Nice and Monte Carlo

It’s been a long-held dream of mine (well alright, fantasy and it has always involved watching from one of the super yachts) to go to the Monaco Grand Prix and I finally bit the bullet this year. One of our fabulous partners, BAC Sports, had an offer on for five nights in Nice and grandstand tickets to the race, so I just couldn’t pass it up.

I won’t bore you with the race details (F1 fans, get in touch and I’ll bore you directly) but this is a truly spectacular event. We met plenty of people who had little or no interest in Formula 1 but recognised it as one of those ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ trips – in my opinion it should be on everyone’s bucket list.

Not surprisingly, Saturday and Sunday were taken up with all things noisy and colourful, leaving us a couple of days left to explore our local area. We were in a 2* but comfortable hotel in a good location in Nice; very close to Place Garibaldi with its many restaurants and beautiful facades, not to mention an ideal spot for the tram and entry point to Vieux Nice.

We got our bearings in Nice by heading uphill to the Matisse Museum for a bit of culture and some fantastic views over the port and a hidden gem of gorgeous rose gardens at the Franciscan Monastery nearby. The hill is pretty steep so we had to take a couple of breathers but the architecture in this part of the city (Cimiez) harks back to the Belle Epoque, so there were plenty of beautiful buildings to gawp at en route.

Heading back down, we took in more art at the National Museum of Marc Chagall including huge and incredibly vibrant stained glass windows and enjoyed a drink in the café located in the lovely museum gardens. It’s fair to say that Nice has plenty of art, whatever you might like, so it’s ideal as a city break if you’ve done Paris and Amsterdam and are looking for an alternative.

Our last day was spent back in Monte Carlo where they were still clearing away the last of the barriers from the race. A hop-on-hop-off tour was a great way to get around as it’s all on different levels (very confusing!). We visited the Palace Princier, with an excellent audio guide, plus Prince Albert’s private car collection as part of a combined ticket – for any petrol-head this is a must-see as a lot of the F1 teams have kindly donated cars to him.

Of course, no visit to Monte Carlo would be complete without a trip to the famous and ridiculously ornate Casino – visit in the morning and you can take a fascinating self-guided audio-tour. They did say our ticket entitled us to come back and place a bet that evening but I’d left my diamonds and Leboutins at home…saving them for my return, on a super yacht, naturally.