Monaco!

Its really quite silly that I've been in France for over a month and haven't been to Monaco yet. It is only a fifty minute train ride away. So when me and my friend Uuljan were at the pool the other day and this nice British couple offered us free tickets to go the Monaco Yacht show this weekend we figured it would be a great opportunity. We left Antibes around 1 and got into the train station just a little before 2. As soon as we got off the train it was clear we weren't in Kansas anymore. Nice and Antibes are beautiful but Monaco is like a dream, not quite real. The harbor was right there as we got off the train and so we mosied on down to the docks, got our passes and headed on in. The wealth around us was incredible. We went into some of the trade show halls and it was filled with this and that to put on your yacht. Bedding and china and bathroom hardware and carpet you name it. You could even buy an island inside. Crazy. We only hit up a few of those halls as the main attraction, the yachts, are what we really came for. I have never seen anything like even one of these boats and then here was an entire harbor filled with boats, yachts, houses on water or whatever you would call this gorgeous monstrosities. I thought of Nick during the whole thing because while I was impressed a true boat lover would probably be in heaven.

After the Yacht show we hiked up a beautiful road (Monaco is very hilly...kinda like an extreme San Fran) towards the Casino and the Opera. Both were very gorgeous. We went inside the Casino but it was very quiet and filled with some serious gamblers. Not like I've seen Vegas portrayed in the US. Outside of the Monte Carlo were more signs of wealth than I've ever seen. Rolls Royce's (wow that is a big car), Bentleys and more BMW's and Mercede's than you can shake a stick at. The stores around it were Cartier, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Bulgari ( you get the idea). We then met up with a boy Uuljan (my friend I was with) had met a week ago. He lives in Monaco and helped us take the bus to the Royal Palace (Palais Princier). It wouldn't have been a far walk from the harbor but it was basically up a mountain side. The palace wasn't much to look at. Very old style, pretty but not ornate. However the views were incredible. You could see all of Monaco (not saying much as it could fit inside Central Park) and all the harbor. Gorgeous! After the Palace we went to the Cathedrale de L'immaculee-Conception. Once again the outside was pretty but nothing crazy, however the inside holds the tombs of the Royal Family (the Grimaldi's) including Princess Grace's tomb. Her tomb, as well as her husbands has fresh flowers all over them. The Palace and the Cathedrale make up the tiny portion of what is left of medieval Monaco. After walking around we walked down the mountain/hill and went to dinner. It was this place called Stars N' Bars that was in my tour book and they had a lot of American dishes.

After a long day we took a very hot and smelly train home. An incredible day, and something I'm really glad I got the chance to see!

For my Monaco Pictures click on this Link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031568&id=1236060363&l=dd5d64e342