Blog #9 – Hello from Monaco

Ferraris, yachts, royalty and the famous Casino where James Bond gambled.  While we tried to blend in and to appear to be just another rich couple casually strolling around the harbour of Port Hercule in Monte Carlo, somehow I think we just looked like the tourists that we were.  Yesterday morning (Sep 30^th) we arose and had a birthday breakfast with Andrew and Birgit to celebrate Andrew’s 50^th birthday.   Although someone set off the fire alarm after burning their toast (no names will be mentioned, but his initials are AWS), the breakfast at our hotel in Courmayeur was a very good buffet that provided us with lots of nourishment for our daily adventures. 

Does this young man really look 50?

After saying our goodbyes to Andrew and Birgit, we headed out to the Autostrada (toll highway) to head down to Monaco.  After passing Torino (Turin) we veered off the main highway to take a winding road through the coastal mountains.  It was the most scenic drive we have experienced so far on our journey and well worth the extra half hour that it added to our trip.

Good Byes from Hotel Villa Novecento in Courmayeur, Italy.

A picture from one of the many gorges on the drive from Cuneo to Monte Carlo.  This picture was taken France, as we had to cut through a corner of the country.  We actually entered and left France on four occasions on our trip.

Someone painted a funny picture of a pig on this rock in one of the gorges we passed.  You can see the water rushing by to the right.  There was a warning sign that said not to go down into the area because of possible flash floods from upstream dams that might release water unexpectedly, so we kept our distance as advised and used the telephoto lens on the camera to take this picture.

The entrance to Monaco was quite spectacular as we drove around a corner and saw the country spread out along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.  It reminded us very much of the first views we had of Chania in Crete when we first saw this Mediterranean port in 2008.  We stopped the car for pictures just as we had then, but sadly Kristin was not with us on this trip to share the experience with us as she was in Greece, but I’m sure she will remember and will at least share the experience vicariously this time.

Getting down into Monte Carlo from high up on the cliffs was quite an experience as it involved driving down steep narrow roads with many switch-backs (S-turns).  Although we had maps to our hotel, our experience has been that trying to follow maps while driving in Europe is very difficult.  So trusting to my instincts when we got into town, I said to Sandy, let’s turn right here at this intersection and with any luck, we’ll drive right by our hotel – and that is exactly what happened, quite by luck I’m sure, but I’ll take whatever luck I can get when coming into a city famous for its casino. 

After getting settled into our hotel, we went exploring, starting with the harbour and all the yachts, followed by a walk up to the Monaco Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium and then a walk by the Palace.  When we planned our trip, we decided against buying museum and aquarium tickets on the Internet because we did not know if we would get into town in time.  When we checked in, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that they came free with our room (a €26 value) and that the two facilities were open until 7:00 pm – another lucky break.  We also saw that the price of our room, if you had just walked into the hotel off the street was €400 per night, plus €26 each for the hot buffet breakfast.  We got this package for €190 when we booked the hotel on the Internet – another good break; the signs were looking good if we were going to go to the Casino.  Here are some pictures from our walk around Monte Carlo.

Yachts in the harbour of Port Hercule in Monte Carlo.

Scorpion Fish in the Monaco Aquarium.

Silverfish in the Monaco Aquarium.

Mediterranean Brown Eel in the Monaco Aquarium.  This eel is the oldest fish in the aquarium’s collection.  It was caught and donated by a fisherman in 1968 and was already adult size at that time.

Common Cuttlefish

Hermit Crab

Wide-eyed Flounders - Can you spot all four flounders?

Lorne and Sandy on a stroll in Monte Carlo.

Sandy in front of the Palace in Monaco with a Palace Guard in the background.  Just like the Swiss Guards at the Vatican, she could not get close enough to pose with this palace guard either.

Unfortunately, the pool closed at 8:00 PM and we were too late to get in.  But I did manage to step into the water by mistake with my nice hotel slippers on and got them all wet.  There was a series of steps into the pool with a closed gate after the first step.  I didn’t see the water above that first step when I went to see if the gate was unlocked. Fortunately, there was another pair of slippers in our room and Sandy had brought her own, so I kept the dry ones, which have been handy for walking on the tile floor in our Tuscany apartment.  A hotel employee came out to tell us the pool was closed, so we asked him to take a picture of us wearing the plush bathrobes that the hotel provides for its guests.

Lorne and Sandy try to go for a late-night swim before heading out for the Casino.

After our non-swim in the hotel pool, we got all dressed up for the Casino and walked down the hill.  When we got there, we saw five Ferraris parked in front and a policeman giving a ticket to some poor guy driving an ordinary Audi with his kids in the back - I guess he didn’t drive a fancy-enough car.  We went into the entrance and discovered that we both needed to present our passports to get in.  Since one of us forgot their passport, we made the 8 minute hike uphill back to our hotel room, got the passport and returned to the Casino.  Admission was €10 each.  We bought two drinks (a beer and a cocktail) for €26 and went in to watch the action.  The beer was a special Monaco brand, which was originally created in Monaco, but is now brewed in France.

Sandy dressed up for the Casino.

Although the Casino was very beautifully decorated in the style of some of the museums and churches we have seen with old paintings and fine wood works, we were quite surprised by how sedate the whole atmosphere was.  There were only two roulette tables and two black jack tables operating in the main Casino and about 60 slot machines.  The volume on the slot machines was quite low and the atmosphere was nothing at all like the casinos in Quebec that we have seen.  There was a room with some high rollers that we did not bother to pay the extra €20 to go see.  We watched some of the action (if you can call it that) and then I decided to try my luck at a slot machine.  I put in €20 and promptly lost €8, so I asked Sandy to press a few buttons and we immediately won €28.70.  So we cashed out with our €20.70 net profit which covered the cost of admission for us.  So I guess all the lucky breaks we got earlier in the day were a sign that we would be lucky at the Casino that night.

Lorne dressed up for the Casino.  Although most people were dressed up like us, they did let people in wearing jeans and t-shirts.  This was the only time I wore my jacket and tie on our vacation.