Paris Baby!

Bonjour! 

I am in Paris! 

Oh. my. goodness.

This is going to be a very short update. We left Monaco this morning (Tuesday). We drove to Nice, France and said our goodbyes to Max. He will be prepped for shipping and then make the long journey home to the states. I believe it will take about eight weeks for him to get home.

We then hopped on a plane and flew to Paris, France. It was only an hour flight - easy, peasey. 

When we arrived at the airport, we took a cab to our hotel which is smack-dab in the middle of everything. Since our arrival, we have only had enough time to check-in, take a walk around the area, and return to the hotel for dinner and some relaxation.

I only took a picture of ONE thing today - this Bugatti sports car. It is so hot! A Bugatti in Paris is a great combination!

Tomorrow we start early with a long list of sights to see.

I am in Paris! I still can't believe it!

Au revoir et a demain . . . . Goodbye until tomorrow.

Tiny Country - Big Presence

Oh my goodness! I am in Monaco on the French Riviera! Can you believe that?

Let me just say that it's nice to see how the other half lives!

When I refer to Monaco as tiny . . . I mean TINY.  If you recall, earlier in our travels we stopped in the principality of Liechtenstein on our way to Switzerland. Liechtenstein is only 62 sq. miles.  I thought that was tiny.  Well, I stand corrected.

Monaco's total land mass is less that one mile (.77 sq. miles)! It is the second smallest country in the world - the first being Vatican City in Rome at .44 sq. miles. By comparison, the United States is the third largest country in the world with 3,537,455 sq. miles of land mass.

Monaco is bordered on three sides by France and on the remaining side by the Mediterranean Sea. Now get this: according to the Internet, Monaco has a population of 35,986! Talk about packing them in like sardines! It is the MOST densely populated country (per square mile) in the world.  The residents live in high-rises, which makes sense . . . they have to build vertically since there is no land! So, who lives in Monaco, you may ask? According to the CIA World Factbook, Monaco has the world's lowest poverty rate, and the highest number of millionaires and billionaires per capita in the world. Well, alrighty then!

View of Monaco from The Rock.

Habor in Monaco.

Monaco is known as a principality as it is a constitutional monarchy headed by a prince. The reigning prince is Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi - known as Prince Albert, II. He is the son of Rainier, III and Grace Kelly. I found it interesting that Prince Albert was educated in the states. He graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts. I also thought it was interesting that Monaco became a full UN voting member in 1993. That's a lot of clout for such a small principality.

It's hard to take Monaco in. There's so much to see in such a small area. Upon arrival in Monaco, the first thing that stands out is "The Rock of Monaco".  It is basically a mountain made out of one massive rock that overlooks the city. The oldest section of Monaco (Old Town) is built on The Rock as well as the prince's palace, the cathedral, and the Oceanographic Museum.

The Rock of Monaco

We hiked up the hill and hit all the points of interests in Old Town. It is spotlessly clean and I felt like I was walking in a story book kingdom.

Regarding the palace and the Grimaldi family, their history is very interesting. I hope to return to this section and share more details later.

The palace of Monaco and St. Mary's Tower.

Sentry guard at the palace.

St. Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco
Grace Kelly and Prince Rainer, III are buried here as
well as many of his ancestors.

After exploring Old Town, we walked down the hill and headed to Monaco's most famous quarter - Monte Carlo. We passed by the harbor and saw many beautiful boats there. We also heard an announcement that was broadcast to the entire area via loud speakers that tonight the fireworks competition would be held at the harbor. It was delivered in French, English and Spanish. I recorded it so you could hear.

Looking up at Old Town from below.

My boat in the harbor.

My Bentley.

Monte Carlo is beautiful. I love the architecture and all the french embellishments. We went to the authentic Monte Carlo Casino and it is gorgeous inside. I was not allowed to take pictures, unfortunately. Let me just say that the replica in Las Vegas is nothing like the real thing! I walked from room to room with my mouth open. 

Monte Carlo Casino.

Monte Carlo Casino.

Casino panoramic.

The Paris Hotel in Monte Carlo.

As we were walking past the high-end shops in Monte Carlo, I saw this older gentleman admiring an outfit in the window at Valentino's. You can see he has quite a fashion sense!

We spent the evening at the harbor watching France compete in the International Fireworks Competition. It was awesome. Stan managed to get some footage with his trusty iPhone.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we leave for Paris! Yay!

The French Riviera

Am I here?

Ya'll, if I'm dreaming, don't wake me!

All my life I have heard about the world's most prestigious and publicized Cannes Film Festival and about all the movie stars flocking here to attend. And now, I'm in Cannes! 

Yesterday (Saturday) we bid farewell to Italy and crossed the border into France. It was a pretty drive and the weather was beautiful . . . maybe a little too hot in the afternoon. We got checked in to the hotel and then had lunch on the patio.  The rest of the day was mellow. I stayed indoors in the afternoon to escape the heat and later had dinner overlooking the Promenade de la Croisette (the main boulevard) doing one of my favorite past-times - people watching.  My oh my. There are certainly a lot of beautiful people in Cannes this weekend!

The first thing I realized is that "white" is the uniform this season. White dresses, white pants, white jackets, white hats, white scarves . . . and even the classic little black dress has been replaced with the little white dress.

For him.

For her.

This part of the city has a Beverly Hills / Las Vegas / Miami vibe. The main boulevard stretches along the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and expensive shops, restaurants and hotels line the street. We are staying at the Marriott and thanks to Stan's points, we do not have to pay the asking price of 700 Euros per night. Yay! Big Yay!

JW Marriott in Cannes, France.

Promenade de la Croisette.

Cannes, France.

This morning I got up early and went out to take pictures before the crowds, traffic, and topless sunbathers come out. (This is a G rated blog!) Stan saw an older woman sunbathing topless yesterday and he said that cured him! LOL. Later today we are going to go to Nice to check it out.

Beach in front of our hotel.

Our hotel in the background on the right.

I love the color of the water. You can see to the bottom.

The Carlton is up the street from us and I loved the detail on this building. You know I always check out the architecture.

Carlton Intercontinental.

Carlton Hotel.

I love the detail on this building.

Big yachts and fast cars.

P.S.  I am adding this at the end of the day (Sunday). We did not make it to Nice today afterall. We ended up staying in Cannes. We had a relaxing dinner at the hotel with a view of the sea and the boulevard. Tomorrow we leave for Monaco - just a hop, skip and a jump away.

Dinner in Cannes, France.

The Italian Riviera

Before we left the Tuscan region, we just HAD to stop and take pictures of the sunflower fields. (This reminded me of Lompoc, California when they have their annual Flower Festival and there are fields of flowers everywhere.)  While we were taking pictures, this cute old man walked up the road and we tried to talk to each other but neither one of us understood the other. He wanted me to take his picture because he said he was handsome. I agreed! Such a cutie pie!

Sunflower fields in Tuscany, Italy

Another pretty face.

Cute old man.

We got on the road and headed North-West.  Our destination was Santa Margherita De Ligure (Italian  Riviera) which is on the coast of the Liguarian Sea (an arm of the Mediterranean Sea). This is a part of Italy I have never visited before! After about 3 hours of driving, we arrived at our hotel, got checked in, had a late lunch and then hopped on a bus to go sightseeing in Portofino.

Let me just mention that we are becoming pros at navigating narrow roads and not losing our lunch during scary bus rides along the cliffs. Thank you very much!

Portofino is a small Italian fishing village with a small harbor and lots of little shops. I don't know very much about it, but look how pretty it is.

Portofino, Italy.
(taken from the church)

Stan was shooting right into the sun so it
was hard to get a good shot.

See the yellow church on the left?

Our main quest was to see a 15th century castle called "Castello Brown." It is perched waaaayy up on a hill. In fact, the pictures above were taken from the castle's terrace. So you can see how far we hiked to get up there . . . and it was hot . . . and I was sweaty . . . which is why I am not in any pictures today!

On the way to the castle, we stopped at the yellow church and people were gathering for a wedding. I took a quick snipet of the bride as she arrived in a little scooter car.

Little yellow church in Portofino.

Cliffs beside the church. So beautiful.

The water looked turquoise along the edges.

So, back to the castle. From what we could learn, the castle was a fortress that protected Portofino until it became strategicly unnecessary and was sold in 1867 to Montague Yeats Brown who was the English consul in Genoa, Italy. He renovated it and used it as a private residence until his death in 1905. His heirs held the property until 1949 and then sold it to an English couple, Colonel and Mrs. John Baber who restored several ruined sections. They in turn sold it in 1961 to the City of Portofino who turned the property into a museum.

Oddly, after all that, I didn't take a single picture of the castle! Can you believe that? LOL. I did, however shoot a short video on the way up. I also pulled a picture off the Internet so you can see where we were.

By the way, Elizabeth von Arnim wrote her book, "Enchanted April" here in 1922, and the 1992 movie was filmed here as well.

Castello Brown

Grape vines on the castle property.
Reminded me of my grandmother's house.