Our ship arrived in Monaco early in the morning and anchored offshore just when the fog cleared the surrounding mountain tops. |
| Because of the Grand Prix races, the main port of Monte Carlo was jamb packed with yachts, so the tender took us to the small harbor just west of the steep cliff below the royal palace of Prince Rainier. |  |
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From there we walked up several steps to the Jardin Animalier, a delightful garden with fountains, lots of exotic plants and sculptures. It was our first impression about the lovely settings and well planned city in this tiny country. Thumbs up Monaco!
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This is also where the Prince Rainier car museum is located, a place we were to visit for our last big dinner in Monte Carlo. As we continued to climb higher we could see where our tender had dropped us off amongst several large yachts. Most of the buildings you see around the harbor are apartments. |
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| In front of the royal palace is a large square where a guard is on duty all day pacing in front of the main entrance. We took a tour of the old parts with its many rooms that had been visited by dignitaries for many past centuries. Taking photographs of the interior was not allowed. Inside the cathedral is where Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier are buried. An attendant was just putting new flowers on Grace's tomb. |  |
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Later in the afternoon we also visited the Casino. The place was a bee hive of activities because of the Grand Prix preparations. For more details of the race click here. |
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A zodiac took us back to the ship. It was time to get ready for one of our special dinners. |
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Part of our Grand Prix tour package were several events such as a special dinner aboard the ship on the first day, a private morning breakfast, the races and a visit to Prince Rainier III auto collection museum. By now we had made several new friends and we all had a sparkling good time.
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The dinner was catered by "Mister Brian" who was touted to be a famous local chef. We were presented several courses of gourmet food after which the ladies were serenaded by a three piece string orchestra. It was quite elegant. |
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These had been three busy days full of excitement and new adventures. So now it was time to relax a day at sea. Click here to continue our journey at sea followed by some of the Italian highlights. |
