Blogs from Monte Carlo, Monaco, Europe - page 7

The thing about going to bed at 10.00 is that one tends to rise early! I was up before the sun, but no matter. I came out onto the balcony to watch the beginning of the day and to write. How lovely. The hills begin to light up and mist falls. The roosters are actually crowing and I can smell the lavender all around me. What a way to start the day. Then, that pot of fabulous French café au lait arrives and the start reaches perfection. The New Me has really taken over here. I can’t connect to the internet this morning for some odd reason. The Old Me would have had a fit and gotten completely frustrated. The New Me shrugs and reminds the Old Me that we can connect later in the day. ... read more

Thursday 5th June: Spent the morning window shopping and 'people watching' along the busy strip adjacent to my hotel before finally settling down for lunch opposite my hotel. I started chatting to a couple from Scotland (photo below) who were sitting next to my table - Michael was an artist and Jeanette a librarian. They were a great couple who had been married for 3 years and Michael had brought Jeanette to Southern France for her 50th birthday. We chatted for almost 2 hours about travel and cultures around the world and I was totally humbled to find that Jeanette had taken care of my lunch and wine bill while I had ducked out to the toilet. (Thanks Michael and Jeanette - I know you will read this). I then headed for Monte Carlo in Monaco ... read more

What do you get when you mix really sexy cars with fabulous Europeans, mega-yachts, the French Riviera, and a lot of screaming testosterone? I should preface this by stating that regardless of how this is written, it will inevitably come across sounding hoity-toity. For that, I apologize, but who are we kidding... this is the Monaco Grand Prix. The subject matter doesn’t quite lend itself to a humble, penny-pinching, off the beaten track travel narrative. Formula One racing could quite possibly be the most moneyed sport in the world. And the Monaco Grand Prix is quite definitely the one event of the year that showcases the world’s most moneyed sport best. It’s pretty much glamour, prestige, cha-ching cash, and the kind of scene that makes ghetto rap music video gold-diggers wet themselves, rolled into 78 laps ... read more

Ok picture this: It's cold and raining, you're sitting uncomfortably on the side of a muddy cliff and if you slip you will most likely die, you've had to get up at 5am to get to this cliff, you are also starving. You try and sleep but it's uncomfortable and rain is dripping on your face, plus the noise is just deafening. Now picture this: You are in a helicopter it lands on the back of a super yacht, you are greeted by Quentin Tarantino who passes you a glass of champagne, you wander over and nibble on caviar whilst talking to P Diddy about the economy. When you think 'Monaco Grand Prix' you probably have visions of the second situation, unfortunately we were faced with the first. I have to admit it was pretty miserable ... read more

This was probably one of the coolest days of my life up to this point. I laid on a beautiful beach, went to a place where the rich and powerful hang out, walked around the most famous formula 1 circuit while the teams unloaded their equipment for the race, and hung out with some movie stars. Let's begin. It was sunny! And hot! And we went to the beach! It was a pretty start to the day. We sunscreened up and just laid on the beach for a few hours.... Finally! It would have been pretty sad if Oosduinkerke was our only beach on this trip. Actually, the beach in Nice is quite rocky, but the water was a lot warmer. A LOT warmer. I left after about three hours to avoid getting a severe sunburn ... read more