The morning after we visited the stunning Cinque Terre, we said Arrivederci to Italy, and headed west to Monaco! We began our bus ride at 8:00 to the playground for the rich. The night prior, I made the mistake of not heatless curling my hair, so I decided to rectify this mistake by doing it on the bus. I wrapped my hair around the rod and misted my hair with water. It worked well until we stopped at a gas station for snacks. I felt like an idiot! Thankfully, it turned out fantastic by the time we arrived in Monaco! I used the Kitsch Satin Heatless Curling Set during my trip, and my curls turned out great the entire trip!
Monaco
The first thing we did when we arrived in Monaco was take a brief tour of the Princess Grace Rose Garden. The garden had stunning views of the Mediterranean. Then we quickly headed to the palace for the changing of the guard ceremony, but the funniest thing happened! One of the guards in another place on the grounds told our tour guide that it wasn’t happening that day, so she dismissed us. Some of the kids stayed back and later informed us that the guards were lying and the ceremony did happen! For those interested, the changing of the guard happens at 11:55 AM at Palace Square every morning.
After our dismissal from Prince’s Palace, my friends and I visited The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It is also known as the Saint Nicholas Cathedral or Monaco Cathedral. We saw the final resting place of Princess Grace Kelly and many other Grimaldis. Despite what we had thought, the cathedral wasn’t very strict about needing to have shoulders covered. All of the cathedrals we visited did not have any rules on clothing.
Shoppin’ and Lunchin’
Then we went shopping! There were a lot of Monaco Gift Stores in the area. Most stores in the area were gift stores rather than high-end stores. Luckily, they were what we were looking for! My friend wanted to get her boyfriend a Formula One souvenir because one of the things Monaco is known for is the Grand Prix. The Monaco Grand Prix is a Formula One race considered one of the most prestigious and challenging of racing.
After looking around the shops, we ate lunch at a nearby cafe. I ordered my most expensive meal of the entire trip, duck! My duck came with French fries, a small vegetable salad, and a mustard-like sauce. Not only was it my most expensive meal, but it was also my favorite! The duck was exquisite! Then we went back to shopping and took a bunch of pictures. We left Monaco around 2:00 and headed to Nice, France!
Nice
We drove for a couple of hours and arrived in Nice! The first thing we had to do was complete a scavenger hunt that took us around the city. We got a couple of them done but got sidetracked when we found a street market in the middle of a square. There were many booths; all held rows and rows of knick-knacks, like metal goods and paintings. I’m not really into thrift shopping; instead, I went to a perfume shop recommended by our tour guide Leike.
Fragonard is the name of the perfume shop, and I spent a lot of time there. I smelt every perfume until I carefully selected this citrusy perfume called Bigarade Jasmin. Then I went on a stroll along the boardwalk to find my friends. I saw this awesome giant red gorilla statue by the artist Richard Orlinski. I later learned that he has animal sculptures all around the world. The one that I saw is one of his most famous kinds and is called Wild Kong.
I found my friend, we sat on a fountain and people-watched. We played a game where we guessed a person’s nationality, using clues like their clothes and how they carried themselves. My friend and I played the game until it was time to meet and go to dinner! The entire group took a quick picture in front of the Fountain of the Sun, a fountain in the Place Massena that features a statue of Apollo. A random American family dressed in Cowboys gear hopped in the picture; they also followed us to the restaurant where we were having dinner.
For dinner, we had crusted meat and a small side salad. For dessert, we had an apple tart. The food was pretty good! We ate at Restaurant O’Staff. My group won the scavenger hunt, and for winning, our tour guide gave us Macrons! Then we went to our next hotel!
We had some time to explore after we arrived at the hotel, so we went to a nearby grocery store. We looked at food and some random French books.
While the day was busy (we were in three different countries), it was also really awesome! We’re going to explore two more French cities tomorrow!