Nice, Cannes and Monte Carlo……Mr X aka 007 thought he had a licence to thrill!

Mr X checking out which boat to take to Grumpy

Mr and Ms X found themselves back in France on the French Riviera…ooh la la

Our hotel was in the centre of things and despite checking in early (expecting to leave our bags till after)they greeted us with one of their heart-starter coffees and showed us to our room which was great value. They even offered to help Mr X carry bags

Lots of places closed for the day as it was Sunday- so had a quick breakky/brunch….asked for a toasted ham and cheese and we got ham and 4 kinds of different cheese layered on top, in the middle….the french love their cheese…….Ms X felt it make its way straight to her thighs and her heart

Decided to hop on local bus and visit Cannes for the morning. Think everyone else had the same idea as we had to stand for the 90 min trip and we kissed the ground when we got off as we had a manic bus driver. Cannes is where you go to be seen, and to park your boat basically. They live off the memories of the 2 week Movie festival which had just happened.

Nice is more middle class- lots of Italians and French vacationing as well as poms but it wasn’t as crowded as we thought it may be. Had fun exploring and started a regular thing of drinks at the bar at one of the private beaches.In Nice the coastline is divided every 50 metres alternating between private and public beaches. Had intended to rent one of the lounges and umbrellas for the afternoon however soon discovered that it would be 26 euro each we thought a better idea would be to go to public beach and then swap to private for drinks to finish off each day…….great idea, except for the pebbles that are the feature of the Nice beach. We both put on happy faces whilst laying on our towels telling ourselves that this was another one of those holiday special moments!

Highlight of the time on the French Riviera would have to be our day in Monaco/Monte Carlo. the place is amazing and so, so, so immaculate and pristine. they even have a police ratio of 1:60 residents- gonna tell Christine Nixon about that! They also don’t pay income tax! Struggling to find a reason why we shouldn’t migrate there. Did the touristy thing and struggled up to the top of the rock for the changing of the guard at the Palace with ms X telling Mr X all the information that she had on those Grimaldis, oh and there is so much just about Caroline before you get started on Albert and don’t get her started on that Stephanie! Mr X entertained Ms X with all his James Bond movies that were filmed there complete with a very bad Sean Connery accent. Blink and you miss the changing of the guard- they don’t go on and on like Betty Windsor and her guards

Now EVERYTHING is on a slope or on a hill or up some stairs and climbing is essential for a visit however we did see some sneaky lifts and escalators around the place but it was always after we had climbed all those stairs. We did find defribulators located all around the city however Ms X was concerned that she had not updated her CPR which was on offer, the week before she left. We even watched a car enter a garage which was a lift and then disappear into the ground like Get Smart- amazing

Once we got past all the flash cars parked at the entrance, we paid our 10euro each to visit the famous Monte Carlo casino- you pay that to enter, you don’t get anything for it and they scan your passport and keep it on file as part of the deal. Once inside they even expect you to tip in the toilets (as if!) Mr X wanted to play one hand of blackjack. Sorry sir but the blackjack doesn’t open until the evening.First impressions was how small it is- and how much space is available to the public to play. there are private rooms all sealed off down the sides. Look, its grand and lots of art and velvet and gold and we could visualise James Bond sitting at those tables however Mr X was disappointed. However he did come out 5 euro on top after our small flutter.