Monaco

When I think of Monaco I picture James Bond.  007 just sitting at the casino ordering a shaken martini, with his Aston Martin waiting outside.  Im happy to report that its pretty much true…. if you use your imagination a bit.  The casino and the cars are definitely there.  You just have to replace a few of the Hawaiian shirt casino visitors with some GQ clad players.

Speaking of high class, Jess and I arrived in Monaco via bus. 🙂 .  But I have to say that it was probably one of the best bus rides I will ever have.  Its a 2 euro ride from the center of Nice to Monaco.  Along the way you hug the cliff side with the beautiful turquoise coastal waters calling below.  You pass luxury homes owned by the stars and the beaches that they frolic on.  Since we are on the subject of movie stars, Jess and I felt like them when we arrived in Monaco.  As we started our ascent to the palace, the big Rick Steve’s group that intercepted us in Nice hollered and waved us in.  It ended up that they were on Monaco as well today!  I think they were all pretty sick of each other because when they saw us it was like they saw Brad and Angelina.  New blood!!  They surrounded us with a barrage of questions and comments again.  And as we managed to escape their grasp they seemed like sad puppies watching us walk away.  Not to worry though… we all bumped into each other again at the palace where it came in handy for some pictures that included both Jess and I for a change.

Monaco was just a day trip, but we got everything in.  All the sites were accounted for and we had a great lunch at the Jacques Cousteau Aquarium.  The aquarium was definitely the highlight for us.  It was one of the best if not the best aquarium we have ever been to.  This includes all the aquariums back in the States like the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  This aquarium had a feeling of an extra touch of class.  We were both surprised by the size and quantity of aquariums.  The restaurant on top of the aquarium is a solid choice for lunch too.  Luckily we got up there early and and beat the crowds because it got really jammed by 1pm.  There were people fighting over our table… especially because we had an umbrella outside.  The sun was really beating down.  It made me think, that if its this hot in early spring it would probably be a frying pan in the summer.

Below is a video I put together with one of my favorite French bands ( Phoenix) followed by a tribute to 007.