Monte Carlo. The Casino, James Bond, Grand Prix, Princess Grace. This city, or the country of Monaco, is famous for all of these. And the one common denominator that ties all of this together?

Money!!! Lots of money!

After breakfast, we meet the group we've been traveling with at 8:30am and board a 16 passenger van since there are 15 total today. Breakfast for me is fruit, cereal, juice, yogurt and coffee. Mom is similar. We gave up on bacon and eggs, waffles, omelets, potatoes or cinnamon rolls. It was ok for few days but we don't normally eat that so we gave it up. Back to the trip. We took off to the city of Nice, followed by the village of Eze. We were there just after 9am so most of the shops were still closed and no other tourists were there yet. It's full of arts and crafts workshops. Great photo opportunities but little shopping since we were there a little early although Mom did find a cool striped shirt.

Next we went to another village, St Paul. This is the second most visited village in France and built in the 16th century. this was a fun place to walk through. Unfortunately, the shops were open here but we escaped unharmed. We all somehow found each other in a tiny hamburger stand and had lunch there. Then back to the van. We returned to Monte Carlo and up to the top of the hill where the government offices are, home to Prince Albert. Princess Grace is also buried here. It was a long hill to climb up to the top so Mom opted out as the rest of us went there ourselves. I walked through a few streets lined with shops and cafes and witnessed the guard marching outside the palace. Karen would have liked it here but we only had 1 1/2 hours and she wouldn't have had enough time. I took some pictures from there. Visible was the entire harbor including our ship. I returned early to find Mom visiting some locals at the park bench. We walked around the area, stopped at the pharmacy and also for a beer and hot chocolate while we waited for the others to join us. Next we went traveling down the legendary Formula One circuit where the race is held in April through the city. It takes two months to set up and one month to dismantle the track and support structures.

The entire country of Monaco is is less than two square kilometers, only the Vatican being smaller in size. We saw areas where the rich have homes. Our driver said that millionaires can visit but only billionaires can live here and many do. We saw the famous casino where formal wear is needed in the evening and €1000 to get in. Mom played a slot in the tourist area and walked away with $2 profit. She made them nervous. Many nice cars parked outside and I took some pictures of them.

The Yachts were on sale this week so there were many here in the harbor. The sale starts tomorrow and the sales crew were polishing them up, putting out candles, serving champagne and pointing out the advantages of having an on-board helicopter.

We came back late in the afternoon even though the ship doesn't leave until 11 tonight. We went to the show tonight, some acrobats that weren't that acrobatic. It's time to call it quits for today.