Our summer vacation, Post 3: Nice and Monaco

 The final leg of our journey took us to the Cote d'Azur region, where we stopped off in Nice. And I LOVED Nice!!! The beach was SO clean (the city made a daily effort to keep the water clean) and beautiful, although it was a stone beach. Only thing that would've made it nicer is if it were sand.

 The main square of the city has an area with water jets. These were particularly beautiful to watch at night. It seemed like there were people running around in the water 24/7. To be fair, it was 30C and 80% humidity. No wonder why people were trying to cool down!

 One of the first places we visited was the hill! Because if there's a way to see nature and escape the city I haven't yet explored, I'm all over that. (I'm terribly anti-social in that way)

 There was a waterfall at the top!

 And castle ruins

 View over the port

 I'm the red spot you can see...

 It was a beautiful view from the hill. Then we dropped down to Old Nice, an area with beautiful buildings and delicious food (just avoid that tourist traps that are mingled within authentic!)

 Fountains at night

 The next day we grabbed the bus to Monaco and saw some amazing sights along the way. There are beautiful little seaside villages between Nice and Monaco (sadly, we didn't have enough time to see them).

 A walk up to the royal palace of Monaco

 I liked the palace and the views from high up, but I've got to admit- it was nothing special in comparison to what I've seen elsewhere around Europe. So that was quite disappointing. And since I despise the money flaunting aspect that the other half of Monaco represents, I was extra bummed. But, since Ben was excited to see the race track and casino, we headed off in that direction.

 I didn't get to see much of the inside of Monaco because you had to buy a ticket to enter, but Ben did a bit of gambling in the casino.

 Formula 1 hairpin

 Monte Carlo

So overall, I loved Nice. And if I could do it again, I would visit the seaside towns in Cote d'Azur and skip Monaco altogether. However, Ben liked Monaco and would recommend a trip to those who enjoy Formula 1.

Final thoughts: Cote d'Azur AMAZING and I want to see more of it. Monaco, mixed feelings. Go if you like Formula 1 or gambling/money-extravagance. If you aren't keen on those, skip it.