October 21 - Monaco

Well, here's Monaco. 32,ooo people squeezed into a 2km square area - you can actually walk across the country in 56 minutes (how's that for a fascinating fact). There's no personal income tax here - the result is that 80% of the population are rich foreign nationals - and that wealth is very obvious from the size of the yachts and the make of cars everywhere. It is, though, very interesting to be here.




After arriving by train (only 20mn from Nice) we headed to the Royal Grimaldi palace, where Prince Albert resides. (Where he keeps the bimbos is unknown.) Someone had told us the changing of the guard is fascinating to watch at noon everyday but when we arrived a sign was posted saying it was cancelled for today.
The picture here shows the outside of the palace - quite plain, not a very ornate style. It was raining so we moved on St Nicholas Cathedral where Princess Grace was married and later entombed.



Here's the picture of her grave - Gratia Patricia is the name engraved. Below I am lighting a candle in her memory.

Another couple of photos of the harbour.

Some of the architecture in Moneco is stunning - lots of Beaux Arts style. This is is the Prince Rainier Theatre.

Above is the famous Monte Carlo casino. We just peeked inside - this ain't your regular Vegas casino - beautiful opulent rooms for the baccarat and other table games.

Below is a beautiful hotel near the casino - The Hotel de Paris - Queen Victoria stayed here and
other royalty has since then. By now, I was tires hiking up and down the hills so Carl bought me an ice cream and then back to Nice. We are stealing free WiFi from McDonalds by sitting in the bar above it. It saves us 25 euros a day for hotel wifi but they are getting it back on our bar bills...