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| Monte Carlo, Monaco |
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| Grimaldi Palace Renovation |
Oct. 5, 2015-Nice
Nicely Done-Monaco to Nice
We made it out of Savona before noon. My phone wouldn't call the tech help number of AutoEurope for Garmin assistance, so I asked the hotel owner's daughter to dial it on their phone. We connected and some poor guy had to deal with our problem at 3 AM U.S. time. He and his supervisor went back and forth with suggestions and even tried a Garmin in their office. They said it had to work with the lighter adaptor and only charge with the USB if we wanted to use it when we were on foot. They said to take the car to a Euro Car office and have them put a fuse in the lighter and re-enable it. There was such a place near our Hotel San Marco.
The Euro Car folks said they couldn't fix the fuse then tested the lighter adaptor in another car. It worked. I asked for a new car and they said YES. We had to top off the gas in the old car before they'd hand us keys to the new one. We filled it up and returned to the office. It was locked!! I let out a yelp and the clerk came running from next door. She was only having a coffee break. We now have a larger, newer, Fiat with no dents.
There was a laundry near our hotel and we thought we'd have clean clothes, but it wasn't self-serve and with siesta in the mix, our laundry wouldn't be ready until 3 PM. We decided to head for Monaco. We used the Autostrada since there was flooding yesterday and these highways have wonderful Auto Grills with brimming cafeterias and restaurants. That's where we lunched. Now we're in price-shock in reverse. Lunch was two sandwiches, a liter and a half bottle of water, two half liters of water, and a box of cough drops for $16.
David got used to manual shifting immediately; the cruise control, however, was another thing. Evidently the cruise and speed governor are on the same control. He mistakenly set the governor and we couldn't figure out why he couldn't accelerate. Problem solved.
We've stepped back in time. It's summer again, temp is in the mid-70's, and flowers are in bloom. There are so many tunnels crawling under the Maritime Alps that we felt a part of a subterranean species by the time we emerged. But when we did, there was the sea and the pink and tan buildings rising up on the Cote d'Azure.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, as we called a former Garmin, has lived up to her name. We put Monte Carlo, Monaco into the search parameters and she managed to find us when we lost our way and not scold. We went on a circuitous descent through alleys and switchback lanes where every street changed names at will. The traffic was zany and the motorcycles, I don't even have to tell you. Tourist season is not over yet.
A policeman directed us to Parking Palais-Musee and we ended up on level -5 exactly where we wanted to be. And there was a public toilet! But, oy, the Grimaldi's should be ashamed of themselves. It was a disgrace. Considering they're going through a vast home improvement project of their own, they should blush at treating their guests, the tourists, so shabbily.
We took an audio tour of their home, the palace (built in 1191 as a Genoese fortress), enjoying the splendor of gilt, tapestries, art, and majesty. Many rooms, including the throne room, were grand, but on a small scale. Everything seemed to be shrunk from the usual European royal abodes. One painting of Princess Grace, Prince Rainier, and their children was striking. It was done in 1981, a year before her death. In it the Prince and three children are touching each other either on the shoulder or hand. Princess Grace is standing alone in their midst.
We tripped through the barriers and construction site surrounding their home and took an ice-cream break. I've never had such deliciously strong flavors. There were chunks of chocolate, coconut, and cafe in our scoops. Which brings me to an issue I'm having. Several times I've spoken in broken French and been answered in English. It's obvious they understood me. I want to practice. What happened to the snobbish French who only spoke their native tongue?
We walked through gardens overlooking the sea, paused for pictures, looked at the church then actually figured out how to pay for parking and found our car. When we headed for Nice we couldn't tell if we were in a tunnel or entering another parking lot. We surfaced facing a lovely green sign to Autostrada Nice. Despite the fact Our Lady says "nice" instead of the French pronunciation of Nice, and with many more missteps, we arrived at The Best Western New York Hotel, Nice. I know, it's a chain, but we needed nicer (pardon the pun) than last night and may want to stay two days if they have an opening. David managed to maneuver the car into the last free parking spot on the street and there it will stay until hell freezes over.
Dinner was around the corner at Cenac "snack" where we had photo worthy duck confit and salad Nicoise.
Tomorrow we'll tour the old town and leave for Aix-en-Provence. We're aware of the tragic rains they had Saturday but are told the highways should be open. We didn't realize the extent of the disaster. All rail lines, airports, and roadways were affected. Missed it by a day.
Toby
We made it out of Savona before noon. My phone wouldn't call the tech help number of AutoEurope for Garmin assistance, so I asked the hotel owner's daughter to dial it on their phone. We connected and some poor guy had to deal with our problem at 3 AM U.S. time. He and his supervisor went back and forth with suggestions and even tried a Garmin in their office. They said it had to work with the lighter adaptor and only charge with the USB if we wanted to use it when we were on foot. They said to take the car to a Euro Car office and have them put a fuse in the lighter and re-enable it. There was such a place near our Hotel San Marco.
The Euro Car folks said they couldn't fix the fuse then tested the lighter adaptor in another car. It worked. I asked for a new car and they said YES. We had to top off the gas in the old car before they'd hand us keys to the new one. We filled it up and returned to the office. It was locked!! I let out a yelp and the clerk came running from next door. She was only having a coffee break. We now have a larger, newer, Fiat with no dents.
There was a laundry near our hotel and we thought we'd have clean clothes, but it wasn't self-serve and with siesta in the mix, our laundry wouldn't be ready until 3 PM. We decided to head for Monaco. We used the Autostrada since there was flooding yesterday and these highways have wonderful Auto Grills with brimming cafeterias and restaurants. That's where we lunched. Now we're in price-shock in reverse. Lunch was two sandwiches, a liter and a half bottle of water, two half liters of water, and a box of cough drops for $16.
David got used to manual shifting immediately; the cruise control, however, was another thing. Evidently the cruise and speed governor are on the same control. He mistakenly set the governor and we couldn't figure out why he couldn't accelerate. Problem solved.
We've stepped back in time. It's summer again, temp is in the mid-70's, and flowers are in bloom. There are so many tunnels crawling under the Maritime Alps that we felt a part of a subterranean species by the time we emerged. But when we did, there was the sea and the pink and tan buildings rising up on the Cote d'Azure.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, as we called a former Garmin, has lived up to her name. We put Monte Carlo, Monaco into the search parameters and she managed to find us when we lost our way and not scold. We went on a circuitous descent through alleys and switchback lanes where every street changed names at will. The traffic was zany and the motorcycles, I don't even have to tell you. Tourist season is not over yet.
A policeman directed us to Parking Palais-Musee and we ended up on level -5 exactly where we wanted to be. And there was a public toilet! But, oy, the Grimaldi's should be ashamed of themselves. It was a disgrace. Considering they're going through a vast home improvement project of their own, they should blush at treating their guests, the tourists, so shabbily.
We took an audio tour of their home, the palace (built in 1191 as a Genoese fortress), enjoying the splendor of gilt, tapestries, art, and majesty. Many rooms, including the throne room, were grand, but on a small scale. Everything seemed to be shrunk from the usual European royal abodes. One painting of Princess Grace, Prince Rainier, and their children was striking. It was done in 1981, a year before her death. In it the Prince and three children are touching each other either on the shoulder or hand. Princess Grace is standing alone in their midst.
We tripped through the barriers and construction site surrounding their home and took an ice-cream break. I've never had such deliciously strong flavors. There were chunks of chocolate, coconut, and cafe in our scoops. Which brings me to an issue I'm having. Several times I've spoken in broken French and been answered in English. It's obvious they understood me. I want to practice. What happened to the snobbish French who only spoke their native tongue?
We walked through gardens overlooking the sea, paused for pictures, looked at the church then actually figured out how to pay for parking and found our car. When we headed for Nice we couldn't tell if we were in a tunnel or entering another parking lot. We surfaced facing a lovely green sign to Autostrada Nice. Despite the fact Our Lady says "nice" instead of the French pronunciation of Nice, and with many more missteps, we arrived at The Best Western New York Hotel, Nice. I know, it's a chain, but we needed nicer (pardon the pun) than last night and may want to stay two days if they have an opening. David managed to maneuver the car into the last free parking spot on the street and there it will stay until hell freezes over.
Dinner was around the corner at Cenac "snack" where we had photo worthy duck confit and salad Nicoise.
Tomorrow we'll tour the old town and leave for Aix-en-Provence. We're aware of the tragic rains they had Saturday but are told the highways should be open. We didn't realize the extent of the disaster. All rail lines, airports, and roadways were affected. Missed it by a day.
Toby
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