After getting ourselves oriented in Nice we spent the next day in Monaco. The principality is only about 2 km² so we pretty much covered the entire place in a day.
Started off the day greeted by this sign. It's on the road leading up to the Palace. I think signs like this should be posted everywhere in the world. No one wants to see men in speedos aka nut-huggers aka banana hammocks.
Palace guard guarding the royals from invasion and/or rabid Asian tourists.
Shot of the Palace. It's quite grand.
View from the Palace of the neighboring residential area. The smaller yachts are probably still about 100 feet long. I'll be talking more about yachts when I get to the Cannes post.
Shot of the marina. You can make out the pit area and a bit of the road/track used in the F1 race.
People starting to line up for the changing of the Palace guards.
Guards changing. It was meh. The changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace is way cooler but I'm biased because I find their hats absolutely hilarious.
I always wondered if their assault rifles were loaded. The Monaco Palace guards had assault rifles as well but I'm pretty sure they're just for show. I wasn't at all tempted to find out. As the oft-misunderstood poetic genius DMX eloquently stated in Romeo Must Die, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."
Then we were off to L'Jardin Exotique. It was basically a giant cactus garden. Cacti garden? Garden full of cacti? My English has really started to suck lately. Damn Spain.
The cool part was that they had this cave that you could explore. It was a guided tour but unfortunately it was all in French. Parlez vous Francais? Non.
Looks like a scene from The Hobbit. All it was missing was Golom asking where his precious was.
All that spelunking got us thirsty and hungry so we stopped by a local pizzeria for some food. It was all we could afford in Monaco. Nah, prices for stuff was pretty much in line with any touristy area.
We tried to balance out the unhealthy food by having a salad as well but our salad came nicely topped with bacon, bleu cheese and dressing. Healthy eating fail.
Ah, the epitome of F' You money in Europe. The Casino in Monte Carlo. I grew up in LA so seeing people flaunt their wealth isn't anything new to me. Walking down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills or grabbing lunch on Sunset you'd see plenty of flashy cars and ostentatious signs of wealth but seeing it in Europe gave it a bit different feel. Less new money douchebag and more I've had money for so long I think my trust fund has a trust fund.
2 Ferraris, 1 Audi R8, a MB McLaren SLR AMG, and a sprinkling of other high-end European automobiles.
2 Bentleys and a Ferrari California.
...and a partridge in a pear tree.
Ferrari 458 Italia. In case you weren't sure how much HP this car had the driver subtly hinted on his license plate how much it had. I'm not sure if he's talking at the wheel or crank because official figures state that it's 570. Oh btw I like cars, if you couldn't tell.
Are these cars of guests at the hotel? No. These are the taxis in Monaco. We saw the same in Nice where what we, Americans, would consider higher end automobiles are used as taxis. In the US we get Ford Crown Victorias.
Tunnel entrance. F1 fans should easily recognize this. I never really got to watch a lot of F1 racing in the US as a kid. I used to watch a good amount when I was in Japan, but just like soccer, F1 is just not as big in the States. So, my introduction to the details of the Monaco track came from good 'ole Gran Turismo 4. I would blast through these tunnels in my heavily modified R34 Skyline GT-R. God, I'm such a nerd.
Leading up to the crazy 90 degree turn that they have to make before the start/finish line. Can't imagine how awesome it is to come barreling through the tunnel and slam on the brake pedal, downshift and make that turn.
The real event is just around the corner.
The excitement of reliving my glory days in Gran Turismo and relaying my excitement to my poor SO left me thirsty. Don't worry she's already accepted that she's marrying a huge dork. Acceptance is the final stage of dealing with it. So we're good.
Dinner at Quai des Artistes. Started off with some oysters and some escargot.
Creamy seafood risotto.
Lobster.
Grand Marnier infused soufflé. The thing was soaked in Grand Marnier so I quite enjoyed it. Total price of above meal with drinks was about 130 euros. Was it worth it? Not really. Meal was decent but not superb. I've had better meals for half the price but I can now say I've had a nice dinner in Monaco.
We realized that the next train wasn't leaving for another hour but instead of blowing more money in Monaco we decided to sit at the train station and wait for it to arrive.
Even the train station in Monaco is nice. Rich people don't use public transportation so I guess it's for the commoners and the tourists. The plebeians must wallow in this filth. What a tragedy.
And our time in Monaco came to a close. I thought Monaco was interesting. It was a bit too sanitary for our liking. Everything was tidy and safe but it kinda killed all character of the city. I guess the character is "rich" but that's not very interesting. Being that the House of Grimaldi has ruled the area since 1297 and that the area has a rich culture of settlement I was hoping for some more history but the richies basically nixed that idea and built all their fancy apartments and streets. Eh, who needs culture when you got a multimillion dollar condo, a multitude of exotics in your garage and a ginormous yacht in the harbor. Hell, I wouldn't want some shanty looking old building blocking my view of the Mediterranean. I'd be the first one out there with a shovel . Actually, I'd be the first one out there paying some guy to shovel.
So, I guess scroll up for Post #3.
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