Incident at the toll booth and a few hours with the rich and famous in Monaco

---

Wednesday 28th October
Incident at the toll booth and a few hours with the rich and famous in Monaco
We are still adjusting to the demise of daylight saving last Sunday and the location of our hotel high up in the hills behind Nice means there is no traffic noise so sleeping in is easy.
We have one English speaking TV channel and that is the BBC but after an hour of watching it all the same news is repeated again it is just as well we can rely on Newstalk ZB from home via the laptop to give us ongoing variety contact with the outside world.The internet connection in this hotel is one of the fastest and most stable we have had on this adventure.
We wanted to be a bit earlier on the road today as we head for Monaco as we want to be there in time for the changing of the guard outside the Palace of the Principality which takes place at exactly 11.55am daily.
We also have a mind to take a drive up the hill to the medieval town of St Jeannet where the houses cling to the hillside below the massive rock cliff face that towers above the town.However we will save that until we come back from Monaco so we don’t run ourselves short on time to get to the changing of the guard.
This morning we have opted for the toll road to Monaco about 15km north of Nice along the coast.This will ensure we don’t have to drive through Nice which would be a much slower way of getting to our destination.
We had expected to pay a toll when we entered the motorway or pick up a ticket to pay a toll against where we come off the motorway at Monaco but neither happened and we just sped on our way.However part way along the road we were faced with a toll booth and were required to throw €1.40 into a basket,this time I didn’t give the money to Gretchen until we stopped at the barrier so the money wouldn’t be sticky in her warm hand and fail to make the basket and fall on the road when she tossed it!!
So was this all we would have to pay in tolls?We still had another 7 or 8 km to go to the turnoff to Monaco and we were still inside France.Surely there wouldn’t be another toll to pay unless we were driving on the motorway on the Italian side of the border.We had enough money in the nature of a €50 note and a host of coins.
We reached the turnoff and started on the downhill grade and then there in front of us was another set of toll booth’s only at this one there didn’t appear to be any human’s around to take our 50Euro note for the toll if you didn’t have the correct, or as it turned out for us,enough in coin.We had a lot of coins except that they were mainly 1,2 and 5 cent pieces and they didn’t add up to the required €2.The we did spot a shadowy figure in the toll booth next to the lane we chose which was unfortunately ,automated.
There was however a card facility and the sign indicated that just about every card known to man would be accepted for the €2 toll.So Gretchen started by poking ‘the big daddy of them all’,the GoldMastercard,the card with the highest available credit limit and well in excess of the €2 toll, into the slot.The machine didn’t like the card at all and an automated voice in French from the machine told her to choose another card.Gretchen put the card into the slot again but this time another way around and repeated her actions until the card had gone into the slot every which way possible.But it still wouldn’t take the €2 toll and let us on our way by lifting the barrier.
By now,as you would expect,a line of other cars were piling up behind us unaware of the predicament we were in.We must say at this point cars immediately behind us l very sympathetic as they could see Gretchen half hanging out of RR stretching her short arm as far as she could putting the card in the slot, only to have it rejected.Cars further back in the queue obviously could not see what our problem was and there was some tooting of horns to add to the excitement.
Gretchen followed the GoldMastercard with all the other eligible cards we had with us,VISA,VISA debit card,Kiwibank Mastercard and the Euro travel card.The machine would not accept any of them!!
Things were now getting desparate.We didn’t think that the machine would allow the barrier to open if we threw the €1.71 in coins into the basket when €2 was the toll it wanted.There was no slot in which to put our 50€ note and if there was how could we be sure we would get 48€ in change back and we weren’t prepared to have our €50 note disappear for a €2 toll.
Running out of ideas to break the deadlock between us and the barrier, Gretchen got out of RR and went to the toll booth at the next lane and got the attention of the woman operator who babbled in broken English to ‘push the button’to make the card be accepted. Back she came and tried with a card again but with no success.
As a last resort she grabbed the €50 note and went back to the woman in the next door toll booth and got change.
With a €2 coin tossed into the basket the barrier opened and we were on our way.
Now all of this might have been a funny incident but for the stress of arriving up against a barrier with insufficient coin,cards that seemingly didn’t work and no way to back out of the toll gate with a stream of other cars behind us.
We shall however put it down to as Stan,our GC mate in Tauranga,would say”you’ll have lots of little incidents that will make your trip memorable”.I think Gretchen would have preferred this little incident had not happened and I am now on notice to always have plenty of €1 and €2 coins on hand for when we do use a toll road so we don’t get caught out again!!!
It has taken a while to tell this little tale of the morning which in reality actually lasted only 3 or 4 minutes and you are probably wondering if we made it to the changing of the guard.Well, read on.
The road heads down into a tunnel a kilometre long shortly after the toll booth to emerge just above Monaco,below but in sight of the world famous zigzag on which Princess Grace and her daughter were tragically killed in a road accident and where 007 has raced many of the baddies in at least 2 Bond movies that I can remember.
Monaco is roughly 2km square in size and only just a bit larger than the Vatican City.It doesn’t have a border as such,well at least not on this road we were on so you cannot tell where the Principality starts and France ends.There is one subtle change that is obvious,the policemen wear different uniforms to those in France.
The place is so small that you would wonder why anyone bothers to drive a car around its narrow streets especially when they have shiny new, huge public buses traversing the country.We figured out that most of the traffic that was moving had come in from France while the cars parked outside the flashy hotels,the big Bentleys,Mercedes etc etc were all local as they had the distinctive red chequered flag on their number plate.These cars,when not parked outside a hotel or the casino would be in some underground car park of the apartment block the owner lived in.
There are plenty of car parking building options for visitors and you have to take one of these as there is nowhere to park on the streets.We chose one that meant we had a 15 minute minute walk down the rest of the hill to the harbour and then along the foreshore and up another small hill to the palace.
Yes,we did get there in time and although we didn’t get a place to stand in the front of the roped off area around where the ceremony would take place we did have a fairly good vantage place all the same.
We should say here that besides the policemen dressing differently to those of France,there is another obvious difference to France and even more so nearby Italy,that the Principality has extremely clean streets with not a bit of rubbish in our view as we strode along to the palace.
The show got underway sharp at 11.55am with the peeling of the palace bell. With some fanfare from a couple of trumpet players and two soldiers playing drums the changing of the guard took place. There was no barking of orders from the sergeant at arms as we saw in London.It was all a rather genteel ceremony that lacked a bit of formality.Even the snapping together of heels of the soldiers as they made their turns wasn’t sharp like in Athens or Washington DC or some of the other places around the world we have seen this age old ceremony take place.The music though we must say was very good and it was sort of bouncy giving a bit of a show type effect to the proceedings.
It was all over in less than 10 minutes and the crowd dispersed while we walked down the narrow lane opposite the palace entrance past the souvenir shops to the cathedral where Price Ranier married his sweetheart Grace Kelly who became Princess Grace of Monaco.The cathedral is located on the top of a cliff overlooking the bay and from the top of the steps the view was just beautiful with the sea twinkling in the warm midday sunshine.
We had brought 2 hours worth of parking at the place we had left RR but it was clear we were going to need to buy more by the time we got back after having lunch,taking in the super yachts and calling by the casino before we were finished with our few hours in Monaco.
As we went to walk back to the path down to the shoreline we spotted a very French looking cafe with exposed wooden beams and old dark stained timber furniture fittings that had crepes of all varieties on its lunchtime blackboard menu.We took a seat and ordered up a crepe with apple sauce for me while Gretchen had one of lemon and sugar all washed down with a light French white wine while we did what people here in cafes do,watch the world go by.
The view out over the harbour and the Principality of Monaco from the terrace next to the palace was all encompassing and very photogenic.
Back down the hill we walked around the foreshore to just some of the super yachts that were berthed in the harbour.On the way we had to pass the only thing we did not like particularly about Monaco and that was a row of sideshows with some loud noise and music coming from at times.Perhaps this was here now only because it was school holidays but it detracted from the small area it occupied.
The super yachts that we saw in Cannes were like row boats compared to the ones berthed here in Monaco.Many of them had several decks and all manner of gadgets.One had a stern door open and inside was enough diving equipment to keep 20 or so people geared up for some serious diving activities.
One boat that really did stand out was not actually a super yacht but a gigantic speed boat of a very sleek design and painted black.That craft was sure built for speed!!
Time had run out on the car park and we still had the casino to do but the man running the car park building said we could just pay the difference when we got back so we continued our stroll around the Principality and up the hill to the casino.
The casino commands a majestic view out over the sea although we guess no one pays any attention to that as we expect only those with serious gambling on their minds go inside and couldn’t care less about the view.It is a stylish building along with many of the other purpose built ones and is surrounding by a garden,a rare addition when there is so little room.
You can see most of the things here in 3 hours and that is what we achieved.Obviously you could spend more time and just sit and watch the flash cars and well heeled people go about their business but for us it was time to head home.
This time we took the road along the coast through Nice home.
We did have one more little bit of excitement before we got ourselves out of Monaco.
We knew we had to locate a tunnel that ran under the hill the palace stands on and in doing so we came to an intersection with roads going in all directions.A policeman who didn’t seem to be doing anything but standing in the roadway and as Gretchen made eye contact with him he pointed in the direction we should be going.So we did.
We got about half way down the section of road and heard a loud whistle which sounded like it was aimed at us.Gretchen came to a stop and looked at the policeman in the rear view mirror.He was waving his hand for us to reverse back,not one of Gretchen’s favourite manoeuvres in RR which doesn’t have the greatest visibility for reversing.We reversed back and this time the policeman was more specific about where we should be driving and that was the next piece of road to the left.
As we did so we noticed that vehicles were coming towards where we would have been on the first lane we took.He had directed us down the wrong lane and it was just as well the traffic light was red at the other end or we would have met those opposing vehicles!!
We found the tunnel which is quite an amazing construction just hewn out of rock with the sides left rough.Out the other side and we were back in France.
This way home gave a short opportunity to take in the beachfront promenade and buildings in Nice and on this lovely late autumn afternoon there were heaps of people out enjoying the windless, sunny day.The building along the seafront are mostly residential with cafes interspersed and all are very French in style.It made a pleasant change to see a large city without its commercial area taking up the best views to be had.
By the time we got back up the hill to our hotel low cloud had rolled in off the sea and St Jeannet had disappeared behind it so we shall leave our visit until tomorrow morning and hope the weather clears for us.

---

Photos

The crepe lunch,Monaco
Murray looking on thinking crepes for lunch sounded good for him too!!

Comments

[Chris]

Two fat friends
From the picture of Gretchen and her two friends it just goes to show - don't eat too many crepes in Monaco.