The Grain and Grape

Winter is starting in Germany, so what do you do on a four day weekend? Plan a trip to the sunny French Riviera!

We flew into Nice, and walked out of the airport into warm air, sunshine, and palm trees, an instantaneous feeling of vacation.

There’s a convenient train running between the towns along the Mediterranean coast of France, the French Riviera. A 15-minute train ride from Nice, and we were ready to check out Monaco.

Monaco

The Monte Carlo Casino is beautiful and historic, also smaller and much different than seen in movies. It costs €20 / person to enter, and they are happy to exchange your Euros cash for chips at the cashier’s desk. You can only use a credit card to buy chips with a minimum purchase of €500(!).

We tried our luck first at Roulette and then a slot machine, but lady luck was not with us that day. The casino is very small, and strangely quiet. Very much the opposite of the loud, fun, and excitement of a Vegas experience.

We strolled around the harbor, checking out the massive yachts, most larger than our apartment. Some even bigger than our entire apartment building!

If you have one meal in Monaco, we highly recommend Caffè Milano! The Italian border is only 8 miles away, and the influence of food and wine is easy to recognize. We ate dinner on the upstairs patio with views of the harbor, and met lovely new friends from South Carolina at the next table. Excellent food and wine, fun servers, beautiful views, and a relaxing good time.

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Nice

The beach is rocky, so the boardwalk is key for walking, running, and biking, or sitting and watching the waves hitting the shore. There’s also a few beach cafés with umbrella tables and chairs, serving up Aperol Spritz and shade.

Nice has a large market for flowers, fruits and vegetables, meats and fish, and souvenirs. From the beach, just past the market, are the narrow wandering streets of Old Town. A wonderful area, so quaint, with tiny streets full of shops, cafés, bars, and restaurants.

Learning about local foods and recipes is one of our favorite travel experiences, and we found a great cooking class to go to in Nice. We spent an evening at a French villa set up on the hill with sweeping views all the way to the Sea, cooking an onion tart, Petite Farcis (“little stuffed ones”), vegetables stuffed with meat, and tiramisu. Our instructors were charming, our group was fun and chatty, and we had a fantastic time. Who doesn’t want to sip wine under the stars, enjoying delicious foods.

Of course, we found a few Irish Pubs around Monaco and Nice, always fun, and continuing a streak of drinking Guinness around the World.

The French Riviera

There is so much to see and do in this area. If we had more time in Nice, we would tour the Rothschild Villa, and visit one of the highly rated museums, Matisse or Chagall. Nearby, there’s a great hike up the mountain in the town of Èze and Villefranche-sur-Mer has a beautiful harbor area. South of Nice, also on the trainline, are Antibes and Cannes, which have old towns and sandy beaches.

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Monaco and Nice Logistics

Flights from Germany	Eurowings: Stuttgart – Hamburg – Nice Nice – Munich – Stuttgart Note: Some times of the year there are direct flights STR – NCE
Train Tickets	Nice Airport – Monaco Monte Carlo and Monaco Monte Carlo – Nice-Ville Booked through Omio.com, could also buy tickets at kiosks at the station Around $8 / person one-way
Hotel in Monaco	Novotel Monte Carlo Recommend
Casino Monte Carlo	Open to view the historic lobby from 10.00, gaming rooms open at 14.00
Favorite Restaurant in Monaco	Caffè Milano
Hotel in Nice	The Westminster Hotel Recommend Great location by the beach and promenade We liked The Westminster, but next time might try Hotel Nice Beau Rivage a shorter distance to both the beach and Old Town
Cooking Class in Nice	Booked through Viator, Cooking With a View of Nice

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