Princess Jenni of Monaco

I feel very sad to be writing this now from a very chilly, autumnal spot on the sofa while I nurse a cold (boo hoo to me). But only a few weeks ago, I was enjoying a very different sort of week as I sunned it up in the south of France. Not only did I get to visit one of my holy trinity countries that I go to every year (France, Spain and Italy), but I also got to tick off a new teeny tiny country. Seemingly I'm working my way up the list of the smallest countries in the world, as having been to The Vatican last year, it was the turn for Monaco this year.

We weren't staying in Monaco the whole trip, since we aren't the children of Russian billionaires or something, so we split the trip 50/50 with Nice and Monaco and had 2 nights in each. Our flights got us to Nice nice and early in the morning so we had the whole day to enjoy ourselves after getting to our hotel! The hotel was called the Albert 1er and it had the most gorgeous Parisian style and was in a perfect location. I don't know if you're more of a pool or beach person (I'm normally pool) but hotels with pools are few and far between in the south of France so we sacrificed on that and prioritised being near the sea instead.

I don't know that I've ever seen a more beautiful seafront than the Promenade des Anglais. It seemed to combine Parisian architecture and old-world English seaside charm that made it feel like you'd stepped back in time somehow. As for the colour of the sea - wow! It was the most gorgeous shade of turquoise ever. So we decided to spend the day admiring it and set up camp at one of the beach clubs, Beau Rivage, for cocktails and relaxing. I couldn't believe our bad luck when I saw the weather forecast for our trip; you'd think the south of France at the end of August would be guaranteed sun but it seems we picked the only 5 days of the month where it was set to be cool and rainy. Luckily though the sunshine held all day for us, and it wasn't until the sea got wild late in the afternoon that it felt like a storm was brewing!

After a quick power nap to recover from the 6am flight, we got ready to head out for dinner. As you'll see, I was having a bright moment this holiday and was making the most of all the statement colourful pieces in my wardrobe. This top is a cute new piece I got this summer and I just love the pleated sleeves and pointed hemline. Besides the opportunity to wear pretty clothes, the best thing about being in France is the food. Like you literally know you'll be eating well. This restaurant was divine and the dessert was especially amazing, although Ollie nearly got singed during the tableside preparation of the crepe suzette!

After a much-needed lie-in, we woke up to a very rainy day in Nice! Which was not ideal, but the good location of our hotel meant we didn't have to walk very far in the rain before reaching the old town where we planned to stop for some lunch. When I spotted a place called Bistrot Jennifer, I figured it was a sign from the universe and had to go there. But I must've mis-read the sign as it actually must've said 'come here for a very average meal' - it was far from the best we had.

The weather had actually sorted itself out a bit while we were eating and the sun was even peaking through a little! So then we had a nice couple of hours exploring the old town and all its pretty buildings before it was time for another cocktail/beer break.

The Nice old town was actually pretty small so we felt we'd seen it after our little explore and I was back on Google maps to find other points of interest for us to see. Everyone should know by now that I'm a sucker for a pretty church (despite not being religious) so when I found 2, I figured it was more than worth the 35 minute walk just to say we'd seen them. First up was the Basilique Notre-Dame de l’Assomption which felt as though it was in the more modern part of Nice (amazing shops), and then we went up to the Cathédrale Saint-Nicolas de Nice, which is a Russian orthodox church. The church itself was absolutely beautiful (orthodox ones are my favourite) but the area around it was a bit rough so it didn't make for the nicest walk. I guess we got some steps in either way!

A restaurant with a hand written chalkboard menu always gets me excited because it suggests the food is fresh and seasonal and the menu changes based on what's available. The food at La Villa Massenet was incredible and it was such a pretty little spot too. They didn't even have dessert menus - they just brought a big plate with one of each on it and asked if we wanted one (which, of course after seeing them, we did). I stuck with the bright coloured theme for my night 2 outfit in Nice and wore this pink corseted Stradivarius dress. It was a present from my mum last year and I just love it on holidays.

Oh to be back in France enjoying the French life of sitting with a nice little coffee and watching the world go by. After a 10/10 start to the day (white chocolate and strawberry is an elite crepe topping), we did a bit of shopping in the old town and then had a few drinks (at an irish pub naturally) before it was time to collect our luggage and head to our next stop...

Welcome to Monaco! It was only a 30 minute Uber across the border so we made it to our hotel, the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel, in good time. It was a shame it then took over an hour to check into our room because the lobby was literally full of people queuing to do the same and it just never seemed to move whatsoever. Word of advice if you're travelling to Monaco or staying in this hotel - don't bother turning up until like 5pm. It may have been an unnecessarily stressful arrival, but the room more than made up for it - look at the view from our balcony!

The main thing I loved about Monaco was the glamour! I'd packed some extra pretty outfits with that in mind and first up was the olive satin skirt and white bardot with cream and wood accessories (I love how clip-cloppy these wedges are). You can't do classic glamour without a red lipstick so naturally I added one to complete the look for our first Monaco date night. We hadn't pre-booked anything so I left Ollie in charge of picking the restaurant while I got ready. He always chooses great places because he has amazing taste but he also likes the finer things in life even more than I do, and he hadn't thought to check the menu or prices for this place before we arrived. So we went for an eye-wateringly expensive dinner, sort of by accident. But when in Monaco right? If you worry too much about money while in Monaco you won't enjoy it so you just have to kind of treat it like monopoly money and worry about paying it off when you get home. For a frame of reference, this meal at Niwaki cost about €300 for sharing plates, dessert, wine and a couple of other drinks and that was us going for middle-of-the-road choices (you could've easily spent double or triple that if you'd have chosen the most expensive dishes on the menu). But it was all amazing and well worth the treat-yoself mentality.

Having been a bit thundery the day before, I was excited to see perfect blue skies the following morning. The good weather was especially good news because we were getting our walking shoes on for a big day exploring Monaco. Well, as such a tiny country who don't seem to have Uber, what were we going to do, rollerskate around? Our hotel was on the far edge of Monaco, at the bay, so it made for quite a nice walking route to all the sights; along the beach, up the Grand Prix circuit, past the casino and Hotel de Paris, round the marina, and then up into the La Condamine district where we stopped for some brunch. We figured it made the most sense to walk to the furthest point first and then we'd essentially be coming back on ourselves, so I'd more than earned the giant, chocolate-soaked dish I went with.

The next stop on our list was the Princes Palace and we got very lost trying to follow google maps' directions. It wasn't until we starting following the signposts that we actually got on the right track! Another thing that google maps doesn't warn you about is that the whole walk is on a very steep uphill incline. The walk up may have been more of a leg workout than we'd bargained for, but it was beautiful once we got to the top and we timed it just right to see the iconic changing of the guard.

The princes palace isn't the only thing worth seeing atop the hill so I'd definitely recommend a trip up there (if you aren't a big walker then the bus does go up there too). There were some incredible view points which were so picturesque, there's a beautiful cathedral and then a big park that we pretty much followed all the way round. It felt slightly removed from the hustle and bustle of the areas like the casino too which was nice.

All that walking called for some champagne (naturally) so we stopped off at the Veuve Clicquot pop-up outside the Hermitage hotel. I'd expected Monaco to be an oasis of wealth and riches and couture, and so far at that point in the day I'd been surprised how wrong I'd been. Wandering around, it's mostly tourist families and everyone was actually pretty badly dressed (I'd been hoping for some fashion watching). But while we were sat outside the Hermitage, we finally spotted some of the wealth I'd been expected. Maybe it's just even more small and contained than what you think it'll be.

We were getting peckish by this point and Mexican food is literally my favourite so what could be better than a beachfront restaurant called sexy taco? The food was really good and the coconut margarita was even better.

After walking 18,000 steps, we finished the day with some chill time around our pool with a couple of cocktails and a good book. The dream.

After our very extravagant feast the night before, we went to a more sensibly priced option this time and chose Giacomo. It's one of the big mama group restaurants and I loved Jacuzzi in London so was excited about this. The food did not disappoint and the truffle arancini was a particular highlight. I also tried fried courgette flowers for the first time and they were really nice! I just love the vibe and the crockery and the cocktails in these restaurants - we even had a tiny dog as our table neighbour for the evening! Then to finish off our incredible feast, we had some cocktails at our hotel bar that had the most amazing panoramic view of the bay which was simply gorgeous.

The last day of our trip rolled around all too quickly and it was time to check out of our hotel. Our flights were perfect though as the return was an evening flight so we still had a whole day to enjoy before we needed to head off. We started with a giant burger for lunch on the seafront which pretty much destroyed us.

Because Monaco is so tiny and because we'd put in such a shift the day before, we felt like we'd done it. There were other bits we could've gone back to if we fancied, but we decided to bookend the trip by finishing it the way we started it; with a day on the beach. We had a lovely spot at a beach club and the waiter just kept the rose and ice coming which was basically my idea of a perfect set up.

We had time for one last dinner and chose the Caffe Milano, which I'd had my eye on since the day before. It was almost like a little pier of a restaurant so it was built right on top of the marina and as a result the views were amazing. The food and gin cocktail didn't go amiss either! Then the very last stop before heading home was the macaron shop to pick up some souvenirs (the most important thing) and then it was back to England. For such a tiny country, Monaco gave us some BIG memories. I'd highly recommend a trip there, and I reckon the split we did (2 days in each place) was pretty much perfect as it offered us time to explore and time to chill in both, but you could easily see and do everything you wanted to in Monaco in a day if needed. Just make sure you save up some pennies first!