Expressionate: Nice and Monaco

Welcome to the Cote d'Azur. We've arrived in Nice which is one of the citiies that circle the southern coast next to the Mediterrian.

The beaches along the coastline are so different to those back home. There is very little shoreline and most are made up of rocks and pebbles. The waves don't really crash, but lap and splat against the shore. People bring yoga mats and beach shoes so they can sit comfortably and although the sun is very hot, it doesn't have the intense bite of southern sun.

We bid a sad farewell to Avignon this morning and hopped on a train to travel down to the coast. The wind had dropped off and the temperature picked up - it's definitely summer now! We arrived just before lunchtime and walked down the Main Street in search of food; ending up at a kebab shop.

Florian had very kindly offered to share his afternoon off with us so instead of exploring Nice, we headed back to the station to jump on a train to Monaco. I'd considered staying an extra day in Nice to go there but had decided against it so I was super excited for the chance to see this tiny principality that is so well known.

The train only took about 20 mins to arrive and we set off into town to explore. You need to be seriously wealthy to be able to live in Monaco proper and even the basic homes and flats are worth millions. The streets were filled with every kind of luxury car you can imagine and everything was very cool and quiet - and very clean. No cigarette butts in the street, no lurking cats, no flyers advertiing festival entertainment. We walked down the hill and out into the square where the casino is located and stopped to look. A selection of the best cars in the world were parked out the front. A selection of the most expensive stores in the world were grouped around the outside and the whole thing reeked of privilege and wealth. We didn't actually see any of the said wealthy or privileged - they must have been inside spending their inheritance. Everyone outside seemed to be a tourist who was looking for someone famous.

We walked down to the harbour and caught a boat to the other side and then walked around the cliffs to see the palace. Then we caught a series of lifts to the top to look out on the view of the harbour. It really is a spectacular city!

The group enjoyed our farewell dinner that night at a restaurant down at the harbour in Nice. It's been a terrific tour and everyone has got along so well that we were very sad to say godbye. We lingered as long as we could over dinner and then found a cafe for post dinner drinks where we watched Germany win the World Cup and people celebrating or commiserating in an exuberant and noisy fashion. We wanted to stay as long as we could before we had to say goodbye but exhausion was taking hold and eventually the group broke up and we headed back to the hotel and bed.