{"id":870,"date":"2014-09-24T13:40:58","date_gmt":"2014-09-24T18:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/?p=870"},"modified":"2016-03-08T16:16:27","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T21:16:27","slug":"france-adventure-southern-and-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/?p=870","title":{"rendered":"France Adventure: Southern and Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 26:\u00a0 <\/em>We had our luggage placed outside our cabin door by 7:00 so personnel could load it onto the buses taking us to Monaco.\u00a0 I had breakfast with Jan, Rob, and Ginni; afterwards, we boarded a bus for our journey to Monte Carlo.\u00a0 Halfway to our destination, the bus stopped at a convenience store where we could purchase lunch, drinks, etc.\u00a0 Ginni and I decided we would wait to have our lunch once we arrived at the Fairmont Hotel where we were spending the night.\u00a0\u00a0 Shortly after 1:00, we arrived at our hotel; because we could not check in until 3:00, we took our luggage to a room reserved by Avalon.\u00a0 Ginni and I had lunch in the hotel dining room where we had excellent food and wonderful view of the harbor.\u00a0 We took a walk and stumbled upon the Japanese Gardens; a lovely, quiet place.\u00a0\u00a0 Upon returning to the hotel, we were able to check in; we retrieved our luggage and went to our room which was very nice.\u00a0 Both of us signed up for the evening tour which consisted of driving by bus to the “Rock” where the palace, governmental buildings, cathedral where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier were married and buried, and other landmarks were pointed out to us by a local guide as we walked the area.\u00a0 The guide told us that Monaco is the world’s second-smallest country and has an unrivaled density of millionaires and billionaires; it does not have taxes.\u00a0 In 1297, the fortress was captured by Francesco Grimaldi; in 1997, the 700th anniversary of the Grimaldi Family Dynasty was celebrated.\u00a0 Prince Albert oversees the governing; his wife, Charlene Wittstock, is expecting their first child in December.\u00a0 After the walking tour, we traveled to the Vista Palace Hotel & Beach Resort for our evening meal.\u00a0 Appetizers and drinks were served on a terrace overlooking Monte Carlo; dinner was in the dining room.\u00a0 It was a wonderful way to “cap” off our evening!<\/p>\n

\"On<\/a>

On our way to Monte Carlo<\/p><\/div>\n

\""The<\/a>

“The Rock”<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Japanese<\/a>

Japanese Gardens<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Waterfall<\/a>

Waterfall in gardens<\/p><\/div>\n

\"In<\/a>

In the Cathedral<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Outside<\/a>

Outside the Cathedral<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Changing<\/a>

Changing of the Guard<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Palace<\/a>

Palace Entry<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Harbor<\/a>

Harbor of Monte Carlo<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Myself<\/a>

Myself and Ginni on the terrace<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Monte<\/a>

Monte Carlo at night<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

August 27:\u00a0 <\/em>Ginni and I were picked up by a driver who took us to Nice where we had booked lodging at the Holiday Inn for the night.\u00a0 A friend of mine, Monique, lives in Nice and I wanted to have the opportunity of seeing her while I was in France.\u00a0 The driver dropped us off at the hotel where we stored our luggage and received a room number from the hotel staff before starting a 3-hour tour of Nice; our room was to be ready for us when we returned around 12:30.\u00a0 The tour started with a visit to Castle Hill where we had a breathtaking view of old town and the port.\u00a0 From there, we proceeded to the Cimiez area where we could view the Fransciscan Church, referred to Church of Assumption, and walk through the Mediterranean gardens.\u00a0 Within the gardens, we visited the Les Mus\u00e9es \u00c0 Nice and viewed the roman ruins located within the area.\u00a0 Next, we went to Old Town where we walked the flower market; I purchased some fresh flowers to give Monique when we caught up with her later in the day.\u00a0 Upon arrival at our hotel, we were told they were giving us an upgrade but the room would not be available until 3:00 (we believe our original planned room was given to a large group who registered around noon).\u00a0 I contacted Monique and asked her to delay her arrival until 3:15.\u00a0 We had lunch at the restaurant within the hotel and, at 3:00, our room was ready.\u00a0 However, we discovered it was two beds put together as one; I called the lobby and said we needed a room with two beds.\u00a0 One of the staff brought us keys to another room and, when we entered the new one, it was exactly like the first one.\u00a0 We went down to the lobby and the manager approached us with the question “What is wrong with the room?”\u00a0 We explained that we needed two beds and not one; he explained they had no rooms with two beds and they could not separate the two as one because of the headboard.\u00a0 Our comment “We don’t need a headboard; move it away from the headboard and it will be fine”.\u00a0 During all of this, Monique was sitting in the lobby waiting for us.\u00a0 After introducing her to Ginni, off we went to the shopping district but neither of us found anything to purchase.\u00a0 Monique took us to her apartment where she served us appetizers plus spritz, a drink made with champagne.\u00a0 Then on to Davisto, an Italian restaurant, where Monique had arranged our meal of fresh fish (acquired that morning from a fisherman) along with accompaniments; it was excellent!\u00a0 Since we had to be up and ready to journey to the airport at 4:15 the next morning, we said our “good byes” shortly after 9:00.\u00a0 It was an evening filled with lots of laughter and cheer; I was so glad to have the opportunity to see Monique once again!<\/p>\n

\"Nice<\/a>

Nice from the hill<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Church<\/a>

Church of Assumption<\/p><\/div>\n

\"France<\/a>

Les Mus\u00e9es \u00c0 Nice<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Roman<\/a>

Roman Ruins<\/p><\/div>\n

\"At<\/a>

At dinner<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Home:<\/em>\u00a0 We got up around 3:30 in order to be ready for our transportation to the airport at 4:15.\u00a0 The driver was on time and, upon arrival at the airport, we discovered that the American Airlines personnel were not on duty yet so we waited about an half hour before we could check in.\u00a0 After going through security, we went to the lounge where we stayed until our flight was called.\u00a0 The flights back to the good old USA were uneventful; Mary and Joe were at the airport to greet me as planned.\u00a0 In summary, the overall trip was excellent and I am glad I finally got to see France.\u00a0 All of the country is beautiful and the people friendly.\u00a0 Paris was too crowded with rude tourists but I was happy to visit this beautiful city with the added bonus of spending time with Jeannette and Allan.\u00a0 If you are planning on traveling to France, my recommendation would be not to go in the August time frame since that is their holiday season so there were large crowds and many stores closed.\u00a0\u00a0 The cruise was very relaxing and I was able to meet some wonderful people.\u00a0 But next time I would consider a different airline than American.\u00a0 As always, it was good to go but it was good to be home with my cats, pond, and flowers!<\/p>\n

\"Beauty<\/a>

Beauty and Cutie<\/p><\/div>\n

\"My<\/a>

My pond<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Flowers\"<\/a>

Flowers<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Backyard\"<\/a>

Backyard<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Watching<\/a>

Watching the world go by<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

August 26:\u00a0 We had our luggage placed outside our cabin door by 7:00 so personnel could load it onto the buses taking us to Monaco.\u00a0 I had breakfast with Jan, Rob, and Ginni; afterwards, we boarded a bus for our journey to Monte Carlo.\u00a0 Halfway to our destination, the bus stopped at a convenience store … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cruise"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=870"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":898,"href":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions\/898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jan.hise.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}