Day 5 - Monday, June 13, 2011

Monday morning the cruise ship had arrived in the port at Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was our first day of shore excursions and as the cruise director, John, said "we had booked the Nice and Easy (Eze) tour." We headed for the meeting place to go ashore. The meeting place was the ship theater. As we walked toward it we saw many people walking the other way. To late we realized they were all in line for the meeting place. It appeared that all 4000 passengers were trying to get off the ship at the same time. We backed track half way to find the end of the line. The process was pretty quick but it still took almost an hour to get off. The other days were not nearly as bad. We did finally make to our bus to start our tour.

We got a quick bus tour of Monte Carlo as we headed west to Nice, France. The ride was on the coast with narrow roads and sharp turns. Nice is the fifth largest city in France. There was some kind of holiday going on to most people were off work. The tour guide said it made for less car traffic but more pedestrian traffic. There was not much to see but the beach and coastline were amazing. Some of our group went down to put their feet in the Mediterranean Sea. They seemed not to notice the half naked ladies right next to them. This was our first experience with topless beaches. We also walked through a flea market which was more like a garage sale on the street.


This was a clock tower in Nice. I don't recall if there was any significance to it or that I just liked the way it looked.
This is what the housing looked like in Nice.

After our quick trip to Nice we boarded the bus and headed off to Eze. This is a small town built in the mountains way up high, similar to Machu Pichu in Peru. I personally have not been there but this is what my husband says. The bus parked at the bottom of Eze and we hiked up a steep, narrow, cobble stone rode. Cars were not permitted up the road. Part way up the road there was a rather nice chateau. The road ended and you could walk up a narrow path which looked over into the chateau. This was part of the gardens that you could see. There were the elephants and also a huge chess board like in Harry Potter but with real chess pieces. There were also many statues and a fountain.

This was the cathedral that was at the very top of the pathway. We did not make it all the way up. But, we did experience our first paid toilets. Every restroom we encounter was a different adventure. After someone would exit the toilet the door would close and lock. We noticed water running out the bottom of the door. Eventually the toilet would take your money and open again. Every time someone was done using it the toilet closet would completely wash itself down before the next person could use it. Very high tech.

This was the beginning of the road to the top of Eze. We were waiting for everyone to finish to again board the bus and begin our next adventure of the day.

Wade and Dennis thought this was the club house, it wasn't. I took their picture anyway.
After Eze we headed back into Monte Carlo. Monte Carlo is only 1.25 miles long. It is the second smallest country next to Vatican City. Our guide said Monaco has a very small crime rate. The residence are mostly wealthy and there are surveillance cameras everywhere. Monte Carlo is the sight of a Grand Prix car race every year through the city. The shoreline was covered in yachts, and not small ones but huge ones. The big yacht, pick it out yourself, belonged to Rod Stewart. There are many famous people who own homes in Monte Carlo like, Elton John, Sean Connery, Bono, Mick Jagger, and Tina Turner to name a few.

We stopped at the home of Monaco's royalty. These cannons lined the side facing the city. Wade wanted to see if they were loaded. Most likely not.


Then it was off to the famous Monte Carlo Casino. The casino is featured in James Bond Movies. It is a favorite destination of the very rich. It generates enough revenue for the country that there are no income taxes. The U shaped road in front of the casino was lined with very, very expensive vehicles. There were several Rolls Royces, Jaguars, Maseratis, Porches, etc, etc. The chauffeurs refused to answer our inquisitions about the owner's of the vehicles. In order to enter the gambling section of the casino there was an entrance fee of $10 Euros. We did not go in. We did however experience the toilets. There was a female attendant standing at the bottom of the stairs to the entrance of the restrooms. To get to the ladies room you had to pass the open door to the men's room giving you a wonderful view of all the men lined up using the urinals. Because the line to the women's room was rather long the attendant was encouraging the women to enter the men's room to us the stalls in there. Many women did just that and were able to pat the men on the back as they finished and went to wash their hands.

This was our friend when we returned to our room that evening.