Nice – Snapping The Globe

Nice, Short and Sweet

“No dinner and no watching movies tonight!” I had threatened everyone in my family to get lots of sleep on the flight from New York to Nice. Since we were not arriving at the Cote D’Azur airport until 11:00 am, it was critical to quickly drop our things at the hotel and hit the streets, making the most of our day.

For once, everyone listened!

Traveling across the ocean to see all that the Cote D’Azur has to offer is a monumental task for someone visiting for a week. We had a day and a half!

Quickly showering and changing, we were in and out of our hotel within an hour. An impressive feat for four people! In the interest of time and due to our proximity to the Gare de Nice-Ville, we decided to take the train into Monaco, although I knew that the bus route was much more scenic.

A quick 20 minutes later and after getting our passports stamped (fun thing to do in the train station at the Tourist Information office), we made our way out of the Monaco train station and into the slightly rainy day.

Walking quickly, my sons gawking at the vast array of expensive cars along the way, we made our way up the steep pathway to the Prince’s Palace of Monaco. Although the palace is closed at this time of year, we stopped for a bit to watch the guards. Being wintertime, it was nice to have the square pretty much to ourselves, not missing the massive amounts of tourists which visit during other times of the year.

Wandering the quiet, near-vacant streets down to the Cathedral, we soon entered the Roman-Byzantine-style building. Much time was taken to admire the beauty of the church and to pay our respects at the graves of Princess Grace and Prince Ranier, as well as the other sovereigns that are laid to rest here.

We were soon on our way back down to the marina, checking out the numerous yachts moored here, each seemingly larger than the next. Having been in Monaco before and wandered around this area, I knew that my children and husband would enjoy seeing these magnificent vessels…and they certainly did! Remembering the 48 foot sailboat that we vacationed on this summer and the tight quarters, it was mind-boggling to think that some of these boats were larger and more opulent than our house!

We ended our quick tour at the Monte Carlo casino. If I had thought that my family would enjoy the boats, then I knew that they were going to enjoy seeing the expensive cars parked out front. My boys were in heaven! Ferraris, Maseratis, Bentleys…you name it. It was like being at a car show.

Since our children were under the age of 18, it was impossible to visit the Casino, so we decided to head back to Nice for a nice dinner. Catching the bus back to Nice was the easiest (and cheaper) option from this part of town. Wanting to end up near Old Town, the #100 bus dropped us near Place Garibaldi, where we found a wonderful resturant.

Early the next day, we were headed to St. Paul de Vence. Having always wanted to visit this medieval city, I was wide awake and coaxing everyone to grab a quick bite to eat and walk quickly to the bus stop. However, getting to the bus stop, we found the Promenade de Anglais to be shut down to traffic and buses re-routed to other streets due to a marathon. Not sure if we were at the correct stop for the #400 bus, we decided to jump on the #99 airport bus, knowing that the marathon course did not extend that far. From there, we would catch the #400 bus, forgetting that the #99 bus fare was 6 euro each, instead of 6 euro for all four of us. Nonetheless, we arrived at the airport and were soon on our way, finally figuring out (after missing one bus), that we had to wave them down.

The plus side to all of this was that the ride did not seem quite as long…and we made it to St. Paul de Vence. The downside was that it cost a total of 30 euros instead of 6 euros.

I have read that the village of St. Paul de Vence can be extremely busy during the summer months, with tourists walking shoulder to shoulder. Being a Sunday morning, the village seemed to be just waking up with our arrival.

The village is very quaint and beautiful. Sitting on a hill, you can see it from afar on your bus ride. After arriving at the bus stop, it is a quick walk into the village. There are many art galleries, shops and museums to while away your time as well as quite a few restaurants to grab a nice lunch. There are many photographic opportunities throughout the village as well as many scenic overlooks.

After our visit, we were soon on the #400 bus back to Nice. The bus’ final stop was near the beach. Our children wanted to see this beach that is filled with colorful rounded pebbles instead of sand. It was a windy day, but sunny and warmer than the day before. The Promenade Anglais and the beach area was filled with many people enjoying the beautiful weather.

We headed into the Flower Market area, which was now closed for the day and on to Parc de la Colline du Chateau (Castle Hill), a tourist must-see and one of the best lookouts in Nice. Although we had done much climbing and walking while in St. Paul de Vence, we knew we had to climb to the top for the panoramas of the city.

Not to be disappointed, we were rewarded with amazing views of the city as well as a beautiful park, ruins and a waterfall at the top.

Finally, it was on to Old Town in search of a Happy Hour that would help us to forget the aches and pains that my husband and I were experiencing from all the climbing that we had experienced that day.

There were so many more things to see and experience in Nice, but we are only human after all! Fitting in what we could, I think my husband’s and son’s first experience in the Cote D’Azure was a fantastic one. For all the things we missed this time…we’ll save them for another weekend!

For more pictures check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

Transportation

Bus #99 takes you from the airport directly to Gare de Nice-Ville. From there you can catch the train, tram or another bus. €6 per person
Trains leave regularly from Gare de Nice-Ville for Monaco and other coastal cities.
Bus #100-Nice to Monaco and return (about 45 minutes). €1,50
Bus #400-Nice to St. Paul de Vence and return (about 1 hour) €1,50

Prince’s Palace of Monaco

State Apartments-Adults €8, Children (6-14) €4
Private Collection of Antique Cars- Adults €6.50, Students (6-14) €3
State Apartments and Private Collection of Antique cars-Adults €11.50, Children (6-14) €5
Opening times-State Apartments from 26th of March to October 16, 2016

Monte Carlo Casino

Every day from 2:00 pm
Proper attire required. No shorts, sports shoes or flip flops
Jackets recommended after 8 pm
From 9 am til 12 pm, open to groups and tours, every day except during the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Admission fee €10 per person, €7 per person for groups over 10 people
Admission fees payable in cash at the entrance
€10 admission fee per person, over the age of 18 years and not banned from gambling
€10 additional admission fee for entry to private rooms

Parc de la Colline du Chateau (Castle Hill)

October 1 thru March 31, 8:30-18:00
April 1 thru September 30, 8:30-20:00

For more pictures, check out my Facebook page, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, Snapping the Globe.

A Nice Weekend

France for the weekend? Yes, let’s go!

Working for an airline most definitely has many upsides and downsides. Being on the front lines, flight attendants sometimes endure our passenger’s cordiality and sometimes their wrath. There have been days that I have returned from my trips vowing to my husband that I was quitting my job. Why didn’t I, you ask? Simply put…I enjoy seeing the world.

Ever hear the phrase, “Marry me, fly free”? Well, it’s true…or almost true.

Each airline policy regarding employee travel varies. My airline, for example, offers free travel to employees and their families from the very beginning of their career. Domestic travel incurs no charge; however, taxes are paid for international travel, for the specific city. Italy’s taxes tend to be the cheapest, while England’s are some of the most expensive…about $160 difference between the two. That being said, paying the taxes versus buying an international ticket is definitely a plus! Travel, however, is not confirmed. Employees check flights for available seats and place themselves on an employee standby list for that flight. The employees are assigned seats just before departure in order of seniority. No available seats? No go! So, employees definitely must have flexible travel plans and travel in off peak time periods. But, having that ability offers us the chance to go to places on a whim that most people spend months planning.

Travel benefits are also extended to our immediate family. Again, while policies vary between airlines, my husband, parents and children are also offered benefits. Over the years, we have taken many wonderful vacations…some we could have never afforded if we had had to purchase five tickets. Unfortunately, as my children grow older, I realize that this will eventually come to an end. Our benefits are extended to our children until the age of 26, if they are actively enrolled students or in the military. If they graduate at 22 or 23 and do not seek advanced education, they will no longer be covered by my travel benefits. It is no wonder that many airline employees’ children seek airline employment later in life.

When the children were younger, it was much easier to travel when school wasn’t as much of an issue. On many occasions, we packed up on a Thursday night and went to Grand Cayman or some other exotic locale for the weekend. I remember the preschool teachers thinking that our children were making up stories about their travels. Not many people can travel to far flung destinations, just for a weekend.

Last week, my oldest son turned 19. He is currently in college and his benefits will run out in about three and half years, unless he opts to pay for continuing education. Trying to take advantage of his school break, I decided that he and I should try and travel somewhere that he has never been. Checking flight availability, I noticed that the flight to Nice, France had a large number of seats open on Friday and a large number of seats open three days later, returning from Nice. Standing in the doorway of his room, I offered to take him to Nice for the weekend. We would only be there for half a day on Saturday, the whole day on Sunday and would be returning on Monday. Take it from a flight attendant; you can most certainly squeeze in a lot of sightseeing in that time frame. I was shocked when he declined my offer, stating that he had plans with friends.

Nothing I said would change his mind. “You do realize you will lose your benefits in three and a half years?” “Don’t base your decisions in life on others.” “This is your birthday present!” and all the “Mom” things I could muster. His friends said, “Wow, I’d go to France in a heartbeat, if I were you!”

Still, nothing would persuade him.

Frustrated, I realized that an opportunity could pass by. Having been to Nice many times myself, my husband and younger sons had never been. Why couldn’t the four of us go without my oldest son? Secretly though, I was assuming that if my oldest son saw that we were going to go without him, he would alter his plans and come with us after all.

Securing hotel rooms, plans were quickly put into place. We decided to leave on Friday afternoon and travel to New York. Our flight would depart at 9:20 pm and we would be arriving in Nice at 11:10 am the next morning. My oldest, sadly, still refused to travel with us.

After departing New York’s JFK airport and a seven hour flight, we were soon standing outside of Terminal 2 and boarding a bus enroute to Gare de Nice-Ville train station. Arriving a quick 20 minutes later, the walk to our hotel was a quick five minutes.

Having only opened last July, our hotel was modern, clean and perfect for our short stay. The hotel presented us with adjacent rooms and was very helpful in providing us with information on local activities.

After quickly getting settled, we were on our way to explore Nice, Monaco and St. Paul de Vence.

Although, it was a quick weekend, I was so thankful to be able to give the gift of seeing a different city to, at least, most of my family. All too soon we were back on the bus, returning to the airport for our return trip to New York and Richmond.

My oldest held down the fort while we were gone, taking care of the dog and the laundry. He inquired about our trip when we arrived. He even asked to see the pictures from the trip. I thought that maybe he would have regretted his decision a bit and maybe he did…but we will never know. I just hope that he realizes what an amazing opportunity he passed on and doesn’t continue to do so in the future. It would be a terrible shame to be further in life and look back with remorse stating, “I wish I would have taken the opportunity to travel when I had it.”

My two younger boys, however, enjoyed the fact that they benefited from his passing on the trip. They posted pictures of their adventure on Facebook. They had a wonderful time and were eager to share their exploits with their friends. For them, it is thrilling to know that they have been somewhere where many of their friends have not. To quote a friend of theirs, “You went to Nice for the weekend? Who DOES that?”

We do!!!

Group Shot SPDV — Me and my family in St. Paul de Vence.

Delta Airlines provides service to Nice three to four times a week during winter months and daily during the rest of the year.

http://www.delta.com

Transportation from Nice to City Center

Bus 99 departs Terminals 1 and 2 every half hour and travels directly to Gare de Nice-Ville
For other transportation information: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187234-s301/Nice:France:Arriving.And.Departing.html

Ibis Styles Center Gare Hotel information

Rates vary from high season to low season
Located 4 minute walk from the Gare de Nice-Ville
15 minute walk to Old Town.
10 minute walk to Promenade Anglais and beach area
Brand new hotel offering modern, stylish accomodations
http://www.ibis.com/gb/hotel-9907-ibis-styles-nice-centre-gare/index.shtml

Check out additional pictures on Facebook, Snapping the Globe and on Instagram, Snapping the Globe.