Three Countries in One Day

Thu-Fri, March 12-13, 2026 — Nice, France

After our whirlwind tour of Paris, we were ready for a slow day, at least Jed and I were. Meg and Geraldine arranged a perfume tour and class in Eze, so were out of the apartment by 8:30. Jed, who is a fantastic artist, brought his acrylic painting supplies, and took the opportunity to do so, painting on the balcony. I, on the other hand, caught up on some emails, paid some bills, and worked on the blog. 

Artist at work!

Once again, Geraldine, had done the research and made reservations at an awesome restaurant by the port called Le Plongeoir (The Divingboard). The outdoor seating is literally built over the water. 

Le Plongeoir (The Diving Platform)


Geraldine, who is an avid Mahjong player, brought Meg a deck of cards, so she could teach us. It’s been quite fun — imagine the world’s most complicated game of Gin Rummy. In Mahjong, the goal is to pick and discard tiles until you’ve created one of a hundred or so different valid patterns. There’s wild cards and rules about whether or not you can pick up the discarded tile (card in this case). 

Mahjong !

Friday was a travel day, and, hands down, the nicest day we’ve had since wéve been here. Meg has been dying to get back to San Remo, an Italian town just across the border that we rode to the day we left Nice on our big trip ten years ago. First, though, we stopped at Ventimiglia for the Friday market. Meg got a new pair of pants!

Nice Train Station (No. 1: France)
Ventemiglia Friday Market (No. 2: Italy)

Once in San Remo, we did indeed find the hotel, restaurant and bakery we visited ten years ago! We were only in town for the night, but it had left a good impression on us. 

2016: Where we stayed 
2026
2016: Where we ate
2026
2016: end of a long day
2026


For lunch, we found a fun, bustling restaurant on by the water, Cafe Max.

The final stop was Monaco, as it’s on the way. Just so we could say we were there, we walked to the Monte Carlo Casino. I suppose I knew it existed, but it’s particularly famous for having been featured in the Bond films, Never Say Never and Golden Eye. Mostly what struck me was the sense that some of the people were there to patronize the establishment — spend the night, have dinner, or play black jack in the casino — the rest of us were just taking pictures. It was pretty clear who was who based on what you were wearing or, even better, what giant gleaming black car you were driven up in. 

Monaco skyline (No. 3: Monaco)
Monte Carlo Casino
The lobby 
Parking right in front 

Not to be outdone, once back at the apparement, we prepared some snacks and played cribbage. I’m not sure it really gets much better!



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