The French Riviera.

Monptellier is located in the south of France, but it is just on the edge of what is considered the French Riviera. The riviera is where you see all of the movie stars in the tabloid pictures at their villas in St. Tropez, or sunbathing in Cannes, or shooting movies in Monaco(James Bond/Casino Royale). So of course what is a semester abroad without seeing all of this?
My trip through the riviera started out in Nice, the largest city in the area, and with the most to do. Nice is where I stayed every night after day trips to other cities. Nice is supposedly where ravioli was invented and I would not doubt it because the ravioli pasta I had the first night was very good. My first day in Nice I walked along the promenade Anglais which is the main street that runs along the water. As beautiful at night as it is during the day. I walked through Old Nice with a couple of my female counterparts from Montpellier and we had gellato in this little shop by the beach. We then climbed up through this park overlooking the sea that took us up past waterfalls and statues all the way up to the top of a mountain that provided us with a panoramic view of the city from the sea all the way up into its vast hills filled with villas. That night we walked had dinner in the city and then hung out at the suprisingly well maintained and well run hostel.
The next morning I met the girls, Joan and Carley, at the Gare Routiere(bus station) and we took the 25 minute trip to Eze-le-Village, a very small town that sits up in the cliffs overlooking the medditerranian sea. If you are not familiar with the three cornishes, they are the three different roads that run from Nice to Monaco. There is the lower(along the sea), middle(through the hills), and upper(through the mountains) cormish. Eze is located on the upper cornish and if has some of the best views I have ever seen. We walked through a castle located on the highest cliff and spent some time in its exotic gardens that stretch throughout the upper castle. I can't explain how crazy the views are, so I'm not gonna try, I will put up pictures but they will still not do it justice. If u ever come to the French riviera...you must come to Eze, period. After the castle we took a tour of a perfumery, pretty interesting actually but I could have dine without it, the girls enjoyed it tho.
After Eze, we caught the next bus to Monaco which was only about 15 minutes away. Whatever you have heard about Monaco being ritzy, over the top, and pretentious...they are all accurate descriptions. This city is full of ferarris and betleys and hotels that will break most wallets, however it is also has a lot to do and see. I saw the Casino Monte Carlo with its top notch dress code to get in and the harbor full of multi million dollar yachts. But I also walked through the Japanese Garden right next to the sea and walked up to the Royal Palace and saw the changing of the guard. We also went to the aquarium, which is located in a building much nicer than the Royal Palace for some reason. The views were amazing from up here...nice views seem to be a common theme throughout the riviera. It was a bit bittersweet to leave such a pretty city but we timed our bus ride back to catch the sunsetting over the meditteranian as we took the lower cornish route back to Nice. Oh and a small girl threw up on the bus ride back and managed to catch a few tourists with the splatter...I almost slipped and fell on it as I was getting off the bus in Nice...would have ruined the day for me. That night in Nice we went to this live jazz club in town where a British band was playing. This was a very hip place. We got a table right in the front and must have stayed there for arounf 3 hours.
The following day, which was Sunday and the day of the trip we went to Cannes. Now Cannes is a beautiful beach town, much smaller than Nice and Monaco, but beauty is about all it has. There are a lack of monuments or historic places to see. It is full of designer stores and film festival remnats. Still I had a blast walking along the beach and just enjoying the sun. The views are crazy as well...yet again. I want to go back for longer though because they have 2 islands off the coast that have a monestary run by monks and a famous prison that once held "The Man In the Iron Mask". My riviera weekend was a whirlwind to sa the least and I was dead tired at the end of it, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat.