Blog Post 07/02/2012 Monte Carlo, Nice, Bordeaux, and Cherbourg.
Last time I posted I was en route to Monte Carlo, now I'm in Carentan, Normandy. I arrived this evening from Cherbourg, and I'm going to spend the next few days from here, Bayeux, and Caen, having a look at the. D-Day Beaches.
The view from the palace of Monte Carlo (the bit with the stadium)
Looking back now, I actually am finding it hard to believe that I've done so much since I posted last. I had 2 nights each in Monte Carlo, Nice, and Bordeaux, with 1 each in Paris and Cherbourg.
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo.
I arrived monday evening in Monte Carlo, so I didn't do much that first night, I just had some dinner, and relaxed with my books and iPad.
Tuesday was very busy. After the usual stuff that gets done each morning, I walked to the Tourism Office, where I got a map of the city. The map had on it the Formula One course.
The hairpin.
So I walked to the casino, which was closed until 2 (I got there around 10), so after getting some pics (of the outside, cameras, phones, etc are prohibited inside, and no photos at all), I decided I'd wander the F1 track until I came across something to do (I asked the lady about F1 track tours, she recommended getting a taxi, I decided to save the money and walk, she scoffed at walking it (it was raining to be fair), but I didn't mind), so I wandered from the casino along the track the "wrong way" to the Boulevard Albert 1er, which forms the 2nd straight of the F1 track.
The tunnel of the Monte Carlo track.
From there I went up to the Princes Palace, and I wandered around the part of the city that was on that outcrop, from there I went to get some lunch, and have a look at the football stadium, which was on the other side of the outcrop from the part of the city I started on.
The palace
After wandering around that part of the city I went back to complete the F1 circuit, which I did, much to my satisfaction (although not my legs).
I went in to the casino, which was open by now. I put my jacket, scarf, camera, phone, and almost every thing that wasn't my wallet or passport into the cloakroom. Entry to the casino part of the building is €10, so I paid that and had a look around.
Not enough boats.
To say that it is opulent is a bit of an understatement, I felt like I should have been in a suit, driven up in an Austin Martin or a Bentley, owned a Yacht, and a summer house (read: summer mansion) there. From there it was back to the hotel.
The casino, where they filmed in Goldeneye. The names Bond, James Bond.
I had another relaxing night in, until, the French League Cup semi final (Lorient v OL) came on TV, it wasn't too bad, OL were 2-0 down with 10 minutes to go (alright up until then it was bloody terrible, and stressful), when they scored the first with about 8 to go (a brilliant goal by Lacazette, amazing right footed shot curling past the keeper into the right side, halfway up the posts) I got less stressed, then in 90+4mins, from a corner, with practically the last kick of the game, Briand rose highest to put a header into the back of the net to force extra time. In extra time Lorient appeared to tire a bit, and after Gomis scored to make it 3-2 to OL, it looked much like OL was going through to the final, then Lacazette scored his second in the 120+2 minute, so a pretty good night then.
Nice Cathedral.
Wednesday I went to Nice early in the morning, the irony being that that day was beautiful, a nice clear, blue sky. I arrived in Nice around lunchtime.
After lunch I went on a wander around the city. I focused mostly on the beach and the old town, which with the weather that we had was just amazing.
When I got to the beach, which was shingle, I decided I'd take my shoes and socks off, put the shins of my jeans up to my knees, and go for a wade in the Mediterranean sea, which, despite the cold, was really nice, until I misjudged a wave, and got soaked halfway up my thighs, back to the hotels then for a change of pants.
View along the beach from a lookout in the citadel.
As the forecast for thursday looked much the same as that day, I decided that, as I'd been to most of the places I wanted to go to in Nice, I'd save the rest for the next day. So I spent the evening after dinner at the hotel, relaxing.
The next day I spent wandering around some more. However, I did have a late start, I started with lunch at the cafe next to the hotel, Café Mozart (I had to, just look at the name), then from there I went to the newer part of the town, and I went back along the beach, then back to the hotel, for, yep you guessed it, another relaxing night in. (I was spending those nights doing things like writing postcards, keeping my finances up to date, washing my clothes at the nearest laundrette, etc)
the Casino.
On Friday it was time to leave for Bordeaux, however, due to the SNCF, I left Nice at 7:30, which meant an early start. (as the later trains had "sold out" of eurail pass spots)
The train took a little under 10 hours to get into Bordeaux, so I arrived in the hotel around 6. From there I went into the centre of town, where I went to the Girondins de Bordeaux (my other French team), where I bought a couple of team stickers, and enquired about the match the next night (v local rivals Toulouse), after the store, I bought a ticket from the local version of Bass, and wandered back to my hotel, via McDonalds for dinner, where I got a surprise. When I asked the girls serving me (they had 2 people at each cash register, one to serve, one to get the food), "je suis Australien, parlez-vous anglais?" the response was a completely unexpected "oui, oui, oui" and a giggle from both the girls.
The Conservatory of Music.
The irony being that I got better service there at McD's then at the Gare de Bordeaux, where the "English speaking" (had the Union Flag on the screen above his desk and everything) person in the ticket office was rather moody, even when I forked out €97-odd for my booking to Cherbourg (for a train that was scheduled to leave at 8pm on a Sunday night to Paris, they had no 2nd class Eurail pass tickets left, so I had to upgrade to first class, even for the second leg of Paris-Cherbourg (12:30-05:00, overnight, more to come).
The opera house.
On Saturday I spent wandering around Bordeaux, which is a really beautiful city, and a I had a ball. I also booked a wine tour for Sunday, to help kill the 8-10 hours between checking out and leaving for the train (the earlier train was the same deal as the overnight train, but an extra €30, I'd rather the overnight, + I save money on not booking a hotel room).
The Gare Sainte Jean.
That evening was the Girondins game. They were hosting their local rivals in Toulouse, so I was expecting a physical game, and to be honest, the sub standard level of refereeing that I had seen so far in France (both on TV and Live). I got the former, but not the latter. To begin with, Girondins scored less than 1 minute into the game, a Toulouse pledge dear gave the ball away to Jussie, who ran on and placed it past the keeper. I missed the tackle, as I was getting my camera ready to get some shots of the game.
Trémoulinas (l, in white)
The game remained entertaining, with lots of good, attacking football, mostly by Toulouse to be honest, but Bordeaux remained a threat. In the 40th minute Bordeaux had a free kick on the edge of the box. During the course of the game, the people around me had been getting to know me, and I them, and when Obraniak stood over the ball, I (rather loudly) advocated that Benoit Trémoulinas (the reason I went to the game, he's one of my favourite players), take the kick. The chap in front of me said that Obraniak was the man to take the kick. I was proven wrong when He (Obraniak that is, not the man) placed this brilliant, curling, dipping kick over the wall, past the keeper, and under the crossbar. It was simply an amazing goal.
Lining up the free kick.
Shortly after Obraniak got caught up in a tussle with #22 of the Toulouse side, and they both got yellow cards, after the ref sent them back to the game, 22 slapped Obraniak in the back of the head. Despite the crowd (with me, caught up in the heat of the moment), baying for a 2nd yellow, the Ref, to his credit, gave him a severe, and final talking to. From the free kick, into the Bordeaux box, the ball got cleared, 22 elbowed a Bordeaux player in the back of the neck, the crowd was livid, and very soon cheering, as the Ref gave him his marching orders, to be honest 22 looked like an ill-tempered so-and-so. Not a bad first half, definitely one of the best I've seen live.
After the goal had been scored.
After halftime, the pace of the game slowed a bit, with not too many clear cut opportunities, over the next 20-30 minutes, there was precious little in serious chances for either side, but Plasil, the Bordeaux captain, got injured, he came back after a couple of minutes. A Toulouse player also got injured and had to be subbed. There were also 2 yellow cards handed out to each team. I really have to credit this referee, he kept on top of the game. In the final 10-15 minutes, the game really started to liven up as Toulouse pressed for a goal, there were a couple of close calls, but the Bordeaux defence, and Cederic Carasso (the Keeper for les Girondins), kept Toulouse with a big, fat 0 next to their name. At the very death Bordeaux had 2 really clear-cut opportunities to score, but both times, players miscued, one missed the kick, and the other slipped and didn't get enough contact with the ball. And with that the game finished. I have to say, that that was such a great game, even though the OL game (that I saw live) had a better finish, with OL being 1-1 and needing a win, the people here were really nice, and the atmosphere was just amazing. After the game I went back to the hotel and had a nice sleep.
The second half underway.
I awoke on Sunday to a white view, it had snowed overnight.
I thought it was quite novel. I wandered around (the trams being cancel,ed for the day), and when I say "wandered" I mean slipped and slided around. The novelty of the snow soon wore off as I kept landing on my butt, and finally completely wore off as I slipped in the square by the opera house, uttered an obscenity at the top of my voice (unintentionally, and I'm not going to repeat it here, but let's say it rhymes with "clucking bell"), snapped my lunch baguette in half, and cracked the manual viewpoint of my camera (it still works perfectly fine, but annoying is all).
The bridge at Point de Pierre over the Garonne river.
It turned out that the wine tour had been cancelled, due to the snow, so I got a refund, and decided to wander around the city some more, before I got to cold, wet, and my bum got too bruised, so I went back to the hotel, and just watched some live NFL network for a couple of hours (being Super Bowl Sunday and all).
The place de la comedie
When I got to the station around 7:00, I noticed that my train had been delayed by 30 minutes, so I went to enquire about what I needed to do if I missed my connection in Paris. (I arrived at Paris Monparnasse station, and had to leave from St Lazaire within the hour), I was told that if I arrived more than 10 minutes late I would be unable to catch my connection, and I was to go to the "l'accuel" and get them to set me up in a hotel for the night, and to get me an alternate train to Cherbourg. I have to say I did not mind that, as it would a) let me watch the Super Bowl live, and b) give me a free bed for the night (as opposed to 4.5 hours on a train chair for the night). As it turned out the train arrived in Monparnasse after the connection left St Lazaire, so I got put up in a somewhat decent hotel, right next to Gare St Lazaire, with a free taxi trip to the hotel. Win. So after getting to the hotel around 1:30am, I got into my room, and decided that, hey, I can't get to sleep, so I'll watch the rest of the Super Bowl (the last 2 min of the first half, and the second half). It was an amazing game, even though I wanted the New England Patriots to win, I can't be disappointed in either the excitement of the game (went down to the final seconds), or the fact that the NY Giants won (they knocked my team, the Atlanta Falcons out of the playoffs). That finished around 4am, and I slept until 10.
Bordeaux in the Snow.
My train to Cherbourg left at noon, and got me there around 3:45, after I checked into the hotel, I did the usual stuff, went to the tourist office, had a wander around. I really like the city of Cherbourg. Where I went it felt more like a village than a city, up until I saw some apartment blocks, but even then it was a really nice place. Dinner than an early night in the hotel.
Napoleon.
That gets me up to today. I wandered around Cherbourg some more, I went to le fort du Roule, which is a fort on the mountain which overlooks the city. The views there were amazing, and there is a museum there which details the events in the region during WWII, I found the museum to be underwhelming to be honest, as it is somewhat vague in important details, not all of the exhibits have English translations, and there are some really bad grammatical mistakes in some of the ones that do (3th time anyone?). I was hoping that there'd be more the than there actually was, and the biggest thing that got me was the use of some pictures that were captioned as being taken in France, but where not (the biggest thing that got me was a picture of some children in a trench, all looking up at the sky, some holding their hats, I know that the picture is of children watching the battle of Britain, it's in almost every history book I own or have read that covered the subject, but it was titled "French children cowering from the German army, hmmm)
the view of Cherbourg from the Fort.
A Goliath demolition vehicle.
From the museum and fort, back down the hill, I went to "La Ciré de la Mer" which is basically a maritime museum. They have the Nuclear submarine "le Redoutable" there, which is open for tours, and a couple of other exhibits, and coming in april a Titanic exhibit. I took the audiotour of Le Redoutable, which I found to be really interesting.
Hunt for Red October anyone. Le Redoutable
From there I went back to the hotel, picked up my bags, and caught the train to Carentan, which is where I'm writing this now. Until later.
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From Versailles, I went to the Gare du Nord, where, while I was waiting for the train to Compiègne, I went to the Tourist Office, to enquire about any Museums at the site. I found out that the site is a museum, which is closed on Tuesdays (Story of my trip), so I went back to the hostel for an early night.
