Mega-Vacation Day 5 - Cap d'Ail to Nice, France; Monaco

Day 5 (Cap d’Ail – Monaco – Nice):
Yet I still got up at 5am with little problem. Maybe the beautiful sunrise and the fact I had not yet reached a deep sleep yet were the reasons. Of course, knowing my luck, my essay for the State Department application was too long, so I scrambled to shorten it. It was not my best work, but miraculously, at 5:56 local time (11:56pm in the US), I managed to submit it. What a load off my chest!
Some other good news came too: my problem with the placement test for the French course beginning in a matter of days was solved as one of the coordinators sent me an essay assignment that finally worked. I would finish it two days later – another sigh of relief.
So after my victory at 5:56, I figured it was not worthwhile to go back to sleep. Hansky (who also barely slept) and I took some photos of the sunrise and talked to the same nice lady for over an hour. Her story was incredible – kidnapped at the age of 14, she grew up in Strasbourg until recently, when someone recognized her and she was reconnected with some members of her family. Of course, she explained in French, so I could not quite connect the dots on the rest, however: she now lives in a nearby town on the French Riviera, where she owns the former villa of a fabulously rich noble. Beats me why she was staying at the hostel – perhaps because she was lonely and wanted to meet people? She also has a twin she never met, I think? The rest was more comprehensible, as she gave us the history of nearby Monaco (an independent principality never owned by France, but practically French in most respects) and happily gave us all her maps of the area. What a lovely lady.
I was getting tired again, so I woke myself up by doing some exploring along a great path along the sea, which led to a spectacular vista of a massive cliff leading down into a tremendous cove (home to what an American later that day would tell us is the best beach on the French Riviera). This place – Cap d’Ail and the hostel – was truly awe-inspiring.
After breakfast, the three of us did some more exploring and then MT and I laid out on a small island for an hour (her because she loves the sun; me because I wanted to lie down and sleep). This was when I got burned. 
I was in a slightly hazy and bad mood at this point, but as we began our 1-mile walk to Monaco, I quickly felt better. The walk went from majestic cove to majestic cove, with the waves crashing up against the rocks and the mountains towering above (see pics on Facebook). Amazing.
Arrival in Monaco was abrupt. There are no markers, no border guards, nothing. But you can tell the difference – this town is pristinely maintained. The joke that the nice lady told us was this: in France, you must use the stairs everywhere; in Monaco, you have escalators. And it was totally true. This place is amazing well-kept.
But once again, I was shocked by the prices, which I expected to be astronomical but were actually very reasonable – not quite Italy cheap, but better than northern France.
So Monaco is composed of 4 neighborhoods, each with a different vibe. The first is Fontveille, where there is a large stadium and a ton of identical hotels. It is also home to a small port with a striking view of Monaco Ville and the Prince’s Palace towering above on a huge cliff. We ate lunch here and rested for a VERY long time on a nice bench (the sleepiness was getting to Hansky and I).
Second is Monaco Ville, home to the Prince’s Palace, the national cathedral, and striking views of the city. Hansky and I again waited here on a bench as MT explored the relics of the Prince’s Palace. This was also the area where the famed Princess Grace Kelly was buried after her death.
Next is La Condamine, a small area known for some gardens – not much to see.
And lastly is the high-class Monte Carlo, home to all the casinos and the nicest collection of cars I have ever seen. Ferraris, Lambourghinis, and Astin-Martins were commonplace. It was actually quiet a sight – I was pleasantly surprised and in awe by the pristine nature of all the buildings, roads, and wicked awesome automobiles. 
Finally, we returned to the Monaco train station and accidentally boarded the wrong train, which passed by but did not stop at Cap d”Ail, where we had to pick up our bags. But it was really not a big deal – we quickly turned around, caught the next train, and picked up our bags from the hostel with very little time lost. Probably our biggest goof-up of the trip, which means we were pretty darn good travelers.
We then headed to Nice, west along the coast, where we arrived around 7pm and checked into our nice hotel (a pleasant surprise after the bad beds of Florence and Cap d’Ail). We explored Place Massena and the Old Town for a bit before eating at an Italian-French fusion restaurant, where we got free kirs and I had the best goat cheese salad ever. Unfortunately, I did not feel so well 0 I could barely finish my second course (a fish goo-type thing). Probably a mixture of heat, sunburn, and lack of sleep – symptoms of mild heat stroke. Fortunately, I felt better later, as I went straight to bed (still around 11pm).