USVI-On-Line

According to Rick Steves the month of August is NOT the time to visit the French Riviera. Most everyone in Europe is on holiday at this time, so shores will be crowded and traffic will be bad. But with limited schedules to contend with we decided to proceed with this portion of the trip and hope for the best. With the knowledge that most popular cities/towns would be filled to capacity we tried to scour his guidebook for lesser known villages and towns along the coast. Our flight departed Paris @ 7:00 am (seems to be a theme here for early flights…but they were cheap, plus it gave us more time in the arrival city to enjoy the day…we can sleep when we get home)

Not very clear…but our first view of coastline….NICE France…..



We arrive at the airport….pick up our van….and head out….Traffic was BAD…We decided to take a scenic drive to Monaco. According to the guidebook, there were three scenic routes to take. Lower Corniche…which would be close to coastline and CROWDED…Middle Corniche, which was high enough up to be scenic, had pull overs to stop and make pictures…(this was the road I wanted to take….however…directions were from the train station…not the airport…and I neglected to look at a map.) We head in the direction of Monaco….looking for signs for Middle Corniche….we finally see Grande Corniche sign….so of course we take this road…..Beautiful scenery from high (2000 ft) drop offs….no place to pull over and take pics….
For anyone that thinks driving on St John or St Thomas is scary….don’t drive in the Côte d'Azu region in France. I wish there had been somewhere to pull over because the views from both sides of the road were outstanding. I was scared….but the girls were amazed at the views. The locals were more accustomed to the road and we were holding them up…They were definitely not driving the speed limit. As we were coming down the mountain, we saw a pull off area…and stopped.





This was the view on opposite side of car from coastline









You can see the clouds covering part of the mountains




The drive on down into Monaco was around another hour…so we decide to head on to our next destination…Antibes….

Beautiful beach and water….



AHHH…listening to the waves crash was so relaxing!!!!!




Sandy Beach portion….a little crowded by St John standards….but not bad….






Feet in the water….yeah….



Rocky beach on this side…hurt to walk…

Time to head on further….Cannes is a short drive away so we decide to go there…TRAFFIC, TRAFFIC…not a good idea….so we hit the motorway toward our hotel. We drove what seemed like a very long ways….I think everyone went to sleep except my SIL (our driver for the trip…THANK YOU) and me the navigator. It must have been quite a distance since our toll was almost 15 euros.
We had searched the internet for a cute gite/bed and breakfast, or local hotel. They were all booked. Our destination for the next day was the town of Cassis. All of the seaside hotels were booked. So I found a cheap newer looking hotel in an industrial section of Aubagne ( Hotel Balladins Aubagne/Gemenos Superior)
We exited and proceeded to follow the internet hotel website directions……again and again and again…we must have went through this little section of town 5 times….We drove on down further and called the hotel. (They did have someone that spoke English) We were given directions, but they were not correct either. After the third call to the hotel we finally got directions that were accurate. If my memory is correct we drove around almost two hours searching. Upon arriving we were told everyone had trouble finding the hotel….(they really need to change the directions….maybe we got off the Motorway at the wrong exit??) The hotel was newly constructed and had air conditioning. No pictures from here….

Tomorrow……..Beach Day @ Cassis and boat ride to Calanques….

Thanks for the reports - GREAT PICS!

I keep saying someday ill get there...

Thanks, this was a completely different kind of vacation than we normally go on...usually drive to the beach, stay in one condo for a week....just chilling on the beach.

but it was nice to be adventurous and travel outside our comfort zone.....especially in countries where no one in your group speaks the language!!!

still have Cassis, Provence region of France, and our final destination Venice, Italy....

Great report and pictures! Monaco just seems like a different world to me than even Italy/France. It sounds like you guys continued to have a great time!

Thank you for your reposts. I really enjoy your pictures and reports.

Thank you for your report. It is so interesting to read about your round trip in Europe and see your photos. At the same time it makes me think on "old days" - when we were driving a long way to come to Cannes, but never found a place to park, everything was occupied, the only time we were out of the car was on a petrol station - and in Monaco, when our son was so proud, because his father took a pic of him standing between two Rolls Royce – but it was the last pic in the camera, and only half of him was on it. So disappointing for him. Not possible to find that situation again in Denmark!

I’m looking forward to read about Venice.


Linne

That description of driving, driving, driving, searching, searching, searching brought back memories of travelling in Europe with my family. My dad even spoke the language!

Also looking forward to Venice!

linne...sounds like you were there during a busy time also...I have always wondered what it was like in Denmark....don't think another European trip is in the picture in the foreseeable future though...really trying hard to make it to St John next summer....

PA girl...didn't think we were ever going to find that hotel....

have to get busy on these reports...two more days before we arrive in Venice....

CBama wrote:PA girl...didn't think we were ever going to find that hotel....

I understand completely. Sometimes travel takes a lot of energy.

My father had his own style. We never had reservations, there was always some place cheaper, there was never accomodations too basisc, etc.

One day it got so bad (we spent hours driving around looking for a room) that an inn keeper felt so sorry for my mother that he called one of the maids, who put us up at her house. I slept with her daughter and my parents slept in some sort of odd spare room/storage space. Travel days like that never seemed to end.

oh my...we tried to stay in budget places, but never had to camp out with anyone...

But I imagine you have some good stories and memories of those times when you look back on them.....

CBama wrote:oh my...we tried to stay in budget places, but never had to camp out with anyone...

But I imagine you have some good stories and memories of those times when you look back on them.....

Yes I do.

Looking back on it, I can't imagine someone openning their home to complete (and foreign) strangers. I was 17 yo and slept in her daughters room. I remember the daughter to be about 8-9 yo. It was late at night when we arrived and the little girl was asleep. What a shock she must have had when she woke up to see me there. We ate breakfast with the family and off we went.

My mom has major germ issues so she would only tolerate so much of his bargin hunting. There was bickering between them. On the other hand, he had no problem walking into really nice places and get rooms at bargin rates. I remember staying in some fantastic places in Southern Germany and Austria. It was always an adventure.