Today we bid a fond farewell to Nice, au revoir, and said, helló to Budapest.

Up early and since we were so efficient in our packing last night…we ended up sitting around waiting for the taxi, and waiting and…

The driver arrived and off we went. We got to the airport in no time, dropped our bags,  headed thru security and went in search of a petit dejeuner. They had Pastéis de Nata!!!

The flight to Brussels was an easy one, then a 2 hour layover and another two hour flight,  all better than the 24 hours it would have taken ya by train.

We got off the plane,  got our bags and immediately saw the ad for the City Pass, which included a shuttle to and from the airport,  which is good because we are about 40 minutes from the airport. We sat next to a lovely woman from England  who comes to Budapest every year and have us some great pointers.

This is an amazingly beautiful part of Budapest, technically we’re in Buda. Omg at the church right across from the hotel,  I can’t even begin to tell you!

And the room, oh my word! It’s the biggest room we’ve had! We could have a party!

We found a lovely lite place for dinner,  lots of different nationalities, we are in the touristy area.

Let me tell you one thing…Hungarian is not an easy language and I’ve had it pretty good so far,  I’m going to do my best here,  luckily it’s only for two more days!  PSM is doing great!  We made the waiter laugh with our efforts and he appreciated it. All you need to do is try!

szép álmokat!

What a day!  Breakfast in Nice and dinner in Monaco, who does that?

No alarms again,  but in case you were wondering if my “personality” hurt from my spill last night, let’s just say I didn’t sleep much.  Every time I moved or rolled on to my side….ouch. So, I got up a little early, closed the blinds and let PSM sleep a little longer.

We got up liesurely, got ready and headed out to get some breakfast.  Our original plan was to get some sandwiches and sit on the beach. We headed across a square,  saw the circus coming in or going out, then a flea market,  no fleas, just lots of stuff people were selling, flatware, art,  clothes,  toys,  jewelry. This was not your average flea market, but it was fun to look.

Then we made it to the beach,  no sandwiches. It was wonderful to sit and look and feel.  Today it was a bit colder,  eventually,  I regretted my choice of attire in a skirt and shirt sleeves,  even the sweater didn’t help some times,  that got fixed later.

We ended up at a cafe for the full American/English breakfast. Pastries, fruit, juice, eggs, bacon  (minus the bacon for me, it’s ended up with three eggs) and coffee or tea. The only issue…they were Sunnyside up!  Anyone who’s had breakfast with me knows I do not like soft eggs at all!  Cooked firm,  all the way,  but…I ate them, yes I did! It wasn’t horrible,  but I’m not doing it again!

Now it was time for an adventure!  The Musee Marc Chagall, a 30 minute walk…up hill most of it,  but we got there and…closed got renovations, what! Trip Advisor knew,  but we didn’t.  Oh well, Musee Matisse was only another 20 minute walk…uphill. let’s just say,  my glutes are loving me,  not!

A beautiful building and a lovely collection,  you’ll just have to imagine it,  no photos.

We decided to go see Notre-Dame de Nice and have some lunch, but we wanted to get there sooner than later, so bus it was.  A very nice woman told us which bus, the one she was waiting for and which stop to get off, hers. She even confirmed with the driver for us,  how nice!

The church was beautiful, I lit some candles for some friends, as I’ve done in a lot of the cathedrals we’ve been in.

Then it was off in search of lunch.  Little hole in the wall place for chicken kebabs and a veggie sandwich for me. The woman gave me a really nice compliment, that I was speaking French very well, thank you Monsieur B et Madame E!

After lunch,  back to the hotel to change into warmer clothes, regroup and then head to…Monaco/Monte Carlo! Look out James Bond!

It was about 20 minutes by train and 3.40 euros a ticket, round trip. Just lovely.

We walked around,  found the shore,  then the Hotel de Paris and the Monte Carlo Casino and all the expensive cars,  including the Lamborghini of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Royal 1.

Someone…not me…got to go into the casino and look around and maybe play a little,  too bad you couldn’t take pictures!

We thought about dinner in Monaco,  but when a Long Island Iced Tea and bottle of Evian costs 30 euros, you kind of wonder.

Back to Nice on the train and a lot of places were closed,  I guess they roll up the sidewalks in the evening off season.  So…back to the same wonderful hole in the wall pizza joint for another wonderful pizza and beer and as the owner was flipping channels…last Thursday’s Patriots vs. Dolphins game,  guess who was happy!  Fun with the commentary in French and no commercials. All in all,  a good dinner.

Back to the hotel to talk to you and get ready for the next adventure!

de beaux rêves!

Aujourd’hui, today,  we said “au revoir Marseille, voici venir humide Nice!” Goodbye to Marseille, here we come Nice!

The alarm was set for 7am, guess who couldn’t sleep at 5am. And guess who else preferred to take the 9am train instead of the 7am. Hmmm…if you guessed PSM, you would be wrong!

We had packed the night before,  set everything up so we would be ready to go by 8/8:15. We were out the door by 7:30, we are just that good! 

We got to the train station and found a place for petit dejeuner. I asked for a plate and some butter and ended up with an extra plate with bread, butter and jam, c’est la vie…

We got on the train, found our seats and settled in for the 3.5 hour trip,  it was lovely. We looked out the window, finished watching season two of Blacklist and then we were there. Merveilleux!

We got off the train, got two city passes,  hoping they are worth it,  as always,  then headed to the hotel, dropped the bags since check in isn’t until 2pm and ventured out into the city of Nice.

We headed towards the beach! Oh my word but this is spectacular!!! I might never leave!  The beach is interesting, I didn’t know it would be all rocks, I should say smooth, round stones, still not the easiest on the bare feet. We sat there enjoying the sun and the sounds and sights of the surf, so relaxing and rejuvenating.

After a while we went in search of food.  After striking out on the main drag, this is Nice, expensive for lunch and not a lot of choices for me, it’s Europe. We decided to head down a side street and found VIP, a decent little grill offering some price fixed meals,  not bad deals considering.

For 19.50e you get a starter,  main course and dessert. So,  that’s what we did.  PSM ordered Salad Nicoise, muscles and creme brule. I had minestrone, pasta primavera and apple tartin. I have to say,  the food was pretty good and we were stuffed when we were done!

Now to walk,  walk,  walk off dejeuner, lunch. We walked through a garden,  which opened to a park with a plaza, fountains,  dancing fountains, fabulous structures for kids to play on and a boatload of people!

We walked to the end of the park, marveling at everything, finally ending up at Musee d’Art Modern et des Art Contemporarie.

Let’s just say, that’s what we found was definitely modern and contemporary, I liked it! It made me think of my dad while I liked at a lot of the pieces and the way we talk about what we’re seeing. PSM made me laugh like my dad when he was sitting in front of a window with a white curtain in the passage way between rooms, contemplating the lack of imagery,  it was funny.

The last thing was the roof to see a spectacular view of the city.

From the roof we had seen a sculpture garden so we tried to get in, but to no avail, all the gates were closed, oh well.

We walked a few blocks, got on the tram,  two trams in two different countries, we’re styling now! Headed back towards the hotel, got off, ended up on a lovely and crowded street and tried to find a table at Haggen Das, but it was crowded! They serve grown up drinks there.

We tried the next place,  PSM had two bad drinks I had tea while I called my dad to say bonjour! (One thing I’m looking forward to when we get back is talking to him again every day)

Now to the hotel, seven hours later…we got our bags and took the elevator! to the second floor,  ah…got into our room, very nice, with a nice little terrace. PSM had a seat on the terrace,  I took my shoes off to go out there and join him and realized my mistake too late…socks on marble don’t mix!

Yes folks, I fell on my personality and I fell hard! Left cheek on the medal trim, ouch. PSM was kind enough to help me onto the bed and to get me some ice. I laid there for a while nursing my wound, wondering if I would be able to sleep in my left side.  I’m so glad this happened days before we fly home!

After a bit,  we ventured out for food, both surprised that we were hungry at all after that lunch! We were going to head into the old city when we smelled the most wonderful aroma…the little hole in the wall pizza place next to the hotel, Pizzaria le Pointu.

We order a veggie pizza, they were out of eggplant, I can never seen to remember the French word for eggplant when I see it,  aubergine, so I added chevre, goat cheese. I’m telling you people, all bets were off this trip!

I got a bottle of water,  PSM tried a new amber beer, in a black bottle, called Licorne Black, loved it! There have only been two places that had good beer, according to him,  the Cat Bar in Barcelona and this place.

The pizza arrived and it smelled and looked wonderful and let me tell you, one of the best meals we’ve had on this trip. We’ve had some good food,  but this was simple and fabulous and inexpensive, a perfect combination!

Back to the hotel to put on jammies and relax and talk about tomorrow.  This was odd..in before midnight!

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow holds!

Bonne nuit!

Are you tired? I’m beat!

The day started simply enough,  no alarm,  wahoo. Liesurely getting ready, out the door,  then…go!

First stop, Gare de Sant-Charles, to pick up tickets for the Eurorail to…wait for it…[need to use different voices when you read this] Nice! Nice… Yup, tomorrow, we go to Nice, a place by the seaside, c’est marvelous!

After the train station, we headed to our new favorite haunt, Vieux Pont and wandered around for a bit, looking for the square PSM had seen last night and wanted to check out and we did. Then on to a square we passed that had tables outside and in the sun, it’s chilly in the mornings. I know, I know, it’s not east coast cold here like you’ve got back home, but there’s a slight nip in the air.

Speaking of that…people are so conditioned for the warm weather that when it hits in the 60’s, the parkas come out! Mon dieu! We find a nice spot for a coffee and tea, apparently they were out of croissants, huh? How do you run out of croissants? This is France!

We were heading to the place where I got the crepe yesterday and stopped at an open artists market and went to town, I want to be the people we’re bringing gifts to!

After our shopping spree, on to the creperie for some brunch. Let me tell you, when I hit Europe, I said to hell with it, I don’t care about my gastronomic issues, I’m eating what I want and it’s been awful and wonderful, all at the same time. Let me explain…

Remember, I’m lactose intolerant…my crepe had egg, spinache, gruyere and chevre, goat cheese, for those of you not in the know. oh my, but it was good! Sigh…And big enough that it should take us to about 4pm, after our walking tour, perfect.

We were looking to kill some time, what better way than a fort! We walked back down the waterfront to Fort Saint-Jean, which was attached to the MuCEM, Museum for Civilization of Europe and the Medeterranian. http://www.mucem.org/en/mucem/one-museum-three-sites/fort-saint-jean

The fort was a military base that protected Marseille, it now represents a meeting point between the city and the museum, between history and its contemporary setting. This is truly an impressive structure, the artchitecture is stunning and the foot bridges and ramps are very art deco, I liked it!

The first exhibit we saw was Divine Migration. Showing how humanity has grown as well as the progression of religion, quite interesting.

By now, it was time to head to our walking tour, so away we went, back to the tourism office to meet our guide and fellow walkers. Our guide was Christelle, who is French and did the tour in both English, for the four of us who spoke English and French for the other 15 or so guests.

She was informative and delightful, but there were times that she spoke at length in French and then what we got what didn’t seem to be nearly all the details the French guests were getting. One of the cool things that happened was that I was able to udnerstand part of what she was saying in French, it was cool!

One of the places we stopped was at the Interncontinental Hotel, which is the very overpriced or at least very expensive hotel, that we stopped in last night for a drink. It turns out that it used to be a hotel! It eventually went into disrepair and in bad shape and about ten years ago, the city decided to shut it down and eventually, the Interncontinetal group puchased and renovated it, stunning!

We made a stop in a square that is more typical of Marseille, away from the crowds, quiet and charming.

We stopped in the Hospice de la Charite, which was built to house and lock up the poor and the homeless beggers, nice. Now it is used as a museum space, of course!

There were a few more points on the tour and we ended in a small square with tables,  drinks at one place, sweets at another,  oh well,  we would like them together please.

We went in search of the Marseille Cathedral, (Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille), kind of hard to miss though. And sitting right on the water.  Can I just say,  wow!

The city is quite walkable and you can get to the majorority of key sites easily. We came out of the cathedral to look across the way at the Fort Saint-Jean,  which we had not toured yet.

We went into several of the exhibitions housed in the newer structure, first had a bite of something mostly edible…museum cafeteria food.

Next, it was time to tour the fort itself,  what a view!  We really understood how the city would not be taken as long as the fort stood watch. And…you have Notre-Dame de la Garde across the water,  how could you lose!

Now, we went looking for the gates to the city, at the end of one street,  not sure where the gates were,  maybe taken out for renovation,  hmmm…we just didn’t see them, but…it did bring us back to the main intersection of Vieux Port and…the ferris wheel!

Along the lines of the giant ferris wheels popping up all over the country. Did I go? You betcha!  Did PSM? Not on your life! 

I must admit,  I had weak kneed moments up there, but it was worth it for the view.  It did remind me of when my mom took me on the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island when I was a kid.  I have distinct memories of hiding under the bench crying “mommy,  make it stop!” A few times around and it was over.

Now for some grub, bub! We went in search of a vegetarian place that I found on Happy Cow, have I told you about this app? Is fantastic!  It gives you vegetarian, vegan, veg-friendly, meaning you will have vegetarian options and stores, you can find almost any nationality.

It gives you location, description, directions, customer reviews, hours and $$. This place was the only one open and now a completely vegetarian restaurant.

It took a hike to get there, uphill, I think we found the less prosperous area of Marseille on the way. It was noisy and crowded and more graffiti, and not the good kind, and a lot more trash.

We finally found it!  Le Quarter des Createur, and it was! Eclectic, loud in spots, but fabulous! We went in to Le Cours en Vert and I had one of THE BEST veggie burgers EVER! The reviewer said it and the owner said it,  it was true! Yum!

While we were there, trick-or-treaters came in,  Halloween doesn’t seem to be on the same scale as the States, but it’s there.

And…there was a family with four small children and at some point,  the owner came out with two desserts with candles in it and we all sang joyeux anniversaire to a set of twins! Cool,  huh!

After dinner, something sweet, crumbles aux apple, I haven’t had apples in a while, like I said,  all bets were off on this trip!

Back to the hotel to pack and get ready for tomorrow. Can’t wait! And I can’t wait to tell you about it!

De beaux reves.

And…un très joyeux anniversaire à mon cher doux ami, à partir de marseille, beaucoup amour, KS!!

So…we didn’t get very far on the train…

We were on the train and neither of us heard the stop,  the announcements were not loud enough or clear enough and…in Portuguese, and…we’re both used to a conductor, or someone announcing the stops. Oh well…we ended up back in Lisbon for the night.

The room?  Well, it was inexpensive…we actually got upgraded because he had just sold the last room.  Our upgrade now could sleep four. Two,  sort of in the tiny four poster bed and two singles. Then there was the metal black out curtain and it went in from there,  but we had a private bathroom and it was clean.

We got up,  packed,  headed to the Avis counter at the airport, got a car and headed to España. Oh…I have missed a standard transmission! It’s a hybrid so when you put it in neutral and take your foot off the clutch, it appears to die and when you put your foot back on the clutch, it starts up again,  odd.

We are on the road,  it is a beautiful drive,  the Portuguese countryside is charming and we get to Sevilla in about 4/4.5 hours, stopping for potty breaks.

The rest stops in Portugal are really nice. Pastries, wine, cheeses, nice souvenirs,  pleasant.

We get to Sevilla and find our hotel down some narrow streets,  now I know why we don’t really need a car here.  We get settled in to our rim,  two double beds,  shared WC, meaning, it’s not in the room, a noisy A/C, on the top floor. 

When I say top floor,  I’m not kidding, you go to the second floor and then when you can’t find your room number, go up to the roof/terrace and around the corner and there you are! I do like the way they have decorated the walls and the building is built around a center “courtyard”, charming.

Let’s get a charge on the devices and ourselves for a few minutes,  regroup and headed out into Sevilla. I think it’s time for some grub, bub.

We walked around exploring, taking it in and looking for food.  The first veg friendly place we can’t find so we go onto the first place that is serving,  most places don’t start serving until 830 and it was only 730.

The place we went was ok,  it could have been what we ordered,  but there is always the next place. We ordered foods and drink and took it all in.

Sevilla is beautiful,  I understand why so many operas were based here! The place was alive with activity while we were walking,  kids playing,  people walking and talking, enjoying themselves,  even a movie being shot.

After a few drinks and tapas, we walked in search of me drink and food,  why not!  It’s Friday night in España!

So many people enjoying the night, so few spots to sit and drink and eat, but we found one! 

The area we found felt like the center of everything, but when we started walking again,  activity and energy in every nook and cranny!

We decided to take the car back tonight so we wouldn’t have to get up early and do it, hopped in a taxi and headed back to the hotel.  Highway robbery! I know there is an airport pick up charge, but 24.55? The entire trip was only 5 euros, but with the pick up charge,  ridiculous!

We got back near the hotel,  walked around a bit, climbed the tower to our room and talked about tomorrow.

Now we just need to say gracias instead of obrigado!  It’s a challenge!

Buenas noches!