Monaco is a country that covers only a three mile stretch of the Mediterranean coastline, a miniature constitutional monarchy whose entire country could fit into one half of New York's Central Park. It touches France on the west and Italy on the east. You can hop between three countries in about 20 minutes. If you have a foreign passport, you can enter the Monaco casino for a pitifully small sum of 10 euros (around $13US)--that's just to walk in the door! Locals are not allowed in the casino. Average price of a home here is $4 million. The mountains (the Southern Alps) are packed with villas and homes built into and on the hillsides creating an incredible density -- homes are so close together you could pass the Grey Poupon. Thus, Monaco has run out of room to expand so they have built buildings right over the roads as well as reclaimed land from the sea.
Monaco is also know for the Formula 1 Grand Prix race. Our visit here coincides with this event; we are at anchor for three days. People on the ship paid $1,000 for a grandstand seat to the race, with entry to the pits going for a mere $15,000 per person. I wish I had that kind of money to burn. Here is a description of the event: "cars screech past designer boutiques, squeeze along starred-eateries, rocket through a darkened tunnel at warp speed, rumble across ancient byways, and literally rip the writing off the crowd controlled barricades separating the viewers from those vying for the title by little more than the length of a smoking Gauloise." The car that gets the pole position usually wins because the streets are so narrow, that there is no room to pass.
And one cannot forget Princess Grace, the American actress Grace Kelly, who married a prince and tragically died while driving on the Moyenne Corniche in 1982. Ask your friends what a corniche is (hint: its a scary narrow highway on the side of a mountain).
I had a tour to Nice and Eze, France (it is affectionally called nice and easy). Michael had been to Eze before and raved about it, so of course, I had to check it out. I am generally a cautious person, but also curious and sometimes I leave common sense checked at the door. Knowing full well what I was in store for, I made my way up the mountain side on ancient narrow cobblestone steps ascending at a steep angle and with switchbacks. It was a good thing this excursion was first. Sometimes there were hand rails, but mostly not. In this ancient medieval village, we passed gift shops, and restaurants and cafes. I can't imagine how they could stay in business. But I made it to the top and was rewarded with a magnificant view of the coastline. The site has been inhabited since 2000 BC by a variety of conquerors, and became a part of France in 1860.
After descending at a leisurely pace, we had a refreshment stop and there was free and fast wifi! Woo hoo, what a treat. Unfortunately, it was the middle of the night back home so I could not FaceTime and talk to my darling Isabelle, whom I miss terribly. We were then off to Nice.
Nice is on the French Rivera. Driving along the middle corniche, we passed small villages crammed with houses on the hillsides. We drove through tunnels and saw beautiful bays along the craggy coastline. I had been to Nice on a previous trip, but we had more time to explore on this trip. The homes are jammed together nilliwilli. Wherever there was a patch of ground, there was a building. The effect was a canvas of yellows and many shades of pink, overlayed with a sea of orange rooftops. To add a little splash of color, shutters were painted a light green. Tall window balconies were accented with filigree railings. This makes for a painter's picture perfect spot.
The marina was filled with large yachts. Driving along the beach promenade, Cours Saleya, we saw palm trees and blue chairs. There were people playing on the beach, but no one was in the water. The beaches are not sand, but pebbles. Ouch! The water is way too cold for swimming (70 deg) unless you are a polar bear. We had about 45 minutes to visit the flower and fruit market, and boy was it busy. The open air pedestrian mall went on for what seemed like 1/2 mile filled with vendors selling nothing but flowers, fruit and pastries. Time was up, so I headed back to the bus and returned to the ship, where I spent the next two days aboard resting my knees for the upcoming visit to Florence.
We stayed on board during day two of our visit here as this was race day and the city was virtaully closed to all but race activity. On day three Michael ventured ashore and walked up to the palace. He saw the royal residence, the royal gardens, the residence of the Secretary of State and the cathedral. It was here that Prince Ranier and Princess Grace were married and it is also here that they are entombed. Michael also pased by all the Royal museums and was able to capture some incredible photos on his way back to the ship.
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