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Our first day in France.
11 days and 6 countries (not including home) were you keeping count? This morning was spent with a short drive to Monaco from our ship docked in VilleFranche on the French Riviera. It has a micro climate here so palm trees and banana plants are common. The drive is along the coast along winding roads on hills, kind of like Cape Breton …but rich, populated, tropical, yachts in the water. Ok, maybe not so much like Cape Breton other than the winding drive. We see the road where Grace Kelly went off the road and died in a car crash. Not as tiny & winding as the ones in Capri and Sorrento though.
Monaco is wealthy, no crappy old cars here. To buy a studio apartment here, the starting cost is over 1 million Euros. I should also mention this is the home of the Grand Prix and we drive along some of that too.
Our first stop is at the Monaco cathedral where the Princess of Monaco was wed & then buried. We can take pictures in the cathedral but not at the tombs. Grace Kelly has fresh flowers on her tomb,
suits & helmets
a common view in europe but much more dressy here in Monacored roses, orchids and others. Along the city I’ve noticed there are signs with her picture and name on them as some sort of tribute.
We stroll up to the royal palace in Monaco called the Prince’s Palace. They have police moving traffic rather than street lights. I grabbed a picture of one of them when our guide said the prince must be about to arrive. Sure enough moments later he did and waved at me and a few others while still in his car before his car is driven through the palace wooden gates and out of view. We can go for a tour of the palace for 8 Euros I think. I went exploring instead.
This is a special time for Monaco as the Tour de France begins here tomorrow which only happens once every 50 years. The small city is bustling and I’ve spotted a number of the cyclists throughout the city getting ready. You can tell it’s them just by the paparazzi. When we were in London, Wimbledon was there. Some people saw the pope when we were in Vatican City. Here I’ve seen Prince Albert, now we just need to see Lance Armstrong
Tour de France
starts in Monaco the day after we are here, the day after they are in Marseille just after us and then Barcelona soon after we leave. to add to the fun :P
We go to Monte Carlo and see the casinos. The big one, Grand Casino costs 10 Euro just to go in. It is closed for the day as they prepare for the big weekend ahead due to the Tour de France. I passed on going into the other one and head to the pretty little park across from the casinos after grabbing a fancy French pastry in the very chic mall here. I hope my pics upload today, I am dying to show them to you. I’ve taken over 100 pics everyday and you’ve only seen a very few.
VilleFranche is very pretty and has a sweet smell to it due to all of the lavender & soaps for sale. I finally have an afternoon on my own. I’m on the French Riviera so what am I going to do? After strolling through some of the town I decide it’s too hot and I want to grab some French food. The only place to be is sitting at a restaurant, outside on the waterfront under an umbrella. Before I do I spot the beach! I go over and walk in the water.
The beach is free and is very small rocks rather than fine sand but the water is very warm and comfortable. Oh yeah, it is a topless beach and all of you hoping to see topless women will just have to go yourself. I had a decadent meal on the water with seafood cooked in foie gras with French bread & finished with crepes covered in hot chocolate, whipped cream & hazelnuts… still eating my way across Europe :P
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Jilly
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happy b'day!!
Hi guys, Still enjoying the blog from pei. Had a bit of sun, but still getting clouds and some rain. Happy Belated Amber!!!! Hope you enjoyed your day in Monte Carlo and the french riviera, what a way to spend it. It looks fantastic, have to get there someday for sure!