The Count of Monte Carlo?

On our second evening in Nice, after spending the day in Monaco visiting the Monte Carlo Casino and the palace where Grace Kelly lived after marrying Prince Ranier, we decided to hike up to the Chateau d'Nice which overlooks the city. We didn't start up until almost 8 pm and spent some time at the top watching the sun set over the French Riveria. On our way down in near darkness, we ran into three Australians who had passed us earlier. They told us that the gates at the bottom were locked and there was nobody to let us off the mountain. So all five of us headed back down to the gates and were soon joined by a french mother and son. The seven of us stood at the gates, prisoners of the Chateau d'Nice, hollering at passersby for help until about 9:30 when a couple of fellow tourists went into a nearby hotel, found out that there was a back entrance, and shouted up to us that we needed to hike back up to the top of the cliffs to the Chateau and down the opposite side, then trek around the base of the cliffs back into Nice. By the time we got back to our hotel room, we were exhausted from all the hiking up and down the cliffsides and hills, but it was quite an adventure.

Now we are in Cinque Terre, Italy. Just got here this afternoon and the cliffs are even steeper, and the temperatures are even hotter. But the water is just as blue and the gelato is supposed to be even better in Italia. Arrivaderci!