Walking Across the Country

I walked across a country today. Granted, it was Monaco, so it's not a very big country, but still...how many people can say they walked across an entire country? Right now, I'm sitting in the courtyard at the Hotel Baccarat, the hostel I am staying in with about 8 other girls from IES for the weekend. We left Paris Gare de Lyon this morning at 8:05am (after thinking we were all going to miss the train cause we were all running so late) and arrived in Nice at about 1:30pm. Three other girls and I hopped on another train to Monte Carlo because we all really wanted to see Monaco (and it was only 5 euro for the 20-minute train ride).

Monaco was AMAZING! I don't know what exactly I was expecting, but it definitely surpassed my expectations. It's super hilly, which I didn't know before. We walked from Gare de Monaco to the Prince's Palace, walked through the Grande Appartements and Musee de Napoleon, browsed souvenir shops (they have a TON of Grand Prix stuff, even though that's already over for the year), and then walked all the way to the other side of the country to go to the Monte Carlo casino. We didn't end up gambling because there was a 10 euro cover to go in, but it was still cool to see. We ate dinner at a cafe on the main harbor in Monaco, looking out at all the yachts and everything. I spent too much money on souvenirs, but I figured this is probably the only chance I'll have in my life to come to Monaco, so why not?

We got back to Nice around 8pm (after a short train ride on a Harry Potter-like train with individual cabin/compartment things!) and walked down to the Promenade des Anglais. For those of you who don't know, that's a big, wide avenue that runs along the Mediterranean Sea! We walked down to the beach to feel the water. The water is very, very blue, but the beaches are all rocks, not sand! It's weird, but I am looking forward to a beach day tomorrow! Supposedly, topless sunbathing is the thing to do here, too...we'll see about that haha.

Tonight, we're all tired from all the travel and walking all day, so it's an early night...tomorrow, though, it's a beach day! I can't wait =) I LOVE being back around humidity, summer weather, and salty ocean air!

Riley =)