Monaco

On the 12th of September we took a day trip to nearby Monaco which is the second smallest country in the world (behind the Vatican). I know you’ve all heard about it and I can confirm they weren’t exaggerating… super yachts, fancy cars, luxury hotels, designer stores as far as the eye can see. Also a lot of tourists around so you didn’t really see the rich people themselves.

Monaco has still got a royal family which is rather famous (the one that Grace Kelly married into) so we went up to see the palace. The changing of the guards was a bit of a non-event but I guess quite refreshing to see something non-pompous and showy. (Not that you could see much past the swarms of tourists!). We wandered through lovely manicured parks and had some great views. The public transport to get there was very cheap and we found a supermarket to get our lunch so it totally didn’t end up being an expensive day at all even though you are surrounded by the rich. We spent a couple of hours in the afternoon at the beach – small pebbles this time, so still not ultra comfy but probably the loveliest clearest water we’d seen yet. Niki even had small fish swimming and nibbling at his feet.

We peeked at some real estate listings and were horrified at the prices…nothing was less than €1 million and there was even a listing for an apartment for €10 million!!! Disgustingly, filthy rich. Niki went into the famous casino (you should’ve seen the cars parked out front!) and he tells me it’s pretty impressive, but you don’t get further then a pokies room without paying a €10 fee.