airport and I would be best served arguing once at the destination. Wise words, so some sleep was the next best option. The taxi driver then had the audacity to say "you speak too much." Well, long story short, we got to the airport, Kurt gave him a 4 pound tip and off we went to Nice.
Nice is a beautiful town situated on the Mediterranean Sea, in the south west of France. We arrived and caught the bus to our Hostel, "Hotel Antares" - a 5 storey hotel with one key for a 6 dorm room, one toilet per room, and a bed bug or two...but....free Internet!! Our first trip was to Monte Carlo, Monaco - a small Principality to the west of Nice. Home of the Monaco Grand Prix and the Monte Carlo ATP Masters Tournament, and the Monte Carlo Casino. Monte Carlo is a picturesque hillside town situated in the banks of the Mediterranean Sea. This is where the rich and famous come to play, and 5 minutes here will leave you in awe at the wealth and aristocracy. We ventured down one of the many hills, towards the casino at 11:00am and were greeted by the latest and greatest Aston Martin's, Ferrari's, Rolls Royce's, Bentley's, Porche's and Lambourghini's on offer. We then walked down to the marina and saw some amazing boats and yachts docked, and the famous words of Borat came to mind, "Very nice. How much?" We continued our walk down to the beach in search for the Monte Carlo Country Club. Fifteen minutes later we heard a cheer from a large crowd, which could only mean we were getting close. Up a few thousand stairs, round a few bends in the road and through a few alley ways we were there. It was the Men's Semi Finals and Rodger Federer and Novac Djokovic were about to commence their match, the only problem was that an eight foot wall had been put up around the grandstand. After some subtle scoping of the perimeter, while keeping an eye out for security, we found a ledge with which to climb onto and look over the wall. Kurt had great success and got some fantastic close ups. All I had to do was say, "Thou wall, O wall, O sweet and lovely wall, Show me thy chink, to blink through with mine eyne!" (Midsummer Night's Dream. Act 5. Scene 1. - for those confused few.), and there was a crack in the wall which I looked through.
After taking some photos, we headed back to the beach for lunch then followed a section of the Grand Prix track which goes under a theatre along the sea and comes up near the casino.
Later that night we went to Monte Carlo Casino, because it wouldn't be a trip to Monaco without seeing the casino. We each got 50 euros out and played Roulette, as there were no Blackjack tables with minimum bets smaller than 25 euros. Straight away Aaron won on an 8/9 split. I put a 5/8 split down for Mum's birthday and 15 for Dad's and came up short. I then put an 18/21 split for Genevieve and Perri's ages this year and 21 came up!! I won 75 euro. I then put one on 23/24 for mine, Andrew, and Erica's ages this year and I didn't win with 21 coming up again. Feeling content I was about to walk away when the Croupier got my attention for my win on 18/21. I forgot to take my previous chip off and ended up winning 150 euros which is $230 AUD!! What a great day out, topped off with a win at Monte Carlo Casino.
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