Nice, France part 2

We had left ourselves a few extra days for our hike which we didn't need, so we spent the time back in Nice. Our first day we went to Monaco, the second we went to Le Parc Phoenix. It was a cool, rainy day so we spent most of our time in the greenhouse / conservatory. I imagine the park and conservatory would be lovely on a sunny summer day, but even on a gray fall / winter day it was still interesting.



I barely made it through the door before I spotted these leaves backlit against the sky.



I always enjoy Hibiscus flowers. These were some of the largest I've ever seen!



Other plants were less familiar, I have no idea what these are:



I really liked the pattern of leaves of this plant. I can't decide whether I like closer or further, or color or black and white. What do you think?





Here are a few random shots from around town. This light fixture was on the ceiling of a restaurant where we had lunch.







We walked through a park and by a fountain and the sun shining through the falling water caught my eye. (Which meant Shelley waited patiently while I tried to capture it!) I played with the shutter speed to either freeze the water drops or turn them into streaks.







We don't usually visit too many museums, but we were running out of things to do, so we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art. I don't mind abstract art (like the photos above), but I have a hard time with this modern art. Other than the famous artist, what exactly makes a piece of pipe or a crushed car a "work of art"? Personally I enjoyed the photos I took outside the museum more than the contents!





I managed a few shots from our flight from Nice to Vienna. Here's Monaco with the Oceanographic Museum in the center.



I accidentally focused on the wing instead of the clouds for this one, but I quite like the result.



It was pretty cloudy most of the way, but near Vienna the sun broke through in the distance.



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Ajaccio, Corsica

From Bonifacio we drove to Ajaccio, about halfway up the west coast of Corsica. Ajaccio is a bigger city and a cruise ship stop. The city wasn't particularly attractive but the market was interesting and we did find a good restaurant in a quiet backstreet that seemed to be a favorite with locals - Le Directoire. And I really enjoyed the turtle sanctuary A Cupulatta.





Great cheese in Corsica.



I'm not a fan of these huge cruise ships and the overwhelming influx of people they disgorge.



The turtle sanctuary was large and well laid out. They have a huge number of turtles of various kinds, some native, some imported, some rescued. A lot of them were out and visible, despite the cool fall weather.





This little guy grabbed a big piece of food and "sprinted" for the security of the water. His shell looks a bit misshapen, he might have been one of the rescues.



I also enjoyed some of the other inhabitants of the park.







And, of course, we enjoyed the scenery and small towns in the countryside around Ajaccio. I wish we had lovely treed town squares with cafes like this in Canada and the US.





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Monaco

We took the train to Monaco (from Nice) for the day. At roughly 2 square kilometers, it's the second smallest country in the world (after the Vatican). Saskatchewan has farms bigger than that! Our initial destination was the Oceanographic Museum. Also known as the Temple of the Sea, it was built by King Albert 1 as a "palace dedicated to art and science" over a century ago.



We mostly went for the aquarium. The actual "museum" part doesn't interest me anywhere near as much as living things. As usual, it was a fun challenge to try to get some decent photos from the dark aquarium.





I'm not sure if this shrimp was actually cleaning the moray eel, or if it was just hanging out. The moray didn't seem to mind!



These juvenile anemone fish are bred at the aquarium. They were fun to watch as they roamed around and then all darted back to the anemone when something spooked them.



After the aquarium we wandered by the nearby cathedral and palace. I'm not much of a "tourist". We didn't see any exhibits about the royalty, or James Bond at Monte Carlo, or even antique cars. And I'm not into shopping, especially the kind found in most tourist places. But I can usually find something to catch my interest, like birds or flowers, that are found almost everywhere.





As we were wandering around we saw signs for Le Jardin Animalier (the zoological garden). It turned out to be a small zoo, founded in 1954 by Prince Rainier III. We had to wait for it to reopen after lunch. It seems odd to me that obvious tourist attractions close down for several hours over lunch.

Shelley didn't think I'd have any success calling the collared peccaries, but I guessed they would come investigate to see if we had any food for them. The last time we saw these was in Big Bend National Park in Texas.



It doesn't take exotic animals to catch my eye. These feathers were on the back of a chicken that was loose in the zoo.



I think my favorite part was the duck pond, which had colorful mandarin ducks along with great reflections in the water.





I also managed a few more reflection photos of older buildings reflected in more modern glass sided ones.



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Window Seat

I always try to get a window seat when I fly. Despite the small often scratched and dirty windows I love the view from up high. And I like to try to capture that view when I can, although it often doesn't work out. This was the best I did on our flight from Corsica back to Nice. There was a mix of sun and clouds at different levels, with shadows of the clouds on the ocean.

Bonifacio, Corsica

From Erbulunga at the north east end of Corsica, we drove to Bonifacio at the southern tip. We stayed at Hotel A Cheda, just outside of town. It was set in a nice garden with quirky rooms. This is where I saw the Hummingbird hawk-moth. As soon as you get to the harbor in Bonifacio you see the citadel looming over you.



Our first view was at night, with gaudy colored lights on the citadel. (my iPhone 5 struggled with this shot)



Parking is a big issue here (and expensive). You can drive up to the old town inside the walls of the citadel, but the streets are steep and narrow. Better to either walk up or take the little tourist "train". Here's the view looking down from the citadel.



We took a boat trip from here. It was windy and the ocean was rough. We started out sitting outside but after the first waves splashed over us we moved inside!



The old town is built right to the edge of the cliffs on the ocean side.



An old stairway runs down the cliff to a spring that was a source of water. It would have been hard work carrying water up!





It was interesting to explore the old town (where people still live) and fortifications and see where Napoleon Bonaparte lived. Here is one of the entrances. It still has some of the machinery for the drawbridge.





We also drove around the area. A couple of windsurfers were taking advantage of the strong winds.



And more interesting plants and animals







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Good Timing

Shelley and I are back from our 10 day Mare e Monti Nord hike in Corsica. It was a great hike and I plan to post more about it, along with some of the many photos I took along the way.

Fall is the rainiest season in Corsica so we were very happy to have great weather on the hike. We had a little rain one evening and night and got sprinkled on another day but that was the extent of it. Most of the time is was clear and sunny.

We appreciated this even more because the two days following our hike it's been raining most of the time, including a huge thunderstorm last night. We are very glad we weren't hiking in it! Apart from the discomfort of hiking in the rain, the trail includes a lot of steep lichen covered rock that would be treacherous when wet.

The photo above was from our hotel room at sunset when the sun temporarily broke through and lit up the clouds.