Wednesday we finally made it to Monaco. We caught an 8:30 a.m. train for the 45-minute run east along the Mediterranean. We had read that Monaco is one of the safest places there is -- it seemed safe, clean, and the drivers even stopped for pedestrians! However, we got horribly lost trying to find anything and we walked about an hour not ending up anywhere we were trying to go. We finally hopped on the #2 bus and got to our destinations: the palace, the cathedral, port, and the Monte Carlo casino. It was a visually stunning city.
Before heading to Monaco we knew there was a boat show going on, but we had no idea how extravagant it would be. The 20th Monaco Boat Show is the largest super yacht boat show in the world. After paying way too much for the privilege of visiting exhibitor booths and to walk the docks, we learned that getting on board a yacht was nearly impossible. The level of opulence, wealth, and location was overwhelming.
What's a super yacht without a helicopter or a Ferrari in the hold!
Howard asked to board several boats and it was politely explained to him that showings were by appointment only and he was asked for a business card or if he was a broker. In a final attempt to board a yacht, he approached a crew member of Blind Date, a 160-foot super yacht on sale for $34,750,000 (that's 34.75 MILLION dollars) and was granted permission to board (after indicating he wasn't interested in buying Blind Date, he would certainly consider chartering it--yeah, right). We didn't take any photos while on board, but we did snap one from above the city and we encourage you to go to the Blind Date link so you can have an interior tour. Let us just say: Oh. My. Gosh. (or in French: Ooo la la).
A visit to Monaco would not be complete without at least a peek into the Monte Carlo Casino. With a Lamborgini parked outside, we knew we were out of our league!
Addendum: After visiting the 35 million dollar yacht, we hopped a city bus to the train station where we boarded a commuter train back to Antibes to our cheap apartment and carried our 5 Euro mats to the beach to catch the last rays of sunshine. The last of the big spenders on the French Riviera!
1 comment:
Well I don’t even have words for those boats. I took the tour of the Blind Date and I think it would be a blast if a group of us got together and went for a cruise on her. Ha that was a fun thought! The sculptures are beautiful I particularly like the one with the girl on her knees letting the bird fly.
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