My friend and I set out on a Friday morning for France after renting a Fiat Panda here in Vicenza. While I've always heard of the French Riviera I was simply not prepared for the sheer beauty of just about everything we ended up seeing. It was a good 6 hours but we crossed over into France in around 6 hours. I thought it was odd that unlike the Italian-Austrian border the Italian-French border had very little warning about entering a new country. When traveling to Austria the signs begin to be in German around 100 miles before you actually get to the border. There we're also signs pointing you in that direction as well. The French border suddenly sneaks up on you. None of Italy's borders except for Croatia, have border controls however so its a bit uneventful no matter where you cross. Cinque Terre is a beautiful part of Italy that straddles the coast of the Mediterranean and will certainly leave you in awe of its ocean view vineyards and towns hovering on the edge of its cliffs. For whatever reason the French Riviera which pretty much connects this part of Italy seems to give you more in terms of beauty. I would describe some parts of it like Arizona except with vegetation. The views even from the highway we're simply stunning. Unlike much of Italy, the French have not jammed all of their highway corridors with industrial centers and have somehow figured out ways to hide them better, making for some spectacular (and unexpected) views just from the car windows. Cliffs hover above the road and while there are hill towns, vineyards and even some industrial zones, it definitely was on a smaller scale than in Italy, and the land seemed more untouched. While Italy is about as beautiful place you will ever see, this part of France in my opinion had it beat albeit not by a large margin. France clearly has a lower population density and this seemed to really open up scenery without too much interference from power lines, radio towers and smokestacks.
Our first stop ironically was not in France but in
Monaco which is not very far from the Italian border actually. I have to say the first glimpse you get of Monaco is simply amazing. I've never been to Hong Kong but it almost reminded me of pictures with its high buildings right on the water. Monaco was about the cleanest city I have ever visited in my life. There was literally not a spec of trash to be found anywhere and you felt like you could eat right off the sidewalk. The waterfront was gorgeous and while there we're a lot of really high buildings the main city center practiced the same moderation you would see in most European city centers. You won't come to Monaco to see a lot of history but the Prince's Palace on top of the hill was great with some of the best views of the city looking down. No visit here is complete without a visit to the Monte Carlo Casino or at least outside people watching. There we're so many Bentley's and Ferrari's parked or driving around that it became ordinary which is something I've never really experienced. Monaco is certainly a playground for the wealthy. We then went on to
Nice which was nice, and yet again another beautiful waterfront city. The new and old city center have their own positives, and a walk at dusk along the water is a perfect way to end your day of sightseeing. Nice was also extremely clean and well maintained. We walked up the many steps to the overlook near Chateux de Nice and watched the sunset over the water.
The next morning we went to see the famous Ponte du gard Roman Aqueduct near the town of Remoulins. It was an amazing and imposing structure that doesn't look nearly as large in pictures as it did in person. It's surrounded by a river and forests and seems to hide itself until the last moment after you've parked and paid for admission. It was great and is really a wonder of the world and also of course its a Unesco site. The only downside was that the very top was not open like it has been in the past and we hiked all the way up several stories to find that out. The view from up top makes up for it and there we're also trails all around that would enable you to spend an afternoon enjoying the surrounding nature. We visited numerous towns (too many to even mention) and while none of them we're actually not worth visiting, I felt like
Arles was somewhat disappointing. While surely its another beautiful French town it seems to have overreached slightly on its courtship of tourists and while it boasted a terrific Colosseum the multiple museum and historical site pass we got there left just a little to be desired. Not to mention after visiting so many French towns your standards are going to be pretty high. I wouldn't suggest not going there, but it didn't seem to live up to its reputation as a "go to" city.
Avignon was a nice place and we scored a terrific place to stay there at the last minute when our YMCA bid didn't pan out as expected (they weren't open at 5pm and we didn't feel like going back just to check in). We stayed at a place just across the bridge to the city center that looked like a campground but with rooms as well and it was perfect. The city of Avignon was beautiful and the former Catholic Church headquarters we're really interesting. The city is a little dull at night and there are very few people around. Finding something to eat other than tourist food was not easy and was actual a fail but we did score a good kabob. The last city I would need to mention is of course
Marseille. Driving into
Marseille is a bit traumatic at times and the city is much bigger than I think most people actually realize (metro pop 2 million). It has a huge immigrant population and is definitely a good place to find a variety of food. While it used to be a really dangerous city, things have been cleaned up apparently over the years and I did not feel unsafe there. On the other hand many parts of the city we're filthy with broken beer glasses everywhere. The night we stayed there we walked out of our hotel room (near the train station and not the best of neighborhoods) and there was a rally of some sort with flags of a nation I didn't recognize and huge bonfire right in the plaza. I am surprised at the lengths cities are willing to go to try to embrace other cultures sometimes but its not such a bad thing. The city doesn't offer a whole lot of sightseeing opportunities and even the nice old man that stopped and asked us if we needed help pretty much made that fact be known. We appreciated his honesty. We mainly stayed around the waterfront.
Probably my highlight of the entire trip was the trip home. We steered completely clear of the freeway and took the coastal routes hugging the jagged cliffs along the water. It was really something else and worth the few extra hours of time it took. The water is so blue and so clear its hard to even describe. I can't even imagine how spectacular it must be in the Spring or Summer when its even more green with flowers dotting the landscape. We drive all the way to Monaco from Marseilles along the coast stopping a few times to enjoy view. The best lunch I had the whole trip was actually a subway sandwich on a small beach sitting on a rock overlooking the water (note the picture above taken by my friend John). The best Subway sandwich I've ever had. If your looking for a Paris alternative in France you have to consider the Riviera and the Bruxelles region.
The best things . . . scenery and nature, friendly people
The not so great things . . . . Expensive tolls on the freeways