Vijay Basrur

Ah Paris!

The flight from Nice to Paris was just about an hour and since it was an early morning flight, we just slept through it.

My cousin had told me that the Paris Metro is pretty good. But when you actually end up using it, you find it truly amazing to find the many routes that take you from one point to the other. It was a breeze to get to Daumesnil, where our hotel was, from Paris Orly airport.

The hotel was actually 10 steps from the Metro station and the room was pretty small but very nice & cute. Surprisingly check in was at 2 pm so we just hung around, shopped for some groceries at the supermarket, had lunch and then checked in.

After resting for a bit, we headed to see the Eiffel Tower. The metro takes you 5 mins from the tower.

The queue was horribly long and it took us nearly 2.5 hours to get to the main lift. Every lift which went up or down had a minimum 30 min waiting time.

But every minute of waiting time is worth it. The experience just leaves you spell bound. We were lucky to get to the 2nd floor in daylight and the top floor during the night. It was freezing cold all along but we had loads of fun.

We must have taken countless photos since every view is spectcular. The view from the top is amazing and you can pretty much see all of Paris.

We were dead tired when we got back to the hotel, 6 hours after we started & 5 of which we were standing. We opted for sleep instead of dinner, which was a pretty good idea.

Day one is Paris was very tiring and exhilirating as well.

Monte Carlo

Visited Monte Carlo and enjoyed ogling at the luxuries of the rich and famous.

We strolled into the grand Monte Carlo Casino and heck we even made 7 Euros at our first attempt at gambling. These earning were immediately eroded by a small lunch of tuna salad and a glass of beer.

Outside the main entrace of the Casino you can spot many a expensive cars. We spotted 2 Ferraris and some really cool Mercs.

We also visited the Royal Palace and stolled in the palace ground which give a stunning view of the sea.

We got back to Nice and got on to the hop on hop off tour of Nice which was really nice. We sat on the upper deck and enjoyed ourselves.

The tour takes you through the entire city with explainations of the major landmarks. We missed out paying a visit to Old Nice which was highly recommended by my cousin.

We ended the day with superb palak sabzi, paneer sabzi, hot rotis, rice and my favourite yellow daal.

We wrapped up the packing in about and hour and went to bed excited about our departure to Paris the next morning.

Eze Village

Thanks to some convoluted bus schedules from Nice, we had to postpone our plans to get to Monte Carlo.

But a 30 min bus ride fro Nice is this quiet little town called Eze Village. The entire village is probably a few kms wide but since its on a hill it feels large.

The walk through the village is uphill but beautiful. It has tiny streets with cobblepaths and you can get a superb view of the sea from many spots.

We spent quite a bit of time in a tiny shop that sells home made liqueur, brandy, vinegar & oils. We also ended up shopping for a few things here. The best was Fig liqueur and garlic flavoured olive oil.

We wandered around aimlessly and loved every bit of it. We were told that most hotels shut between 3 to 7 and since it was already 5, we had to make do with sandwiches for lunch. I also tried a beer called 1664 which was pretty good.

We got back by 6.30 and had to struggle with the automated entry system and were glad that someone came from inside the building and we got in just before the door closed.

After a small rest at home we headed to the Promenade D’anglais which is like Marine Drive. It has a wide footpath where you spot quite a few folks cycling, skating or jogging. The view is brilliant and you can sit on the benches and look at planes landing and taking off.

We also walked down to the beach. Its the first time I saw a beach shore with pebbles and practically no sand. The water was very clean and a far cry from the Mumbai beaches.

Dinner was home made idlis, sambar, chutney, rice and pickle. Bliss!

Fragonard Perfumery

While at Eze village, we took a free guided tour of one of France’s leading perfume company, Fragonard.

We were explained the entire process of perfume manufacturing right from the flower/fruit sourcing to the distillation and the conversion to various forms of perfurme.

But since they also make pure essences, their perfumes are a bit expensive. It seems they also sell their essences to other famous brands such as Chanel, YSL etc.

One thing for sure, after the tour and a visit to their factory outlet, it sure does leave your nose confused and your body smelling good.

Pisa

The drive from Firenze to Pisa took about an hour & a half. There is nothing to see in Pisa other than the Leaning Tower and the adjoining Duomo & the lovely lawns.

The tickets to enter the leaning tower were available for entry 5 hours from the time we reached there so we passed it.

The tower looks spectacular to say the least. And unilke other tourist attractions the leaning tower leaves a lot to be admired from a distance rather from up close. The inclination is more vivid from a distance and you cannot but marvel at this man made mistake.

After spending a few hours. Moving around the place, bargaining for a few fake watches (I got a decent Omega) & clicking quite a few snaps, we settled down for a nice picnic lunch of besan rotis, cookies, cashewnuts and tangerines.

Everyone slept during the drive back and so it felt like we reached Nice pretty early. We stopped at the border for some good Italian coffee and made it to Nice just in time for dinner.

We plan to visit Monte Carlo tom.

Firenze

We loitered all day in this lazy little town and enjoyed every bit of it.

Firenze or Florence as it is known in English, is a beautiful city. Most of the buildings look similar with terracota tiled roofs & mostly yellow walls.

After moving through the streets, stopping by for gelato, our first destination was the Duomo. Its a wonderful cathedral with a stunning facade. The exterior is in pink, green and white and though some colours are faded, the entire facade looks stunning.

Right opposite the main entrance is another building which has an entire door of 3D carvings made of gold.

We climbed up the Cupola, which is about 500 steps and takes you right on the main dome of the Duomo. From here you get the most spectacular view of the Firenze city. Sine you can actually go around, you get a 360 deg birds eye view. We spent about 30 mins there and it was beautiful.

On our way down we stopped by tp admire the frescoes which adorn the inside walls of the roof. The hemispherical roof has some of the most amazing frescoes. The fact that someone can paint such huge ceilings with such beauty is unfathomable.

From here we strolled to the Arno canal which is a serene spot where we spotted enthusiastic kids practising rowing. There are 2 bridges over this canal which are full of jewellery shops and tiny bistros.

Over a hot bowl of soup and other italian food, we had a chilled out lunch. We spent the rest of the evening walking around the city. We also got a nice caricature done of the both of us.

On our way to dinner, we entered a square where there were some amazing musicians strumming up lovely jazz tunes. It was so nice, we could have spent hours there. But my cousins kids were getting restless and so we hurried for dinner.

The kids were well behaved all through the day and crashed right into bed the minute we hit the hotel. Well so did we

Drive from Nice to Florence

Driving past the Italian countryside at over 100 kmph is a pleasure. More so if you are not driving.

The route is all along the coast and is very scenic.

As usual I am fighting to stay awake in spurts. My cousin also owns a GPS device which is total kick ass. It tracks your progress on the road real time with suggestions to take turns as and when required. Cool!

Another 2.5 hours to go.