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<\/a>View from Bus<\/p><\/div>\n
Today we will visit our fourth country of the trip. It will just be for the day. We leave the guesthouse a little before 0800. We plan on catching either the 0825 or 0840 bus to Monaco. We make good time on our walk and the 0825 bus is waiting at the stop. We board, buy our tickets, and find a seat. The bus is nice in that the stops come up digitally and display the next stop so there is no guessing on our part. As we leave Nice, we start to climb and the views out to sea are great. I manage to take one or two in between the bushes, walls, and fences that line the road. Then we just sit back and enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Monaco<\/p><\/div>\n
We enter Monaco and then get off at the Place d’Armes stop. We check out a map and start our walk towards the Royal Palace. As is the case with all castles and palaces here, the walk is uphill. Along the walk, we get views of the modern city and also pass a statue of Prince Ranier III. We go through a gate built into the walls and arrive at the Place du Palais or the Palace Square.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Grimaldi Statue<\/p><\/div>\n
There is a statue of a monk who was none other than Francois Grimaldi, a renegade Italian, who snuck in as a monk, and captured Monaco in 1297. He started the Grimaldi dynasty that still rules the principality today. Monaco is now the longest lasting dynasty in Europe. The palace does not open until 1000 so we have some time to check out the gift shop and the viewpoints which look out over the city. One can walk from border to border in about an hour making Monaco one of the smallest countries in the world, albeit a very rich one.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Marching to His Own Beat<\/p><\/div>\n
We watch the palace guard march back and forth in front of the official entrance. More for show with the long rifle, I wonder what weapon is in the small guard shack. While Carol is using the facilities, I make a new friend in the gardens. Opening time rolls around and we enter the palace. No photos but I manage to get a few.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Inside the Palace<\/p><\/div>\n
The royalty still lives here in a different wing. We tour the part of the palace that Princess Grace Kelly toured when she met Prince Ranier III. There is a special exhibit which tells the story of how the event happened and the reason they met. She tragically died in a car crash in 1982 and Prince Ranier III died in 2005. Their son is the current Prince of Monaco.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Grace Kelly’s Old Digs<\/p><\/div>\n
The tour through the rest of the palace is made more interesting by the included audio guide. One room is known as the Duke of York room because in the 1600’s, the Duke of York took ill while traveling, came here for care, and died in this room. The last room has paintings of previous princes and a portrait of the royal family when Princess Grace was alive.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Our Old Friend<\/p><\/div>\n
We exit back into the palace square and stroll along the cliff sides to the Cathedral of Monaco. We pass a sign of an old friend, the Via Alpina, which is the hiking trail we did part of on our first trip to Switzerland. It either ends or begins in Monaco on its several country journey the other end or beginning being in Slovenia. The cathedral was built in 1878 and is where centuries of Grimaldi’s are buried. Princess Grace and Prince Ranier were married here in 1956.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Princess Grace Tomb<\/p><\/div>\n
Behind the altar are the tombs of the royal family lies including Princess Grace and next to her Prince Ranier III. We leave the cathedral and there is a photo outside of the wedding ceremony. From there we walk the gardens which are scattered along the hilly cliffside and enjoy both the plants and the water views. We have a snack by a statue of a sea captain steering his ship. After our snack, we continue our walk high above the sea.<\/p>\n
<\/a>We All Live In a<\/p><\/div>\n
I get to experience a yellow submarine where I come across an octopus’s garden. There are a couple of songs there somewhere. We come to a point which is made up of Fort Antoine and start a long series of steps to descend down to sea level.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Big Yachts<\/p><\/div>\n
The views along the way are great. We can see the harbor front we have to walk around, the green roof of the famous casino, and some very large private boats. We make it to sea level and walk into a cacophony of detours. The Famous Monaco Gran Prix ended two days ago and the country is busy tearing down the barriers and grandstands that lined the race route. It is hard to imagine that they travel close to 200 miles per hour along the very curvy route. Finally reaching the other side of the waterfront, we begin a climb upwards to the Monte Carlo Casino.<\/p>\n
<\/a>My New Ride<\/p><\/div>\n
When we get there, a car which we think may have won the race is parked in front. Feeling James Bondish, I jump in and take it for a spin around the country. It handles nicely and then I suddenly snap out of my delusional fantasy scene right before the cops nab me. The park directly across from the casino has an interesting mirrored sphere which gives some cool pictures of the casino.<\/p>\n