Money, money, money! It's a rich man's world!

Starting Friday morning, I became sort of a tour guide.  My friends, John and Pedro, from London flew to Nice Thursday evening to stay with me at Les Flots Bleus until Monday.  While they are extremely well-travelled, they have never been to this part of France before.  So, after a few days being solo, I was almost chomping at the bit to show them around this part of the world which is so special to me.  I didn't have any specific plans but I did know they wanted to see Monaco which is close by so that will be one day of their stay here.

Friday, we decided to walk the "sentier" (pathway) to St. Jean Cap Ferrat.  We had planned to walk all the way along it to St. Jean but were surprised to find out that just past David Niven square (where his former villa is) the walkway had been compromised by the major storm last weekend.  So, we had to make our way via the road.  After lunch in St. Jean, we went to the Villa Rothschild.  While I have been there a few times, I always enjoy wandering around the sumptuous building and lovely gardens - although at this time of the year they are not as lovely as they are at other times.  It also would have helped if the weather had been warmer, sunnier and less windy.

David Niven's former villa



One of the reception rooms at the Rothschild Villa



Pedro with the villa in the background

We walked back to Villefranche - and accumulated 17,000 steps but we were very tired.  On the way back, we passed Nellcote, a villa now owned by a Russian but back in 1971 it was where the Rolling Stones stayed while they were "in exile" in France and where they recorded Exile on Main Street.  Dinner for us that evening was a simple French picnic at the flat:  French cheese, foie gras, a baguette and some Provencal rose wine. 



My breakfast on the balcony

Saturday morning we woke up to a perfect day, particularly for this time of the year:  sunny, no wind with a promise of a temperature of around 24 degrees,  So, after breakfast, we caught the 10:35 train to Monaco 4 stops away.  Thankfully, the train strike which has plagued this region for the last day or so was over.  So, about 15 minutes later, we were deposited in the pristinely clean, underground Monaco train station.  Good thing, the walk was all downhill to the harbour.  I'm getting tired of hills!  On the way, we passed Ferrari, Maserati and Bentley dealerships.  No Volkswagen or Hyundai car salesmen here!

The Villefranche train station with our apartment in the background.
Thankfully, the tunnel muffles any train noise!

We walked along the harbour ogling the ridiculously ostentatious yachts that were moored there.  And, we later discovered there were even bigger ones in another part of the harbour.  You can Google the names to find out more about them. One, Costa Magna, was in St. Tropez when I was there a few years ago.  Another one was named Double Trouble and I must say they were all pretty impressive to look at.  One can only imagine the lifestyles of the people who own and/or travel on them.



Some of the yachts in the harbour

We decided to take the Hop on/Hop off bus tour, something I think is new here as I don't recall seeing it on previous trips.  It was very interesting and we found out information about Monaco that I didn't know about before.  For example, Monegasque residents are not allowed to gamble in the Casino.  We stopped in La Vieille Ville where we saw the castle, admired the view across the harbour toward to Monte Carlo and had lunch.  Later, back on the bus, we drove through Fontvieille, a newer area of Monaco that was built on land reclaimed from the sea.  It is very modern and has a stadium that can hold over 20,000 people.   

Looking toward Monte Carlo from the Palais

Looking down on Fontvieille

We continued on our bus tour returning to the harbour where we saw some of the more "serious" yachts.  One was called Lady Maura and it is valued apparently at 34 million Euros!  For those of you not familiar with the ratio of the Canadian dollar to the Euro, it is about 1 1/2.  Seriously, how can a boat be worth that amount of money.  Others worth checking out on the Internet include Royal Romance and Lady Nag Nag - the latter is apparently currently for sale and I'd suggest a name change if the salesperson is serious about selling it!

 

 

Lady Maura - one of the more serious yachts!

We got off the bus at the Casino where we watched the chauffeurs, expensive cars and "beautiful people" in front of that building, the Hotel de Paris and the Café de Paris - although, to be honest many of the people looked like regular tourists just like us - except with selfie sticks - and they were probably no richer than us either! 

The Casino

The Casino reflected in the metallic sculpture in front of it

 We caught the train back to Villefranche where we went back to reality - hiking up the hill (no chauffeur for us - or a bus or taxi either!) to do some grocery shopping and then carrying it all back down to the flat.

Perhaps I could afford this boat moored in the harbour at Villefranche -
check out the half-sunk smaller boat along side it!
Is this my future?