Nice (Neese) is nice. I’m pretty sure, however, that our target destination in the south of France was Monaco.
We had pulled into the Nice train station about 2130 last night, 50 years ago. Secured a room at the Hotel Normandie. Our initial experience there probably gave us a jaundiced view of the place and its other clientele. According to my journal, the clerk put our suitcases in the lift and noticed some feces on the floor. He turned and told us it wasn’t from a dog.
We walked up to the room.
And now we’re on something of a free-wheeling description of our last few days in Europe 1972. For whatever reason, my journal of that trip ends with arrival in Nice. My guess is that I either misplaced it or just grew tired of doing it.
So this post and the next will complete the series and they will focus on pictures taken and descriptions of the places/activities in them. And maybe some other memories if they come around again in our heads.
The train trip from Rome took place during the day, but my journal reported we seemed to spend a lot of time in tunnels.
This was the view of Nice from our hotel window.
Most of the time we spent in Nice was most likely at the beach, the picture at the top of the post an example. We didn’t go to sunbath or swim, but to look. We had read, of course, about topless beach-goers in the region, but I don’t recall (and I think I would have) seeing any topless females. Closest was below, but that could have been the same at any US beach.
So we spent most of the time in Monaco, the microstate about 15 miles east of Nice on the coast. Monaco is a sovereign, independent principality. It’s the second smallest independent state in the world, only 499 acres in size. Along the coast, however, it packs a lot in a little space, and did 50 years ago.
For various reasons, Monaco is a playground for the world’s rich. Megayachts fill the harbor and the well-to-do gather. At the “meeting center” shown below, the Harvard Business School was offering a seminar and UCLA was holding its “international dental congress” while we were there.
Royalty in Monaco in 1972 was Prince Rainier III and his American wife, the Hollywood princess, Grace Kelly. We visited the Prince’s Palace, but Rainier and Grace were out.
As you can see from the photos, the day was overcast while we were in Monaco, so Kevin and I donned our tuxes and did our best James Bond impressions at the place owned and operated by the Societé des Bains de Mer de Monaco — the Casino. I don’t remember being especially impressed (though this was after seeing a lot of impressive scenes and structures during the previous three weeks). I also don’t remember playing any games of chance.
I took pictures of the place, but can’t find any presently, so below is a modern view procured online.
Monaco had a population of about 24,000 people in 1972, about a quarter of them French citizens. The UN ranks Monaco these days as the most densely populated state in the world. It was pretty packed back then, too.
We likely spent only a couple of days in Nice/Monaco before heading to Paris, from where we would fly home.
And no, we didn’t have tuxedos.