The sun set as we left Civitavecchia en route to Monaco, where we learned that it is impossible to have a big enough boat. For every white leather on-deck lounge, there’s another with white leather AND a hot tub, and another with white leather, a hot tub, AND a jet ski…and a helipad.  It is useless to compete! Much better to enjoy the parade.

We wandered up the stony crag on which sits the seat of government in the Principality of Monaco, where we saw the changing of the palace guard and visited the graves of Prince Rainer and Princess Grace while enjoying the stunning views down below.

In the afternoon, we boarded a bus to ride along the edge of the stony Alpine cliffs, envying those who can afford a part – time home on the French Riviera.

 

 

 

 

 

Soon, we were entering Nice, a city we immediately fell in love with, from its eggshell colored buildings with their wrought-iron balconies around the marina….

 

 

 

… to the charming gardens alongside the knitted alleyways of the old town, where a municipal parade was underway in Garibaldi Park. Garibaldi headed an all-Italian unit of the French Foreign Legion fighting against the Germans in WWI.

 

 

 

 

And we found the best glace of the trip in the square overseen by this church.

The swank hotels along the water here have been the province of movie stars and noblesse for a century  …

alongside the Boulevard des Anglais, the peaceful promenade that connected us to this beautiful country, only days before the terrorist carnage that would make the name known to all the world.

Our hearts ached.