Day 8 - Monte Carlo, The Principality of Monaco

Early morning...moon still up.

Nearing Monaco on the French Riviera coast.

The Oceanography Museum (and more).

Backing in...the ONLY way to park!

Today was the second new country for us on this trip, bringing our total to 61.  We pulled into port amidst a field of yachts and super yachts.  One prominent sample is valued at $125 Million, but there were many!  We learned that it costs $28K/week for the medium slips.  That big yacht has an operating costs of about $12 Million/year or $250K/week, so maybe parking for $28K/week isn’t a big deal?

The $125 Million Lady Moura (yacht) with Mr. Moura (dingy)...

...and Helimoura, the helicopter!

Monte Carlo coast.

Monaco goes from the water up the hill, and that's it.

The city with the Casino and Paris Hotel.

The Princess Grace Theatre (back side of the casino).

Part of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix course.

We began with a tour of the city/country.  After a short bus ride, an elevator, and three sets of stairs (ramped stairs for fun!), we found ourselves at the Monte Carlo Casino, well, the back side.  The side that faces the bay is actually the Princess Grace theatre, and the street side is the casino.  We got a 10 minute talk and then given 70 minutes to be on our own.  So, we meandered up the hill seeking lookouts, then around the Casino and Theatre.  We ducked into the Casino for a peek and a picture.

Hotel de Paris...about $25K per night for best rooms.

Ferrari...one of many!

Maclaren.

Lambo, Lambo, Ferrari...

Monte Carlo Casino.

Hotel de Paris (with the rich parking!)

The Theatre.

Lady Luck at the entrance to Casino.

Closest I'm getting to winning big!

Returning to the meeting point, we went back down the elevator, hopped our bus and went to the other side of Monaco to look at the "old town".  It was two escalators and an elevator up to the top.  Walked through a garden, and headed as a group to the palace, to watch the changing of the guards.  We have seen enough guard changing, so once it began, we ditched and went to see St. Nicolaus Cathedral.  That was BEAUTIFUL!!  Then, to get to the bus, the guide recommended we take the "scenic" route without much information on how to get down!  Luckily most of the bus chose this route, so we were not alone.

The Monaco Prison...evidently a 5 star prison!

The Princess's home.

The garden on the way to the palace.

One of many overlooks.

St. Nicolaus's Cathedral.

The judicial building.  Looks nice!

The Palace/Castle.

One lone guard?

Oh, wait...where'd they come from?

OK, Changing of the Guards in process...time to go!

Looks like a disagreement on parking?

Inside the Cathedral.

Art from about 1500AD.

The tomb of Princess Grace.

The Altar.

A side chapel altar.

The Princess's car...seems stalky.

The trip back down to the bus.

Not a lot of "beach front".

At the port, they had a picture of many of the 
cruise ships that have docked here.  This is the 
ship we took to Antarctica in 2008, at the time 
named Prince Albert II, after the Prince of Monaco.

A monument for the Formula 1 Race (going back a bit!)

We grabbed a quick lunch and were off to our second tour.  We headed toward Eze, France, which was a twisty but short (20 miles?) drive in the cliffs overlooking the French Riviera.  We saw bays dotted with the big yachts (not the little pikers here)!

The Starting Line (from a bus window).

We arrived at Fragonard, a perfume maker.  They gave us a little tour which was supposed to show how they make perfume, but it was a little more like an infomercial.  The funniest part was that they had a video going while she was talking, and the guy in the video was the same as the guy we were watching make the soaps.

The Perfume chemistry lab.

Six samples...all smell same.
(to Bill)

Those are big yachts!

The rich people and their boats.

That's a lot of sailboats!

A beach on the French Riviera.

Then we headed into the “shop”, where she presented 6 different perfumes, which frankly all smelled about the same (Bill), or were very much different (Theresa).  We were left to shop and buy all sorts of stuff.  We were quite happy to enter the bus empty handed, but then they gave each of us a little sample vial.  So, Theresa got two.

We continued down the road to Nice, which was nice!  😊 Actually, we thought we were going to get time to see a bit of Nice, but the bus never really stopped, just drove around to overlook it, and headed back.  The scenery was phenomenal, but pictures through bus windows rarely augment the experience.

We asked for a quick dinner at the restaurant, and the Head Waiter kept them moving!  We had three courses and then dessert in under an hour!  So, that gives us a little extra time this evening, to write the blog and consider the evening’s entertainment.  Since it is supposed to be a “Country Music” theme, Bill will be happily avoiding it, while Theresa goes.  There is an 80s music party later; we’ll see if we’re still up for it!

Monaco after dark.

Good Night, Monte Carlo!!