Bright and early this morning we caught the bus for Monaco. It cost us just 1.5 Euros each – about $2.25. Sure beats a tour bus!! With the sun shining brightly and not a cloud in the sky, the 45 minute ride along the amazing coastline went by quickly. So quickly, in fact, that I thought we might miss our stop and in my rush to get off the bus, missed the first step. Luckily, I had a hold of the hand rail but I did bruise my hip and shoulder a little. Don’t worry, there is more to come….

After stopping for a big coffee and a bit of breakfast, we tackled the hill up to Prince Albert II’s castle. He is the son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace Kelly. We knew he was at home because his flag was flying from the top mast but he did not answer the door when we knocked. Hmmm….However, we were just in time to see the changing of the guard. Not quite as much pomp and circumstance as Buckingham Palace but it was kind of neat, just the same. From the castle walls, we checked out some of the beautiful views of the Mediterranean and the mountains and then headed towards the church where Princess Grace and Prince Rainier were married and are buried. I was spending a lot of time looking around and unfortunately missed a step. Again, thankfully, I was holding the railing but it did not stop the fall completely. I must have looked pretty funny because Richard couldn’t stop laughing for quite some time. This time, I scraped my knee and hurt my foot – a long ways from the heart but it kept me limping for the rest of the day. Richard wanted to name this post – Legends of the Fall or Colleen’s BIG trip. As you can see, I named the post. And before any of you smartypants ask how many glasses of wine I had, the answer is none – it was still before lunch!!

So, off to the church – so very beautiful!! A few pictures here and we headed back down to the marina to take a look at the monstrous yachts that we had seen from above. We had also noticed a lot of hustle and bustle below but we couldn’t figure out what was going on. Once down at the waterfront we saw what the fuss was all about – it was a Monte Carlo Antique Car Show. We took a few pictures but know that will not be enough to satisfy the car buffs out there – you know who you are Richard and Wyatt Wileman and Garrett Anderson!!

We walked along the waterfront and took some pictures of the boats as well. One was for sale and though we don’t know the price of it exactly, we did see posters for others that were selling for just shy of 7 million Euros – or 11 million Canadian dollars!! Ah, the lives of the rich and famous – it will never be us apparently. We had a lovely lunch along the aforementioned waterfront and then headed up another hill searching for the famous Monte Carlo Casino. After a couple of wrong turns, we finally found what we were looking for. However, it was a little underwhelming. The building in itself is beautiful but somehow we were expecting so much more. We were also not allowed to enter the gaming floor unless we paid an entrance fee – pay money to lose more money – so that ended our self guided tour of the casino. As it was already late in the afternoon, we joined the queue at the bus stop and headed back to Nice.

A nice quiet night at the apartment, nursing my foot and my bruised ego and I’ll be set to go again tomorrow. Have a great day everybody!!