Monaco

There are those who come to the south of France to take in the Provencal air, relax into the daily rhythms of the gentle country and sip wine at the cafe from early in the afternoon to late into the balmy night. And then there's me and Elly. We are more apt to see the south of France as ideally situated for seeing a new country every day of the week. Case in point: we decided to go to Monaco last week. It is, after all, only a two hour car ride from Aix-en-Provence, and that Grace Kelly mystique was wafting its siren call to us. So we suited up in our finest (nothing says class and elegance like a faux-tuxedo dress and a silver lame skirt) and took off to the nearest foreign country.

Here's some fun facts about Monaco:

1. The entire country is 3/4 of a square mile
2. One of Europe's most eligible bachelors is the Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert II. He is 52, unmarried and openly speaks about his two illegitimate children (which kind of makes them legitimate, huh?).
3. One of Monaco's greatest legacies is marine conservation advocacy; the country houses the famous Jacques Cousteau Oceanographical Museum

Elly and I played a little game on the drive of holding our breath and making wishes through the tunnels. At first the wishes were kind of modest ("I wish that we win $200 at the casino"), but after the 5th or 6th tunnel we started to get more ambitious. It also could be attributed to the dire lack of oxygen to our brains. Elly's final wish was that we be invited onto a fancy yacht for a weekend cruise to Corsica. We definitely were dressed for such an occasion.

We rolled into Monaco in the early afternoon, had a nice lunch overlooking the bay and then took a stroll around. To our delight, the Grand Prix de Monaco was beginning the next day and so we got to peek at some of the historic cars that would race the following day.

We then wandered around the harbour, looking at all the gigantic yachts and futilely looking for a friend of Elly's who happens to be first mate for a yacht docked there (no luck...apparently asking for a blonde Kiwi named Dave didn't narrow it down enough). But we did see the most darling little chain of kiddie sailing boats launching into the water for a lesson, all their perky, tiny sails bobbing along in a daisy chain. It must be idyllic to grow up in such a small and perfect country.

Eventually we found our way to the marine museum and were treated to a nice mixture of really cool skeletons, formaldehyde remains, aquariums with exotic fish and truly horrendous artwork. It was first class entertainment. The view from the top of the museum was stunning...you could supposedly see all the way to Italy, but it was a bit cloudy. Who can tell anyway without the border drawn onto the countryside?

We also stopped by the famous Monte Carlo Casino, but all the gaming tables were expensive and the slot machines just looked chinsy. We opted instead for a cocktail at the Hotel du Paris across the street. I had a lovely mixture called a snowfall martini; it was a creamy vodka blend with maple syrup and vanilla. Elly had a champagne cocktail and we partook of some first class people-watching while having a really enjoyable conversation about plastic surgery and Botox, inspired by our fellow diners.

I'm really hoping that we'll be able to hit at least a few more countries while we're here. Monaco just didn't feel very substantial after all that driving.