The French Riviera

Last weekend we took a trip to the French Riviera. The main reason to go was the Monaco Formula 1 GP.
We started off Thursday morning headed for Marseilles, the great port city of France.

From EUROPE - FRANCE - French Riviera

Then we traveled along the coast towards St-Tropez, deemed to be the pearl of the Mediterranean. Well people who say that surely haven't ever been in Dubrovnik, Croatia. I'm not saying St-Tropez is not nice, but to be honest "the best beach on earth"... come on, we could name at least a dozen of beaches we personally have been on, which would come before the beaches of St-Tropez. It appeared rather that the cars:

From EUROPE - FRANCE - French Riviera

and the yachts:

From EUROPE - FRANCE - French Riviera

are what give St-Tropez its name.

Let us focus rather on the amazing views along the coast:

From EUROPE - FRANCE - French Riviera

The next day we went to Monaco, see the dedicated post to the Formula 1 GP here.

In the evening we joined my brother who was attending the Cannes Film Festival.

From EUROPE - FRANCE - French Riviera

We had a nice evening together, Zsolt showing us around Cannes, knowing all the nice places since the Cannes film festival is not held without him for the last 7-8 Years.

From EUROPE - FRANCE - French Riviera

Sunday we headed back to Zurich passing the most amazing highway we have ever seen: the A8 between Nice - Genoa"

From EUROPE - FRANCE - French Riviera

We have a challenge for you:
How many tunnels did we pass through during this weekend?
A: 0-10
B: 11-50
C: 51-100

the first to post the correct answer wins a 1965 bottle of Tennessee Bourbon.

See all our pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/zoli.gyenge/EUROPEFRANCEFrenchRiviera#

Monaco Formula 1 GP 2009

I guess the title says it all.
Anyway a little more detailed... We arrived in Monaco early morning to still get a good place. We got tickets to the so-called Rocher sector, that is on the hillside above the harbor, the best place to view the GP (maybe after Casino place, but that is quite $$$).
We watched the Renault 3.5 and the F1 Saturday practice and qualifying session from the lower part of the hill, where you are closer to the cars being able to hear as they explode at each gear change with full throttle:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

but you see mainly a small stretch only. But from here we could also see the action in the pitstops which at times was quite interesting too:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

For the afternoon, we went up till the Royal Palace. From here one had a great overview on the entire harbor including the start/ finish line:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

From up the hill we could see about 80% of the race track being able to follow the entire race (GP2 only since we were in Monaco only on Saturday):

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

As everyone knows, in Monaco the weekend has a lot more to offer than the race itself:
- The girls: Special dedication to MOZSI:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

(yes, the third one is a BLONDIE)

- The Yahts:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

- and some landscaping to make your place more comfortable:

From 2009 - Monaco Formula 1 GP

All our photos from the Monaco Formula 1 GP 2009

A friend did the Zurich-Monaco trip by bike in 3 days. Check out his unbelievable trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cb-kL2-zCR8

See our videos on youtube as well:

Cycling tour: from Arth-Goldau to Altdorf

Cycling around in Switzerland is always a great experience, since everywhere you can be assured of clean conditions, fresh air and beautiful scenery... but this particular ride we took last weekend was certainly one of the nicest cycling tours in the country.

We started our ride at Arth Goldau, riding from the Lauerzer Lake in the direction of the VierwaldstaetterSee (or Lake of Luzern):

From Hiking_Cycling_Fun

After a short stop in Brunnen, we continued our route along the Lake, with the most spectacular views you can imagine...

From Hiking_Cycling_Fun

From Hiking_Cycling_Fun

... reaching the end of our apx. 40-km-long tour in Altdorf, best known as the place where, according to the legend, William Tell shot the apple from his son's head. His statue stands at the foot of an old tower covered with frescoes in the market-place:

From Hiking_Cycling_Fun

Friends in the town...

Mesi & Ors visited us this weekend. We had a great time together, although the weather seemed to cross our plans and unfortunately we had to postpone our hiking tour for the next time they'll come over (after all, they are living 'only' 400 kms away now, in the city of Mainz).

In the couple of days they have spent in Switzerland, we visited together the "Altstadt" of Zurich and Luzern, taking a boat trip on the Zurich-lake, too...

From Zurich

... end ending the day with a traditional Swiss raclette at our place.

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