Our first stop in France was Nice.  This is the beachfront, which is what most people would associate with the French Riviera.

At night, however, the action moves away from the sand and surf to the old part of town with it’s night clubs and restaurants.  I didn’t realise that Nice has an “old town” with the classic cobble stoned streets and close packed buildings, but there you go.  At midnight, the quiet back streets are transformed by the emergence of dozens of musicians, invariable decked out in black, who have just finished their sets and are on their way home or on to their next gig.  Pretty amazing to see.

We had planned on hiring some super sports bikes to ride the French Riviera, but it wasn’t to be.  You can see what we ended up with in the next photo.  A 50cc beast that we hammered all the way to Monte Carlo and back including a detour to to the hill top village of Eze.

We may have looked like “Dumb and Dumber” but it was a stack of fun!

We actually overtook this Ferrari.  Mind you, it was because it got stuck behind a bus, but it just goes to show that if you want to get around on the French Riviera, you’re better off saving the extra $425,000 and just buying a scooter instead of the super car.  Probably a little easier to get a hot date with the Ferrari, but what’s the point if you’re stuck behind a bus?

This is the sculpture outside the Monte Carlo Casino, and yes, we rode our hog around the round about amongst the Porsches, Aston Martins and Bentleys.

This is us indulging in Chuppa Chups at Monaco Palace. 

I couldn’t help myself.  This was the coolest car outside the Monte Carlo Casino.  

The Monaco Palace has some nice gardens surrounding it and we found this statue fascinating.  I think we need to get one for our place in Mudgee!

The harbour at Monaco.  The formula one track follows the harbour and the famous tunnel is sort of up to the far right.  We rode through it on our 50cc and with some imagination, it did sound a little like a McLaren F1 (sort of).

This is the village of Eze.  A stack of artists have come to live here and where there are artists, there are cafe’s and restaurants and, therefore, tourists.  Nice place though.  Apparently one of the restaurants here is on the “100 things to do before you die” list.  Unfortunately the dress code didn’t allow for hiking boots and helmet hair.

I tried to get a picture of the Eiffel Tower that was just a little different to the millions of other ones that you see.  Having said that, no matter how many times I saw it, it was always amazing.

This is one of the gargoyles on the top of Notre Dame.  You can just make out the Sacre Coeur in the background.  This is the same Gargoyle that featured on the cover of the original hunchback book.

Inside Notre Dame.  This is the scene that is depicted in the famous painting that shows Napoleon crowning Josephine.  

The interior of Sainte Chapelle.

Shopping on the Champ Elysees.  We needed something better than hiking pants to go to dinner at Tower 51 (at the Eiffel Tower)

I actually got Chez to try them.  To her credit, they all remained down!

The inside of Versailles Palace.  

Outside Versailles Palace, in the gardens.  Definitely the most unusual fountains we have seen.  Unfortunately, most of them were’t going when we were there so we went back the next day for a quick bike ride.  Unfortunately, they still weren’t going! Oh well, still pretty cool, even without the running water.

Breakfast on the streets of Paris.

Inside the Louvre.