Travels - Nice and Monaco

Well now that all the controversial issues are out of the way for awhile... Here's the rundown on my weekend with Mom and Mimi. They arrived on Wed. (3/17) in Nice. I didn't see them until the next day when they came to Aix! I got them to their hotel and a Tunisian restaurant for lunch, then ran off to class. Joelle (Mme) started a new job that week so she was exhausted and didn't have the energy to join us for a dinner out. But, she did come down to the hotel to meet Mom and Mimi which was great! I don't remember exactly how it came up, but my favorite Madame quote so far occured towards the end of the conversation: It's better to be a little round and have big boobs than skinny and no chest at all! (For the record, Mme is a "toute petite", very tiny woman!) Erin did join us for a great meal at an Italian restaurant... cheese risotto is quickly becoming one of my new favorites.

On Friday, I showed Mom around the apartment and school. After a nice lunch on the Cours Mirabeau, we took the bus to Nice. We were all pretty tired the whole weekend and took things at a relaxed pace. On Saturday, Mom and I walked around the old town, did a bit of shopping including the department store. (Did you know department stores originated in France?) Mimi hit the museums and joined us for dinner. We also saw the street performer with the cats again and this time the cats weren't just sitting on his shoulders... they were waving to passersby and catching balls!

On Sunday, we took the train to Monaco. Now, I don't spend much time around high society but I was looking forward to seeing a new place, checking out the casino and the gardens Mme had recommended, etc. Bottom line: go for the view, but avoid the people like the plague. If anyone thinks the French are rude, (I disagree and) they haven't met the Monagasques. After getting off the train, we walked about a mile uphill to the gardens but decided we needed lunch first. We stopped at a tourist cafe (judging from all the buses out front). Mom had ordered roasted chicken and when it came it was so dry that it couldn't be eaten. If my mom makes a big deal, you know it's bad...

I asked the waiter if she could order something else and explained that the chicken was too dry to eat, like it wasn't fresh. He seemed to take it quite personally... (Note that all of this was in French so he had no reason to be rude because we weren't trying to speak the language.)

"You can tell me it's well-done but to say it isn't fresh?! My chicken is fresh! There is no way that chicken isn't fresh! What do you want me to do about it? You asked for it well-done."

"Actually, sir, you asked how my aunt wanted her omelet done - not the chicken."

"Well I wrote down well-done for both so there's nothing to be done about that now. She can order something else but I'll have to charge her for both."

I asked him to leave the menu with us, but Mom decided not to order anything else if it might be just as bad at twice the price. I figured the issue was closed at this point, but a few minutes later, the waiter came back with a stack of receipts which he put in front of me and started to flip through. They were all in his shorthand so I didn't understand what they said but he kept saying, "Look at this. See this? The chicken has to be fresh. All of our food is frozen so I know it's fresh." Whatever dude - in my country they understand the meaning of customer service. Mme later told me that she was sure that would never happen to someone from France or Monaco but that they take advantage of the tourists because they can.

We finished lunch and headed for the Jardin Exotiques which Joelle had highly recommended. It was situated at the top of a large hill and none of us had much energy so we asked if there was an exit at the bottom. No, you have to come all the way back up. We asked to see a map of the gardens and were told we could see it when we paid to go in. (?!) We thought about skipping it, but there were pictures of caves with stalagtites and stalagmites on the wall and we found out it was included in the price of the garden. So.. we figured we'd go - Mom and Mimi hadn't seen caves like that before. We pay to go in and get the map - sure enough the whole thing is a winding path down and stairs straight back up the hill. We walk through and arrive at the caves at 3:05. Turns out, you can't just walk through the caves as the pictures would lead you to believe... you have to take a guided tour that leaves on the hour - next tour, 4:00. And even if we waited, once you got in you had to do 300 stairs down and 300 up. I guess you had to pay to find that out. It was too much, so we left and took a bus over to the casino.

Mom suggested she and I go play the slots a little at the Casino - just to say we'd played Monte Carlo. You can't take cameras in so I left it at the coat check and in 20 minutes was back - both of us having lost the money as we always do. :o ) As the woman in the coat check handed me my camera she pointed to a dish and asked if I would like to leave a tip for the service. Excuse me?! I just lost all my money in your establishment and you want me to tip you for a service I didn't ask for?! No, I don't want to leave a tip! The nerve...

We walked out and headed next door to the Hotel de Paris where family friends had told us we just had to see the bathrooms in the lobby (which are apparently very well-decorated). As soon as we got through the revolving door, a uniformed man asked if he could help us. "No, we just wanted to take a look." "I'm sorry, you're not allowed. This is a private establishment." And he started the door revolving for us to exit.

At that point, my time in Monaco was done. Been there, done that, never going back.

We did have a fantastic dinner (first Japanese food since I've been here) Sunday night though followed by a great dessert (Creme Brulee for me) with very amusing people watching on top. I came back to Aix for class on Monday morning and Mom and Mimi flew back Tuesday. Thanks for coming to visit you guys!