As many of you know, my sister Shannon also did a Europe tour after she finished university, a mere 15 years ago. Shannon has made a couple suggestions for things to do on my trip, but her one demand was that I go to Nice and make a day trip to Monaco to check out the yachts. She insisted that I would not be disappointed. The trip has now been made and, let me tell you, Shannon was right! The size and quantity of sweet ass yachts was incredible! The average size of the yachts in the one harbour was more than double the biggest yachts we see on Simcoe…and those bad boys on Simcoe are pretty large themselves! Interestingly enough, the largest private yacht that I saw was in the Nice harbour. It was called the Sarafsa and it's over 175 feet long! According to some guys working on it, there’s a year-round crew of 25 people and the boat’s worth well over 100 million euro. Its hometown is Georgetown, Cayman Islands. Imagine the fuel bill from there to Monaco??
Nice was a nice city to visit. The weather was awesome…sunny and around 12 degrees – quite the change from 3 feet of snow in the Swiss Alps! The French transit workers decided to have a little 36-hour strike when I was planning on leaving, so I ended up staying in Nice 2 days longer than planned. But all was good, I used the time to walk around and soak up more of the local culture. There was actually a really large rally with what had to be tens of thousands of people. I was walking by it in the opposite direction when suddenly a van passed playing a song that captured the moment perfectly: “It’s my life, and it’s now or never…!” Most of you probably know the song. I enjoyed that moment so much that I joined in the rally and followed the van for a little while.
Back at the hostel that night, I had quite a few interesting conversations with other travelers – many Canadians and Australians were there doing a similar Europe tour as me – and most of them were also traveling alone. Talking to other travelers from around the world has definitely been my favourite part of the whole travel experience. Enjoy the yachts!
The main Monaco harbour viewed from the castle.
My day trip companions. 2 Auzzie cousins & 1 American studying abroad.
The castle overlooking the Monaco harbour.
The second harbour on the other side of the castle.
The Monte Carlo Casino.
Lunch time. Surprisingly reasonable price considering the 120 foot yachts in the background and Lamborghini's and Porsche's driving around.
Talking with Shannon from the same habour she was at 15 years ago. Really cool moment to have an international cell phone.
Who does this valet think he is sitting on my car?
The Sarafsa private yacht!
I found this large sailboat much more impressive than the Sarafsa because the sailboat actually has the ability to power itself around the world!
Still, nice to use a car to put the size into perspective!
View from Eze Village garden lookout. Had to pay a few euro to get in here but it was fantastic!
Back at a beach in Nice. Walked into the ocean with bare feet but didn't quite make it swimming.
I thought the streetcars driving through grass was cool.
Yes, the hair is getting long...I'm competing with papa big frow.
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