29 March: Nice
My plane flight from SFO to Milan was rather uneventful. Thus, it was significantly better than my flight back to the US. I got about three hours of sleep on the plane. The movie was Legend of Bagger Vance. It didn't hold my interest so I figured out where I was going to spend my time. I was going to drive to Cote d'Azur for a few days, then Barcelona, then back to Munich to pick up Stacey. Then I slept some more. Plane got in a little early, got onto a customs bus in the driving rain, got my luggage (came off rather early), then went to my car.
Parking for two weeks cost about $105. My car was no worse for the wear, but was drenched in rain. I got in, put it in gear, and drove. I missed one turnoff, so I took about 20 minutes longer to get to France as I wanted. I ended up going on the tangential ovest around Milan and down to Genova, then over to Nice. Three hours, $20 in tolls and gas to get there. Right as I entered the town the rain subsided, which was fortunate. After getting a little lost by taking the wrong exit, I found my way and parked in the Nice Etoile, a shopping center a block from the recommended hotels. Parking is supposedly 80F a day, but my reading of the tariffs made it seem much more.
I made my way to the hotel listed with "CNN, speaks english." Got a room from a man who spoke impeccable english garnered during 5 years studying in the US, and ploped my things down. It was around 4:30 pm and I needed to stay up for another 4 hours to reduce the jet lag, so I decided to get out into the sun and go to the beach. As I walked along Av. Jean Medicine, I passed a really cool Arc. Looks like section of a giant X^2 graph. Not sure why it is there.
The beach in Nice is a sight to behold. The Mediterranean Sea is blue. Very blue. Parts of it are acqua, parts are deep blue, parts are more steel blue. The whole thing is unquestionably blue. The sky was clear, there were maybe 20 people on the beach, and the only sound you could hear was the waves. The beach in nice is made up of stones, so as the tide rolls in, it washed up some small stones to the top. As the tide subsides, these stones start to roll down the beach and make a sound like one of those rain makers you get in the pseudo-fancy mall shoppes. Incredible.
I strolled along the wide promenade, past the casinos, and took many sunset-esque pictures. It is exquisite. You can look back into the basin and see villas climbing up the sides. A lot of people are compacted into this area, and it is easy to see why.
I ate at a pizzeria. The traditional Nicoise food is good but a little fish heavy, so I followed the advice of the guide book and a friend and stuck to Italian food . Now all I need is to get the Pan Bagna. I walked back to my hotel and crashed.
The next day I got up rather early, ate the rather nice breakfast in the hotel, and practiced my French. Good thing I did. I seem to be unable to distinguish Francophones from Anglophones quickly. I find myself getting lost as people speak french. The more I studied, the better this became.
I walked down to Castle Hill around 8. The weather was looking ominous so I decided to do the big outdoorsy stuff first. The elevator doesn't start operation until April, so I took the stairs. 90m elevation of stairs. I took it slowly. At the heights this rather misaptly named hill, I saw the remains of a Cathedral, a rather large waterfall, saw a bunch of vistas, and walked around a bunch. This hill was the old town of Nice until the people ran out of space and went down to the basin. Smart people.
It started to rain so started I walked down to the Old City. It started to rain really, really hard. I ducked into the Naval Museum on the hill, and after some tortured French purchased a museum pass, then saw the museum. Coolest thing were the prints showing different stages of the Nice harbour, and the maritime flags of the various countries of Europe at different times. Museum usually costs 15F (ripoff), but the 80F pass covers 62 museums for three days. It's kind of sad because all those under 26 get free entry into Nice museums during the first week of April. Either I timed it wrong, or I timed it right. I think I timed it right. Nothing worse than a museum packed with college kids. I walked down the stairs to Vieux Nice.
I hadn't purchased an umbrella yet, so I stood under an awning for a while. Near the Bus Station I went to a McDonalds and got a Royale (for all those Pulp Fiction fans). Then I went to the mall where I parked my car to look for an umbrella. All too expensive or big. Then more searching. Still no luck. I finally said screw it and started walking to the Matisse Museum. I found a Cybercafe and decided to update the website since I couldn't at the internet place I found yesterday.
30 March: Monaco
The Chagall Museum is a museum created during his lifetime to house a cycle of Biblical paintings and assorted art pieces he did. Quite powerful, very much worth the 30F, and it has one of the few english guidebooks (20F) I have found to be worthwhile (the Dachau one is the other). The rain was pouring, and they were painting part of one wing so I couldn't see the stained glass windows. However it was a great museum, a must see in Nice.
Then I walked up the long uphill climb to the Matisse Museum. The area it is situated in is called Cimeniz, or in Latin, Ceminelum. It has a whole host of Roman ruins, including a neat arena and a set of baths. The Matisse Museum is in an old mansion. The most interesting thing is that it as at the corner of Rue Miles Davis and Rue Duke Ellington, and in the park behind the museum are busts of Louis Armstrong and Lionel Hampton. Quite Wierd.
The Museum itself was nice, but didn't hold my interest as much as the Chagall. Yet, there was much more to see. There is a large amount of material, and I can imagine this being Mecca for lovers of post-impressionist art. The most interesting bits I thought was the evolution of his painting "Le Dance." The museum contains numerous drawings and sketches of that particular painting. I thought I had just missed the English tour, but the guy was sick.
After that I went to the adjacent Archelogical Museum. Interesting sets of artifacts from the Roman ruins. It includes a self-guided tour of the ruins and a bunch of English fact sheets. The collection of intact headstones and sarcophagi make it rather macabre and interesting. I had to translate for a rather inept American tourist who just started walking through the grounds without paying. I'm not sure the guy understood me any better than the francophone gatekeeper.
After that I took the bus back down to the hotel. It was only 7pm, but I was completely beat. I slept like a babe and woke up about 11 hours later. The 30th was for Monaco.
I awoke, watched my fill of CNN, went to the breakfast, and headed out the door. On the way to the car I stopped by a McDonalds and got an Egg McMuffin to compare it to America. Same idea, different ingredients. The biggest difference was the lack of toasting of the muffin itself. Oh well, beggers can't be choosers. It was 16 degrees C, so I got my car out of the ridiculously overpriced garage (150F/day, double what I expected). I took the top down and took the low road to Monaco.
It seems as if the entire trip was for this moment. Very few experiences in my life compare to the thrill of driving along the Cote d'Azur in a new BMW convertible. I drove through Villefranche, Beaulieu (like the wine), and finally to Monaco. I stopped the car a few times to take pictures and just breathe. I was grinning, yet again, from ear to ear. Wow.
I parked the car underneath Monaco-ville (which is a large hill). I took the elevator up to the palace just in time to watch the changing of the guard. Every day at 11.45 sharp they do it old-school. I then walked to the Cathedral which holds the mortal remains of nearly every prince/lord of Monaco, including the flower-adorned crypt of Princess Grace. Unlike everything else in Monaco, it was free.
I walked around the old city for a while and decided to head down the port. I ate at a water-side restaurant; pizza and beer. Yet again, I find that beer is cheaper than Coke. After waiting an eternity for the person to figure out how to use my credit card, I walked to the Casino.
The Casino is a site to behold. The back of the casino includes a mosaic that is similar in construction to that of the Memorial Church at Stanford. The front is pure pagentry. The Hotel du Paris next door had a parking lot like any good hotel should have. A few Rolls, Aston's, Ferrari's, and BMW 328i convertibles. Too bad I still had my car parked at the old city. I purchased a 50F entrance to the casino and played some 5F video poker by a window overlooking the Mediterranean. I lost 100F, but cared very little. Wow. How many times can you gamble in such serenity.
The casino itself was quite dissapointing during the day. Tired old tables with strange games being played. I plan on returning at night. After walking around the beautiful gardens and finding the tourist information site (with the location of an expensive CyberCafe), I took the bus back to the car. I watched a rather informative video presentation called "Monte-Carlo Story." I recommend it. I took the top down and drove around Monaco. However is was 5pm and the traffic slowed to a crawl. I parked in the Casino and did some more walking around. I walked past the only synagogue in town, and went to the Stars N' Bars cafe which has a couple internet terminals in front.
BTW, there is a big single out here which is the Whazzup guys backed by a techno version of Superfreak. It's playing in this cybercafe and it is far too catchy and annoying. All your base are belong to us. Drove the short drive back from Monaco to Nice and crashed. I cqlled my mother to wish her a happy, but premature, birthday.
31 March: Cote d'Azur
Typing errors due to unfamiliarity with wack French keyboard (many commas should be m's)
I got in the car and drove along Promenade de Angles which borders the Mediterranean. Drove about 40 mph for a good hour with the pure blue sea on my left and nothing between my head and the clouds. Magnifique. My destination was Antibes. Famous for beautiful vistas, a Rennaisance fort, and Picasso. Picasso lived in an old Chateau (formerly owned by the Grimaldi's) in the late 40's. Currently a museum is housed there. It contains the relatively famous Joie de Vivre and a balcony of modern sculptures facing the sea. I got a picture of me facing the Cap d'Antibes.
I then walked to the old Fort Carre. I should have driven. What on the map appeared to be a 15 minute walk was more like 45. Once there I was entertained by wonderful views of the Coast, a large number of mosquitos, and a fort that would be open for another 45 minutes because the tour guide was late. Oh well, I took a couple panorama's and a picture of the guide marker. Hopefully they will come out.
Then I drove along the coast to Cannes. I took the very slow beachfront route. Lots of expensive homes, and a few half-naked women. I stopped for about 5 minutes until I realized that what everyone says about topless beaches is true. There is a rather scenic route I wanted to take, but took a wrong turn on a roundabout and ended up on the highway. I drove all the way to Arles. I parked in the garage (since theft is a major problem at night), and crawled up past the Roman Arena to the hotel.
I checked in and went through the courtyard to my room. As I walked back through the courtyard I looked at a rather large chessboard made out of the tiles, with plastic pieces. I was puzzled as the pieces were set up very wrong. I took a "what's wrong with this picture" photograph and went to find dinner.
On the way I stopped by an old church with an amazing front. I'll talk about it more later. Walking past the McDonalds, I found a nice place on the other side of town and had wonderful Beouf Bourgingoun. I happily walked back to the hotel in the dusk, past a Hindu wedding, and past the chess pieces that I proceeded to correct.
1 April: Arles
The mistral zind in Provence is amazing. A constant bone-chilling wind that flows all the way from Siberia and crashed down on every north-facing thing in Provence. Later, as I drove to Lyon, I noticed that few of the homes had south facing windows, and those that did had rather sturdy shutters. With this wind at my back I walkde along the Rhone to the Ancient History Museum.
On April 1, all the museums in France are free. This museum was very much worth it. It explains the 2000 year history of Arles and it's Roman sights, including really cool models. The english handout was free and useful. After walking into the zind I passed the Museun Arletan, a Folklore Museum built by the hometown Nobel Prize winner. Not worth the price of admission.
Then back toward my hotel to the ancient Theatre (not free). It was not worth the entry because everything inside could be seen from the fences, most of the site was quarried in the Middle Ages, and the Arena next door was much cooler. Today was Sunday, Bullfights. As I walked up to the top of the Arena and took many pictures of the arena and the beautiful Provence countryside, the workers below were preparing for the bullfight. I was fascinated by the raking of the sand to remove the footprints and then the watering of the sand.
After this interlude, I made my way back to the hotel to try and figure out the relatively under powered iMac with its paultry 28.8K connection to the internet. My goal was to get a hotel room in Lyon for the next two nights and to get the hotel I wanted in Munich when Stacey gets in. There was completely no dice. There's a large exhibition in Lyon devoted to transport on Wednesday, which made getting two nights impossible. Plus all the cheaper hotels were booked when I tried to call. Then I tried to get a hotel room in Munich, but the prices were about triple what I paid just last month. Turns out there's a trade fair in town, and everyone takes the opportunity to jack up the rates. In any case, I paid to get the prime location.
Then back to the Church and the cloisters. The medieval tympanium is devoted to all manner of Christian symbolism. The coolest part where the liege of the damned doing the bunny-hop over the fires of hell. Quite cool. THe inside of the church was impressive. Next door were the cloisters. Not worth the bother. Old cold building with almost no exhibits or relics, a not-worth-the-price pamphlet explaining the place, and a minorly redeeming courtyard. Evidently these are the best cloisters in Provence. If so, don't go to any of them.
I was now starving and made my way to the supposedly recommended restaurant in the guidebook. I'm finding that none of the menus of the "recommended" ones appeal to me. So I went next door and had coq au vin. Not the best I've had, but for $10 for the whole meal, I'm not going to complain. Food here is quite cheap, and very, very good. Back to the hotel or more interneting, phone calls, and sleep.
2 April: Provence to Lyon
I checked out of the hotel early, partook of the quite nice buffet spread, then put on my sunglasses as the sun had riz and the wind was howling. Walking slowly down to my car I paid my rather cheap $5/day parking, and headed toward Les Baux. Les Baux is the site of a medieval fortress that was razed in the 16th century by its own citizens to prevent Louis XIV from doing anymore damage to the city.
The 20 minute drive with the top down, along with the approach to the city was amazing. On top of this rock which juts out from the earth like a limestone Devil's Tower, the medieval lords of Les Baux quarried an entire town. A series of four story buildings about 300m off the ground. I parked my car and walked through the new town, devoted to taking money off of tourists. Since it was 9:30am, very few people were about. My guidebook suggested getting here early or late to avoid the crowds, and they weren't kidding. As I left the population of this rock had gone up 10X.
The 90 minute included audioguide was amazing. This 35F sight was worth a whole lot more than that. 26 stations with extra background commentary and the riduclously beautiful backdrop of Provence. The only problem was the wind that beats down endlessly until about 11am. In any case, a trip to Provence without visiting Les Baux seems a waste. These are the hills where Bauxite was first mined (hence the name), and figure promenantly in the history of France (with names like Richelieu). After leaving the town I drove up about 1km to the other side of the rock and got a panorama of Les Baux itself. Great picnic spot.
Then I drove to Pont du Gard. Along the way I washed the car and changed the CDs in the changer. Once I got to Pont du Gard, I parked, got a much needed Ice Cream confection, and headed toward the aqueduct bridge. Impressive sight. But once you see it, I can't imagine needing to see it again. The construction was amazing, and the walk down into the river (standing on a rock-filled outcropping) I took a picture of the bridge. The experience was filled with annoying kids, however one group of them were English and brought along very helpful English guides. I stood around listening to them for about 20 minutes picking up bits and pieces. Find a website for all the info they provided...
After listening to multilingual swearing about the cost of parking (30F/day regardless of time), I headed to Avignon. The drive was so nice and the hour so late, I just got on the Autoroute and drove to Lyon. Pleasant, top-down, wind in hair, through the pre-alpine region of france. Ahhh. Then I found a rather cramped parking garage and checked into yet another hotel. Last room in the place. Bathroom instead of shower. Ugh. Double Ugh. Plus its $90. Well at least it includes breakfast.
Then I headed out to the Laundromat and an Internet Cafe. Dropped my clothes at the laundromat right before closing, but due to a misunderstanding the clothes won't be ready until the 4th. They wrote it down on the ticket but I didn't notice until I went back the next day. I speak no French, they speak no English, and my inability to read doesn't put me on good footing. So I'm "stuck" in Lyon for another day.
Walked to Vieux Lyon and got some grub. Ate Lyonnaise Onion Soup (French Onion Soup does taste better in France), and a quail. Along with some house wine... $15. Vive le France. The internet cafe was quite sketchy. Couldn't change the layout on the keyboard so updating the website was quite hard as the interchanging of the W and the Z made me close the window more than once. Plus it was 60F/hour which is double the place I'm typing at now. And they let me switch the layout!
3 April: Lyon
Good thing the breakfast was included because it certainly wouldn't be worth the standard 35F. Oh well, they had Le Vache qui Rit (The Laughing Cow [Cheese Spread]), so it can't be all bad. I went to the laundromat to be turned away, then it started to rain. I hid inside a phone booth making calls. Got a hotel reservation at a Formule 1 outside the city. $20/night, we'll see how it is. For lunch I went back to the old city and had Indian food. The waiter spoke perfect english and french. Quite refreshing. Although he didn't understand what I meant by "Garbanzo Beans", so it wasn't perfect communication. The food was good, and I didn't detect a hint of french until the dessert. Which was a standard Indian cake, but with a Creme Anglais sauce. Ah well.
I took the Funiculare (tram going uphill through a tunnel) up to the Basillique Fontcaire. This was the first Funiculare built in the world, and they seem quite proud. This hill is quite large and walking up it is more than just exercise. I then walked out into the square of the Cathedral. This massive basilica was built adjacent to an old cathedral as a thank-you to the Virgin Mary for sparing the city from the Prussians in 1870. It is neo-everything, and ridiculous from every perspective. Inside they have gigantic mosaics, gigantic paintings, gigantic porticoes, etc. Largesse at its finest. The old cathedral was much smaller and homier. I then walked around back to the wonderful panoramic view of over-developed Lyon and its suburbs.
Everything is closed in Lyon on Mondays and Tuesdays (thus the timing of my visit is spectacular). However, whilst walking past the Gallo-Romain museumm I saw that they had papered over all their "Open" signs saying it was open on Tuesdays. Pleasantly surprised, I entered. This museum was great, the kind of thing I wish they had at Arles. The accompanying theaters don't look as authentic as the one in Arles, but are more impressive and, best of all, free. However, if you only want to see one museum of the Roman history of Gaul, go to the one in Nice. This one was, again, far too heavy on the gravestones. But the working model of the automatic curtain lifter was interesting.
After running back to the laundromat so see if my clothes were done and being faced with an empty store, I walked to a chinese restaurant. It was cheap, adequate, and completely uninspiring. A little better than Yeung's for those in the San Jose area. I braved the cold to go back to my car. The parking slip I got from the hotel saved me 35F, but they guy didn't take any of me credit cards. The line was building behind me as I fished a 200F bill out of my money belt. Then onto the road to go to Dardilly and my Formule 1.
I wish they had these in the US. The rooms are clean, about as big as a dorm room, with a spacious double bed and a twin loft above. The shower and WC is down the hall, but the sink is in the room. The WC and shower automatically clean themselves after you leave and have helpful green and red lights above telling you if they're ready. The colour TV had a remote, but no english language channels. Only one telephone in the entire complex, but the bank of phones outside was adequate. But the coolest thing is that there are no keys. You get a 6 digit keycode to enter your room, the parking garage, and the outside door. It's automated to the point where you can show up and use a machine outside and a credit card to get a room at any time without being bothered to learn the local language. The only downside is that they don't provide enough towels. So I asked Stacey to bring the portable towel I brought to Europe the first time, but subsequently left behind.
4 April: Beaune
After taking care of business at the F1, I went back into Lyon to get my clothes. For 100F they washed, dried, ironed, and folded. After changing into pants, I headed back out to Burgundy. But on the way I saw the turnoff for the Ampere Museum of Electricity. Turns out good old A.M. Ampere grew up in Provence about 20km from Lyon. In his boyhood home they have a museum devoted to electricity and him. It has about 20 experiements of electromagnetic properties which are really, really loud. But cool. Only 25F, but they paid me with 1/2 franc coins, which I spent the rest of the day showering on poor cashiers. I then drove the hour and a half to Beaune in Burgundy.
The rain was tremendous. I parked in the free lot across from the Cave de Madeleine, a wonderful restaurant. Cheap wines by the glass and great food. Most of the people were seated at a wooden bench inside what appears to be a converted wine cellar. It was a good respite from the rain. I walked into the city, found the TI, and entered the Hotel Dieu. Build in the 1450's as a hospice for the sick and the poor, this was very extravagant. It must be some sort of pilgrimage site because a whole group of German Nuns were in front of me. The first room, the great hall, was amazing. It really requires pictures, so I'll write more once I get them up here. The main attraction of the Hotel is the Polyptych showing the Last Judgement. Very intricate showing Jesus passing judgement on all the souls of the world with a dramatic showing of the damned headed toward hell. I bought a postcard and walked into yet another internet cafe.
Now follow on to Week 5
