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The Riviera continues
Nice, France - Wednesday, June 2 John: Listen to this - (LOUD RUMBLING NOISE) - Nice, the town (not the adjective) is very noisy. Street noise, motorcycles... right there is a bulldozer down on the beach in front of us pushing rocks in all directions. This beach stinks. Wouldn't you say so, Dick? Dick: Yes. It doesn't actually smell... but it's entirely composed of rocks. No, sand at all. It looks quite lumpy. John: I don't think I would like to wander down there at all. Especially barefoot. All beaches along the Riviera are rocky unless they've imported their sand in... like Cannes, they say their sand came from Africa.
Dick: It's starting to rain.
We're
staying again at a hotel, down here in Nice. I was jarred awake by some
banging outside the window. It turned out there were these two
painters outside working on some scaffolding. We tried to make some conversation
with them but it does get a bit frustrating getting any content out of the
discussion. They were friendly though and didn't seem to mind the break or
posing for pictures. We went wandering for a few hours... up and down the streets. A lot of atmosphere here... narrow atmospheric alleys and palm trees. Up one street, we came across some sort of Russian church. It seemed very out of place. As we fade out to the subtle noise of Nice in the background... (NOISE).
* * * * Monte Carlo, Monaco - Thursday, June 3 John: Well, we're here in Monte Carlo. It's actually
just like a town in France but since it's a -
new word - "Principality" - it's not in France. It's
Monte Carlo sounds so glamorous. And I suppose there are some glamorous
people here. They apparently hang around the casino we just came out of, although I didn't see any jetsetters inside.
Maybe they only come out when the
moon is full since it's mid-day. So Dick, we split up
Dick: I lost terribly. I lost all 100 francs I brought. John: Really. What were you playing? Dick: What was I playing? The slot machines. John: The three bar machine or the four? Dick: Oh... I switched around to a number of different machines and had no luck at any of them. It's totally against my ethics, as I mentioned earlier to you, to put money in machines like that so... I feel like I really blew it. 100 francs in one afternoon. John: Well, I also lost 100 francs but I was on a hot streak for a while there. I was actually up two rolls, about 100 francs, at one time. It just kept coming out, coming out... but then I got greedy and switched to those big five franc coins. They went instantly in Blackjack. Also, the machines were in French, what's with that? Dick: But you did break the slot machine though. John: That's right, in the middle of the big payoff the machine stopped. I don't think I got all my money out of that one. But, I couldn't understand enough French to understand the machine's message. It turned off before it reached the 90 francs I think it was supposed to give me. The attendant didn't want to bother with me either. I think that was a ripoff... I think. Well, we're contemplating our winnings and losings as we sit out in the back of the casino overlooking the Mediterranean. Eating chocolate with a knife because its hot and melting. Menton, France
Dick: Yes! I'd really prefer eating that good Italian food. John: Yeah, that might be better for your vegetarian ways. All that pasta. Dick: I just have to make sure that I know the correct words to say "without meat". John: Well, I'll look it up for you in my little Italian phrase book here. I'm looking forward to using my Italian. I've been studying it since four months before the trip. I got this pre-book, "Learn Italian in Five Minutes a Day". Inside were little stickers with Italian names that you paste on every day objects. So when you see them, you see the sticker and the Italian name. See there's the "bicicletta" upon which I ride. See the sticker, it's still on there. Dick: You did well with your French. John: Yeah, no one spit me in the eye. But these French guys aren't friendly. They don't smile. Did you notice that. Dick: Yeah, they didn't seem to appreciate the effort we were making to be friendly. John: "Sanza Carne". That's without meat, Signori. Dick: "Sanza Carne". John: Yeah, you'll be set with that phrase. (THUNDERING NOISE) Oh no! See that? A train! I didn't know that. The tracks are maybe 20 feet from us. A train just scooted by. Damn, I suspect we're going to be awakened several times tonight. Well, our upcoming route plan is to hug the Italian coast and then cut across the north of the country heading towards Venice. That will follow the central Po River Valley. The Po, according to this map crosses... it goes all the way to Venice. Dick: Good. Rivers are flat. You said Menton is three kilometers away, right?
Dick had two flats today. Actually one, then he over-pumped the replacement and, it exploded completely. You stormed off after that down the rocky beach examining the damage. So, tomorrow we'll be in Italy... (THUNDERING NOISE) ...Listen to this. It's like one minute later, that's a train going the other way. This campground, really... there are people piled one on top of another. It's like... it's just a terrible campground. Any comments, Dick? Dick: If another train comes by in the middle of the night, we'll have to pick up our things and go to the "Rue de Mer" or whatever that other campground is across the street. John: On the good side of the tracks. "La Fleur de Mai", you mean. We're set if anyone else can squeeze in here... and here comes somebody right now. Dick: Looks like our neighbors. John: Yes, and they've got a station wagon and a "petite" tent, just like we do. Good luck to you, pal. Hope you like trains.
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