Monte Carlo

The train to Nice left at 08.00 and went via Toulon, Cannes and Antibes on the journey which took over two hours. There was a 15 minute wait at Nice for the train to Monte Carlo which was an old, packed, two-tier TER (Train Express Regional). It arrived at Monte Carlo in Monaco at 11.15 having not stopped at the border This was another country for me to tick off.
I walked to the Casino and paid to go into the gaming salles with roulette, other games, and slot machines. It was very ornate with lots of coloured glass and windows. In the bar lounge, I had a James Bond vodka martini, "shaken, not stirred", for 25 Euro.
Outside, I found a restaurant and had a Greek salad.
The reason for the crowded train may have been that the final day of the Tour de France, the time trial, was being held on the 35km route from Monaco to the Promenade Anglais in Nice because Paris was being prepared for the Olympics. Waiting in the light drizzle, I took a photo of Mark Cavendish with the Casino in the background.
Walking down the stairs which connected the steep roads in Monte Carlo, I reached the start of the time trial, but it was so packed, I decided to cut my losses and return to the station before the crowds. I was just in time to catch a train to Nice where I had to wait an hour for the train to Marseille at 17.10 which was quite slow in arriving in Marseille at 20.30.
The weather cleared on the way home and there were some nice coastal views at Cannes and Bandol.
There was lots of graffiti on the approaches to the station as well as on the streets of Marseille and in the Metro tunnels.Read more