1. James Bond likes to gamble in Monte Carlo.
2. They have the Grand Prix race here.
3. Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier.
Since then I've learned that Monaco has a population of 30,000, only 10,000 of which are native. The rest are extremely rich people that have residences here so that they don't have to pay taxes. The population doesn't sound too terribly high until you think about the fact that the country comprises about two square kilometers and you could walk across the entire country in under an hour. When you think about that, 30,000 is a lot of people to pack into so small a space.
We took the bus to Monaco based on the advice of Rick Steves. According to him, you could take the train from Nice and get there in about 20 minutes for approximately six euros. Or you could take the bus for one euro. The bus trip takes an hour, but unlike the train that spends most of its time in tunnels, the bus follows the lower corniche road, and you can see all the sights. Because we're cheap, and because we preferred to look at the Mediterranean and all the charming villages along the way, we took the bus.
I don't have any pictures to show you of our bus trip for two reasons.
1. Pictures taken from a moving bus are inevitably blurry.
2. The pictures I did take on my camera are lost forever because I left it on the bus. I didn't discover this fact until we had exited the bus and climbed the hill to the palace. Thank goodness David had bought his very own camera just before the trip, which he wisely refused to let me borrow.
Here we are at the top of the hill, in front of the palace overlooking the port.
Monaco is kind of strange. It reminds me a little bit of San Francisco, believe it or not. It has a bustling port and it built on hills. It also has the mix of old and new, skyscrapers next to old homes.
But unlike San Francisco, it doesn't feel very, I don't know, I guess authentic is the word I would use. It's too clean. The streets with the old-fashioned residences look like nobody actually lives there. It's very Disneyesque in look and feel.
It certainly didn't feel as welcoming as Nice. But then, I'm not a millionaire.
Ian and Fabio, our lunch companions of the day before, had recommended we visit the Jacques Cousteau Aquarium, so we did. It had pretty fish to look at.
In addition to that, the museum had exhibits devoted to 19th century history of scientific thought. They had a timeline that included mostly French and American discoveries, although I found it odd that they thought it necessary to include Custer's last stand. They also had a giant sculpture that showed a human's insides.
It was beyond a doubt the strangest aquarium I've ever been to in my life. Highly entertaining.
We then hopped a bus and headed down toward the casino and lunch. Ian and Fabio had also given us a lunch recommendation, the Café de Paris.
And not knowing anywhere else to go we decided to try it. That was one of the best decisions ever. While we were contemplating the menu, I saw the dessert the gentleman next to us had ordered. It was the most amazing confection of strawberries, gelato, and whipped cream I had ever seen. While I rarely make food decisions based on what I'm going to have for dessert, I made an exception in this case. I immediately modified my lunch selection to something light so that I would have more than enough room to indulge.
Unfortunately, there are no pictures of what this dessert looked like, because when it came I fell into it face first and inhaled. David was lucky to get one spoonful. But here is a picture of me after I had finished it. And yes, I ate every bite. The only reason I didn't lick the plate clean was because I was afraid they might escort me out of the restaurant before I was ready to go. Truly, in a vacation filled with wonderful food, this took the cake, so to speak.
The café was next door to the casino, so we strolled over after lunch.
We didn't see much of the inside as you're not allowed in the salon unless you have paid an entrance fee (yes, they charge a fee for the privilege of losing more money gambling) and are wearing a suit and tie. So we amused ourselves looking at the cars parked in front of the casino -- a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, and a Rolls Royce -- and watching other tourists have their pictures taken next to these cars they didn't own.
We had missed the Grand Prix by about three days, but the stands were still up. So I sat in the stands --
-- while David took photos of tire marks from the cars racing through in front of the casino. David insisted he had to get this picture for our friend, Doug, who loves Formula 1 racing.
After that, we decided to take the train back to Nice. This is the view from just outside the train station.
Later that evening, still full from lunch, we decided to return to the Cours Saleya and have a drink while people-watching. We sat across from the "American Bar" where all the waiters wore jeans and cowboy hats.
Always a pleasure to see Americans aren't the only ones that stereotype other nationalities. In addition to watching people, we also watched the moon rise.
Then we headed back to our room to prepare for our first day of hiking.
Love your writing as always!
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