City break Nice and Monaco

Majestic buildings in pastel colors on the Côte d'Azur

Fashionable Nice and the Côte d'Azur have been attracting tourists for two centuries already. The city, especially the Promenade des Anglais, has innumerable majestic buildings in pastel colors. But in the old city (Vieille Ville) you will also find narrow alleys and squares, like the Cours Saleya with its famous flower market. Nice is also France's carnival city. And at a short distance, there is Monaco to visit.

The flight to Airport Nice Côte d'Azur, only takes an hour and 50 minutes from Amsterdam. After picking up our luggage we take a bus which takes us directly to the city center of Nice. It takes the Promenade des Anglais, Nice's 7 km long avenue, which connects the city with the airport.

Joggers, skaters and walkers parade on the avenue, which is seperated from the azure-blue Mediterranean only by a pebble beach. The avenue is planted with pretty palm trees. Rich English people settled in Nice and surroundings from the beginning of the nineteenth century

In 1820 the English "snowbirds" started the construction of this avenue, which explains the name Promenade des Anglais.

On the other side of the avenue are stores, cafés, restaurants, tall stately buildings and monumental villas from the Belle Époque, the period of prosperity in the decades before the first world war.

Not only rich Brits, but also many artists moved to the Côte d'Azur in the 19^th and 20^th centuries because of the pleasant and sunny climate. Majestic buildings and poche hotels were built, like the Négresco hotel.

Our hotel is near the Négresco. We immediately recognize it from pictures in the brochure. It's a white building with a shocking-pink dome, built in 1912 by Henri Négresco. The hotel is on the list of French national landmarks since 2003.

We drop off our luggage in the hotel and immediately begin exploring the Promenade des Anglais.

There are lots of restaurants, brasseries, crêperies and other places to have food, but they are very expensive.

Carnavalesque Illuminé

In the evening a parade of light goes through the streets

Nice is the carnival city of France and carnival is celebrated exuberantly here for two weeks. Tonight at 9 PM the first light parade wil take place. The stands are already filling up. The seats cost 25 euro tonight. "Standing is free," the woman who sells tickets says with a straight face.

We find a spot amidst the crowds on the Promenade des Anglais. The sound system blares carnival songs. Even before the parade begins, we are already covered with confetti and streamers. Not just kids, but even adults throw confetti at you, or spray sticky streamers from spray cans. It doesn't matter if they know you or not, everyone's a target. Initially we laugh, but after a while it gets annoying.

After a while the beginning of the festivities is announced. Large groups of youngsters dressed in rainwear warm up the audience with dance. Their faces are turned toward the grandstand. There are literally no seats left, despite the expensive tickets.

This year's theme is "Roi de la Très Grande Mêlée". This refers to the big events in France this year, namely the Presidential elections and the world championship rugby (football).

The "king" of the parade is a gigantic dummy wwhich represents a caricature of President Chirac as a rugby player. It's a stunning parade. We also see caricatures of candidates for the presidency and cheerleaders who will support the rugby team during the games.

But there also is a colorful Eiffel Tower and a large salad of different kinds of fruit and vegetables, representing the diversity of the population.

Train Touristique

The highlights of the city in less than an hour

The next morning, after breakfast, we walk to the Promenade des Anglais again. We see two tourist trains and this spot happens to be their last stop as well. We decide to get on board. Including a stop, the ride takes 50 minutes.

The train passes the park Jardin Albert I, Vieille Ville (the old city center), Marché aux Fleurs (the flower market), Park Colline du Château (Castle Hill Park) and back to the Promenade des Anglais.

The Albert I City Park was constructed in the nineteenth century and during carnival it has all kinds of entertainment. There are floats and there is a fair with a Ferris wheel. The park also has a beautiful fountain and benches.

The information tape on the train announces that we are now in the old city center of Nice, Vieille Ville. The old city is only a small part of Nice and has narrow streets and alleys with tall, colorful buildings, mostly ochre-yellow and salmon, with blinds and French balconies, dating from the 17^th and 18^th centuries. It looks somewhat Italian.

During our ride we see lots of 17^th and 18^th centuries churches in Baroque style, recognizable by pastel colors and whimsical shapes. We also see the Theatre Municipal.

We pass the flower market on the Cours Saleya, which we will visit later.

Then we drive up a hill to the Colline du Château park, "le Château" (the Castle) for short. On this hill sat a castle which was destroyed in the eighteenth century. We pass a pretty waterfall and Roman ruins. It's a pity we don't stop here.

But ten minutes later we stop at the top of the hill. On one side we have a great view of the Baie des Anges, Nice's Angel Bay. On the other side are the Alpes Maritimes, the foothills of the Alps on the border of France and Italy.

After this tour it's still a while before the carnaval parade begins, so we walk back to the Vieille Ville.

We stroll through the maze of pedestrian alleys and visit store after store to find souvenirs. The place has an Italian atmosphere.

Corso Carnavalesque

Large caricatural dummies and decorated floats

The Carnival Parade begins at 2:30 PM. The carnival in Nice has three different attractions, which take place several times during these two weeks.

In the first place there's the Corso Carnavalesque, a parade of decorated floats, dressed-up extras and dummies. Then there is the Bataille de Fleurs, a parade with floats decorated with flowers. And last but not least, there's the Carnavalesque Illuminé, the night parade with lights that we saw yesterday night.

This afternoon, it's Corso Carnavalesque. The grandstand is sold out again. We find a spot opposite the Meridien Hotel and Casino Ruhl. We should have got a spraycan with streamers. We use an umbrella to protect us a little from the sticky streamers.

One after another caricature dummy and beautifully decorated float passes. According to the information brochure, there are nineteen groups, but it seems a lot more. Each group has a theme that sympolizes a (future) event in France or Nice.

Princedom Monaco

Along beautiful bays to the tax haven

After breakfast we walk to the Gare Routière to take the bus to Monaco. We're not the only ones waiting for the bus to Menton. There is a long line ahead of us, but a bus #100 to Menton leaves every ten minutes. The ticket (single fare) is only 1.30 euro.

As soon as the bus is full we leave. We drive along the Nice port and then up a little hill, where we have an incredible view of Nice.

There are three coastal roads between Nice and Menton, called Les Corniches. We are on the Corniche Inférieure. It is indescribably beautiful. We pass the mountain villages of Villefranche, Beaulieu sur Mer, Eze and Cap d'Ail on our way to the miniature state of Monaco.

We drive on a winding road along the azure-blue sea with beautiful bays, the marinas of the French Rivièra and tunnels like the one of Cap Estel. We pass dozens of good spots to take pictures.

The bus ride to Monaco Ville takes approximately 45 minutes. We ask the driver to call us as soon as we arrive in Monaco Ville. The driver says "oui," but actually means "non". He is involved in his own Formula 1 racing, cutting bends and busying himself with all kinds of other things while he's driving.

Fortunately we took an information brochure from the hotel, which has a map of Monaco and a list of all bus lines there. We get off the bus at Place des Moulins, walk back a little bit and take bus #1 to Monaco Ville. We get off at the last stop of the red bus line and take a walk in the narrow pedestrian alleys of the old town center.

The miniature state of Monace is internationally famous as a fashionable beach resort and tax haven with many casinos. It's home to the high society and has the annual Grand Prix Formula 1 races. Because Monaco has such a huge revenue from gambling, its citizens don't have to pay taxes.

We stroll without a plan through the old alleys of Monaco Ville and happen to arrive at the square in front of the Palais Princier (the Palace of the Prince).

It is the seat of the Monaco government, Albert II, since 2005 ruling monarch of Monaco. Prince Albert II is the oldest and only son of Prince Rainier III and Grace Kelly.

The Palais Princier has been the official residence of the Prince of Monaco since 1297. It is a symbol of the principality of the Grimaldi, the royal family that rules Monaco. At the moment it's being renovated.

We missed the changing of the guards, which takes place at 11:55 AM.

Near the Palais Princier is Monaco's cathedral. On the spot of the current cathedral once stood a thirteenth century church, dedicated to Saint Nicholas. Which explains the name Cathédrale Saint-Nicolas. The cathedral houses the tombs of the former princes of Monaco, among whom Prince Rainier and Grace Kelley.

The principality of Monaca has three parts: Monaco Ville, the old city; the fashionable Monte Carlo and La Condamine, a resort with shops and marinas. Near the palace in Monaco Ville we have a great view of the built-up tax haven and the marina Port de Fontvieille.

We stroll back to the town center to get something to eat. The old city is actually a colorful collection of restaurants and souvenir shops. Pizza everywhere, but we choose a crêperie where we have crappy crêpes.

It's late in the afternoon and we save the Musée Océanographique, Jardin Exotique and the casino for the next visit.

We take bus #1 to Saint-Roman and on the way transfer to bus #100 to Nice. The ride itself is like a sight-seeing tour of Monaco Ville and Monte-Carlo.

Near the bus stop Eglise Saint-Charles we see pretty fountains with in the background the casino of Monte-Carlo, which was built in 1878.

It's rather crowded on the bus to Nice, but we find to seats in the back. On the way, many high-school students get on and off the bus. Apparently there recently was a flower parade in the village of Villefranche-sur-Mer.

The trip back takes longer than than the trip to Monaco, around one and a half hours, because of the traffic jam on the Corniche.

Vieille Ville - Cours Saleya

Alleys, squares with outdoor cafés and the flower market

We check out after breakfast, but leave our luggage in the hotel. We pass the caricature of President Chirac on the Promenade des Anglais for the last time and cross the Jardin Albert I.

We wander through de narrow alleys of the old city, with their colorful buildings to the Cours Saleya, a square. There is a market here every day (except for Mondays) with fish, flowers and produce from the Provençe. It's crowded and the outdoor cafés are packed. The flower market has purple tulips and yellow mimosa.

There are also stalls with fruit, vegetables and other food products. On Mondays there is a flee and antiques market here.

Cours Saleya is, with the Promenade des Anglais, the place to watch people and to be seen. In the evening the market is replaced by outdoor seating for the many restaurants on this square.

It's nice to take a stroll on the market. We have to wait for seating in an outdoor café. Prices are sky-high, but hey, it's our last day here and the sun is shining. It's a great place to sit in the sun. People are enjoying life here. Nice is definitely nice.

And then it's time to leave. We take a little detour along the colorful buildings in the old city center to our hotel to fetch our luggage. We take the bus to Airport Nice Côte d'Azur and enjoy the ride on the sunny Promenade des Anglais.

Nice is a beautiful beach resort on the Côte d'Azur and a great operating base for trips to Cannes, Monaco and Menton. We haven't seen everything by far. A long weekend is too short. We will definitely return and then we'll also visit the Henri Matisse Museum.

City break London

A city walk along Regent's Canal

A city walk along Regent's Canal, starting at Limehouse Basin in the Docklands via Victoria Park, Hackney, Islington and Camden Town to Little Venice. A 14 km long towpath takes you along bridges, locks, old gas plants and other industrial landmarks. London's former trade artery no longer carries the traditional narrowboats with cargo: nowadays it's tourists. But it still is an oasis of peace and quiet within the metropolis.

Travelogue & photos: Kees van Tol

London is worth a visit in the first place because it is a modern, dynamic metropolis. But because I also love quiet, nature and "industrial archeology", I like to take walks along Regent's Canal as well.

Walking along the water, I enjoy the views of old gas plants, which stand out beautifully against the London skies, the fronts and backs of atmospheric mansions, gardens by the water and even construction sites.

A walk along Regent's Canal is a special experience: you are in the metropolis and at the same time you're not. Numerous bridges and viaduducts take you back into the bustle of the city, but you can also stay here and continue strolling by the murmuring water.

You pass small and large parks (Regent's Park with the London Zoo and extremely quiet Victoria Park), highrises, modern architecture, centuries-old locks and many old, stone bridges with busy traffic under which you pass.

It's possible to walk the whole route, nine miles/fourteen kilometers, along Regent's Canal in a day. But it's also fun to just start at any point and walk as long as you like. Public transportation is never far away. Don't forget to take a break on a bench by the water to enjoy the quiet and the view.

It's impossible to get lost. Only near Islington it gets tricky for a short while, but with a guidebook with city plan it can't be hard to find the canal again. If not, ask one of those friendly Londoners for directions.

Docklands

The old harbor now is a trendy neighborhood

The historic beginning of Regent's Canal is in Regent's Park. Ground was broken there in 1812 to connect the Thames via the Paddington branch of the Grand Union Canal with the rest of the English system of canals.

I start my walk at the other end: Limehouse Basin at the Docklands in East London. From here the canal runs north-west with a wide bend around Central London. It passes the tourist attraction Camden Town, known for its lively fleemarket, where time seems to have stood still since the 1960s and '70s, and ends in Regent's Park.

The Docklands is a former harbor district, with a whopping 21 km² surface. In its heyday some 100,000 people worked here. In the 1980s it was transformed into a trendy neighborhood with expensive apartments and super-modern office towers. The new financial center Canary Wharf (built on the former West-Indian Docks) is its prime location.

The canal was completed on August 1, 1820 at the Regent's Canal Dock, as Limehouse Basin was called then. In this harbor on the Thames all cargo was transferred from sea ships to smaller boats that were suited to sail the canal.

They were the characteristic narrowboats, designed especially to navigate the narrow (because dug by hand) English canals. The boats are not wider than 2.10 meters, making it possible to pass one another on the canals, but up to 22 meters long, which made them fit - just - in the locks.

The by the London Docklands Development Corporation redeveloped Limehouse Basin hardly reminds of the harsh circumstances in which sailors and dockworkers had to work. The scene is dominated nowadays by huge office towers. The many yachts docked in the Limehouse Basin serve the recreational needs of rich Londoners.

Walking along the canal you can still see many colorful narrowboats or canalboats, now mostly used as houseboats, but also as tourboats. They are either replicas of, or original freighters. Some are neglected, others are shining jewels, evidence of their owners' love for them.

Sailing on Regent's Canal they have to pass through locks every now and then. The two-centuries-old system of locks still works. The skippers open and close the locks themselves, manually, and their ships rise or fall with the water level, depending which way they are going.

At the Limehouse Basin is the first lock, Limehouse Lock, but this one is for boats that go to and come from Limehouse Cut. The twelfth and numerically last lock in Regent's Canal is a little bit farther: Commercial Road Lock.

Victoria Park

On summer days the park is a green beach

It is said, and also written, that the part of the Thames up to Victoria Park is the least attractive. It has some industry, rather uninspiring new buildings, but also lots of greenery. It's a special experience, this much quiet in a metropolis.

Between the canal and the green space sits an at least century-old industrial red-brick chimney. Just like that, all alone. A little farther, to the right, out of view, is the estuary of the Lea River, which will be the backdrop for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

There are billboards with information along the canal, which tell you how many bridges there still are to go to the final destination.

In this part of the canal many bridges wear a strange sign that exhorts witnesses of collisions by boats or cars to call the phone number of the British Railways and tell them a crash took place at bridge #591.

Immediately after that, you have to call the police. I have no idea how the numbering works, because there are "only" around sixty bridges over the canal.

Another strange sign tells us that you have arrived at the Ragged School Museum, also called Towpath Cafe. It offers tea, coffee and snacks, but taking into account its extremely limited opening hours, you have to be very lucky to be able to actually enjoy those.

Just before Victoria Park there is a canal on the right, which connects Regent's Canal to the Lea estuary. If it's busy on the water, it's fun to watch the skippers try to avoid collisions at this T-junction.

Victoria Park is rather large and on weekdays there is room for everyone. Here and there people are playing sports or lazying about and the atmosphere is relaxed. But during heat waves, Londoners flee their houses in South Hackney and surroundings to go sunbathing in the park, which then turns into a green beach.

Near Victoria Park is the Old Ford Lock, number eight of twelve.

Hackney

Gas holders are reminders of the past

My favorite leg is between Victoria Park and Camden: it's nice and quiet and it has a good atmosphere. There is a remote feeling that somewhere near is a hurrying metropolis, but the nineteenth-century canal almost forces you to take it easy... and to look at the interesting surroundings.

On the leg between the Thames and Camden Town I see mainly Londoners, mothers with strollers, joggers, people who are walking their dogs and other relaxed locals. There are also bikers, like the young Dutch doctor who teaches at the University of London. He prefers the route along the canal from his apartment in the diverse neighborhood of Hackney to (almost) the university building over a zig-zag route in city traffic.

London city traffic still has to get used to the increased stream of bicyclists, after the bomb attacks on the underground in July 2005. Bikers, on the other hand, often seem to think that they are the only traffic.

Between the Old Ford Lock and Camden Town, British Waterways London, which manages the area, made all kinds of improvements in 2007 that should prevent the increasing number of visitors from being in each others' way. There even is a code of behavior. Pedestrians have right of way and bikers have to yield to them. They have to ring twice when they want to pass by and decrease their speed. To force them to do that, there are "bike sluices" here and there.

A little past Victoria Park - we are still in Hackney - is one of the landmarks from the days when gas was still produced in plants and was stocked in huge gas holders. The Imperial Gas Light Company Works was in charge of them once upon a time.

Every now and then you still see some of those impressive gas holders, for which the coal was transported via the canal.

There is an easily accessible footpath along the canal. In old times, this path was used by horses or people who towed the narrow cargo boats, hence towpath. In 1953 tractors were introduced to replace horse power.

Three years later the last horse that had drawn a cargo-loaded boat through the canal was unharnassed.

Islington

Dodging off the ceiling through the tunnel

The water, flowing toward the Thames, quietly ripples toward you. As you get closer to the somewhat posh borough of Islington (a residential district where Tony Blair lived before he became PM), it gets greener around the canal. And then, unevitably, you reach the spot where the canal disappears into a tunnel and the tow path dissolves into nothingness.

In the early eighteenth century, the horses were unharnassed at Islington Hill and skippers had to lie on their backs and, dodging off the ceiling of the 866 meters long tunnel with their feet, had to provide propelling power themselves. Later a steam tugboat was used to pass through this obstacle.

In all of London there are only three canal tunnels and all of them are part of Regent's Canal. The Islington tunnel is the longest by far with its 886 m. The others are Maida Hill Tunnel (251 meters) and Eyre's tunnel, only 48 meters, underneath Lisson Grove, which often incorrectly is considered a bridge.

The two shorter tunnels are near the connection with Grand Junction Canal's Paddington Arm, also known as Little Venice.

Having walked along the canal for a while, you can feel somewhat disoriented in Islington, without the compelling direction indicator of the canal and its towpath. Here you have to use your city plan to find the other end of the tunnel. A little detour through some quiet and some very lively streets in this district leads to the London Canal Museum on New Wharf Road. It is close to the underground stop Kings Cross. Brown signs show the way.

Since 1816 the canal was an important trade artery for the capital of the British Empire. After the introduction of other kinds of cargo transportation, trains and trucks, local freighter transport declined and in the severe winter of 1962-1963 it stopped completely, a sign in the London Canal Museum tells me.

In the building on the bank of the canal an old wooden freighter is on display. Getting inside, you can imagine how constricted skippers' families must have lived. The museum is located by one of the so-called basins along the canal, which used to be places where ships were unloaded and their cargo was transported further into the city.

Everything that arrived in Britain over sea, was transported via the canal. Ice was brought to London this way. It was kept in the building that now houses the Canal Museum.

In the museum I also read that Regent's Canal was dug to connect the Paddington branch of Grand Junction with the Thames at Limehouse. One of the CEOs of the canal company was the famous architect John Nash. He was friends with the Prince-Regent, later King George IV.

In the third season of the television comedy series Blackadder, the Prince-Regent is portrayed as an extravagant, unworldly collector of socks who is constantly cheated by his servant Rowan Atkinson.

Camden Town

Regent's Park, London Zoo and Little Venice

We are getting near the end of the walk. Camden is already visible. Don't get scared by hippy-like people who are napping on the grass after smoking a little too much weed or other youngsters who are digesting their beers in the afternoon sun on the concrete banks of the canal.

Other tourists are inevitable in London, but I mainly see them in the part of Camden near Regent's Park. Here you also see lots of tourist boats. Early May the fun of walking is not yet spoiled by other tourists. I can't say anything about the summer, though.

It's crowded at the Camden locks. Some hikers cannot resist the temptation to take a look at the many stalls with clothes, Eastern tchotchkes and other thingies. There's also the delicious, exotic smell of food. Unfortunately the competition is harsh, and cooks are screaming their lungs out to get your attention; even a modest look at their food seems to be interpreted as an order. A certain unflappability is called for here.

The last leg is visible now. The atmosphere here is partly dominated by tourists and tourboats, but the canal is still a mysterious miracle of beauty in this city of millions.

The canal meets London Zoo in Regent's Park, where it discharges into Grand Union Canal. Near this system of canals is Little Venice, not far from Paddington Station.

As early as 1840 the idea was foated to let the canal dry out, so it could become a railway embankment for the steam trains that were up and coming as means of transportation. I am happy that never happened and that the London authorities now understand that Regent's Canal is not only important for local bikers and hikers, but also for foreign tourists.

Property price in Spain goes down

When buying a home in Spain, you can have a piece of it all in Spain: beauty, history, culture, lifestyle, sophistication. And you can have it all for a lot less than you could a few years ago. How so? Property values in Spain have leveled out for the time being. Some areas are even considered “bargain areas.” In these areas you can get luxury and style for very little cost.

Cheap property in Spain

These days you can find cheap apartments and cheap villas everywhere, and this is also true for Spain. The property market has taken a dive with about 20 - 30% and is now a stand still. The only properties sold are when the owner needs an urgent sale.

Distress sale in Spain

Owners in financial distress are often looking to sell at prices considerably lower than the market. The reasons are often personal, however right now many Englsih and Swedish owners are using the benefits of a low home currency. When selling a home in Spain, they receive euro which is then converted to a much higher amount than usual. Here you can find a list of Spanish properties on distress sale.