After Kevin and I spent a week biking through the French countryside, my sweet friend Sommer met me in France for a fun girls week on the French Riviera! I hopped on a quick flight from southern France to the Nice Cöte d’Azur airport to meet her there.
I seriously could not get over the stunning views as we were flying into Nice!
Our first stop was… Monte Carlo!! From the airport, you can get to Monte Carlo by taxi or train, but by far the most fun way is a helicopter!! It’s only a 7 minute ride, and it doesn’t cost that much more than a cab. I had never ridden in a helicopter before, so I was ALL OVER this!! :)
It was so fun! It wasn’t too loud, and we didn’t have to wear headphones or anything.
The views flying into Monaco were amazing!!
This was seriously one of the highlights of the trip, and it only went uphill from here.
Photo via Sommer
We stayed at the amazing Hotel Hermitage in Monte Carlo.
If you want pure luxury, the Hotel Hermitage is the place to be!
The hotel was gorgeous. It was like a museum!
I am so completely in love with our room. I wanted to move in!
And the bathroom. Oh my word. Just look at that tub!
They had two dozen long-stem white roses, bottles of water, and Ladurée macarons waiting for us.
And how incredible is this view??
Here’s a panoramic look at the view outside our window.
Our balcony overlooked the Monte Carlo Harbor.
Loved waking up to this view!
We also had a special invitation waiting for us, handwritten in calligraphy.
It was inviting us to be a part of the Monte-Carlo Shopping Promenade, celebrated with live music, luxury shopping brands, and gourmet food trucks run by Monte-Carlo SBM’s eminent chefs. That is the famous Monte Carlo Casino you see in the background!
Photo via Sommer
Everyone got a fun straw hat from this cute blue car!
Of course we had to check out the food trucks! Our first stop was at the Buddha-Bar truck. All the trucks represented restaurants around Monte Carlo, and were run by the executive chefs of the restaurant. Buddha-Bar had AMAZING sushi!! I guess I was not expecting to find sushi in Monaco, but it makes sense since they are on the water! It was honestly the best sushi I have ever had. I am still dreaming about this sushi! If you are ever in Monte Carlo, you HAVE to go to Buddha-Bar!
Photo via Sommer
Our next stop was at Le Vistamar. Le Vistamar is a restaurant inside the Hotel Hermitage. We actually had dinner reservations here later that night!
Le Vistamar had mini lobster rolls. So good!
They also had a Strawberry Pavlova dessert. To die for.
Next we hopped on this fun mini train to the next stop! There was live music and incredible food everywhere. Such an unforgettable night. Monte Carlo knows how to throw a party!
That night we had a phenomenal dinner at the Michelin-starred Le Vistamar restaurant inside the Hotel Hermitage. Fish, lobster, risotto, ravioli. Everything was incredible. And gorgeous. We ordered the bigger version of the Strawberry Pavlova we tried at the food truck, since we loved the mini version so much. We also ordered the “Signature Vistamar”, a strawberry cream cake with strawberry sorbet and violet granita. It was here we learned that if there is ever a strawberry dessert on the menu in Monte Carlo, you order it. Just don’t even ask questions.
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. The Hermitage has an impressive breakfast buffet with pastries, tons of cereal options, meats, cheeses, eggs, and sausage. They also had a crepe bar! America has omelette bars, Monte Carlo has crepe bars! Of course I had to start the day with a Nutella crepe. ;)
Stay tuned for day 2 in Monte Carlo!! :)
Nice work. We are headed there in four months. Can you tell me what kind of camera you’re using?
Thanks, Evan
Thank you Evan! You can click on any photo for the camera, lens, and settings used. Hope this helps! :)
Wow, what gorgeous pictures!! Absolutely love love love love love (and I can keep going…) love :-) the colors in your photos. What photo editing software and which filter do you use? It is just so cheerful and fun! I am so much in love with your pictures! Makes me so very happy… and wanna keep coming back to look at them! I have been to a lot of these places and taken photos from the same vintage point.. but the filtering is just too good! My pictures never came out this nice… not even close! really job well done!
How absolutely darling are all of those treats!! And that hotel! Everything is positively swoon-worthy!
So gorgeous. Lucky you!
Monte Carlo is so beautiful!!! My parents have been there and they loved it so much they would tell anyone that was thinking the least bit about traveling there to do it!! Thanks so much for sharing this fabulous trip with us, I can’t wait for Part 2!
I do have one question, though, and it’s something I think about when reading your travel posts…are these sponsored trips? I’ve noticed that other bloggers will specify that the trip was sponsored or paid for by a company, hotel, etc., but I only see that you mention the company, hotel, etc a good bit in your post. The reason I ask is that when I want to look into something I may use your post as a reference and don’t know what to say…specifically and most recently when booking a hotel in San Francisco. Just curious, not meaning to pry. Thanks!
My bucket list keeps getting longer! That room is just adorable! Looks like you had a delicious experience at the Monte-Carlo Shopping Promenade!
What a spectacular trip! Your photos are gorgeous, you can just feel the energy and excitement! Just to follow-up too, my kids and I just returned from a week in San Francisco – loved Muir Woods, thanks for your great ideas, photo tips and inspiration to get up and go!
This is lovely.
So I am curious….is there someplace you have NOT gone yet that you are dying to go to? I know Australia is coming up so that does not count! LOL!
Do you wake up every morning thinking, ‘how is this my life’?!? Oh, to go on just one of your excursions….
You know, I’ve never given Monte Carlo much thought…that has changed. Beautiful!
I didn’t know how beautiful Monte Carlo was. How fun!