Monaco, Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous (not us!)

As we were walking to the train station in Montpellier, Terri made the comment “I really like traveling on trains, they are clean, comfortable and always on time in Europe.” That jinxed it! This was also our first attempt at having to take multiple trains to reach our destination. Upon arriving at the train station, I checked the status board and saw that our train was delayed 90 minutes, this would cause us to miss our two connections: CRAP! A quick trip to the help desk and they rebooked all of our trains and we would ultimately arrive only 45 minutes later than we had anticipated, Perfect! Almost…

While Waiting on the train deck, I asked a young man where my seat number was shown on my ticket, “no assigned seating on these trains, just get on and and grab one quick. Oh yeah, watch your bags or they might walk-Off the train without you.” OK, all good information! The train was way overbooked, and Terri and I both were left standing, keeping a close eye on our backpacks and both wondering if we were going to have to stand for the next two hours? Fortunately, the France trains make multiple stops (not high-speed) and we were seated quickly enough and made all of our connections.

One of the advantages of taking trains is that you get to see all of the countryside. The trip from Montpellier through Marseille, Cannes and into Monaco was gorgeous with forested tress running into the ocean and lots of boats and yachts to see.

The train actually turns north just short of Monaco so we had to exit in Eze, France, 4 kilometers short of our destination. I flagged down a taxi (Mercedes 500s) and was quoted a price of 45€! “To go 4 kilometers” I asked? “Or you can take a bus,” came the reply with a hefty dose of sarcasm added. The Bus was 3€ and a great ride with it’s higher viewing perspective. The bus dropped us 150m from our apartment.

Our host was not at the door so I rang the bell and security showed up. Evidently English isn’t a requirement for security guards in Monaco. After some rough conversation, he led us to a different building and tried to get us into a totally different apartment, no answer. After some walkie-talkie conversation with someone, the guard takes us to the security desk and we try to explain to the other non-English speaking security supervisor our situation. I look at my phone to see a text from our host that she is now at the door waiting for us, I grab Terri’s hand and we simply walked away from the guards, quickly.

Monaco is only 2.2 kilometers square in its entirety. But it is a very steep 2 kilometers and so as to not over-task the people of Monaco, there are dozens of elevators that take you to the different levels of town.

Everything about Monaco is well thought-out, done with high standards, is beautiful, clean and expensive. The wealth here is extravagant, from the many very high-end cars on the streets to mega yachts that had to moor at sea because there were already too many in the harbor.

Unfortunately for Terri and I, our limited packing space forced us to leave my sharkskin suits and Terri’s sequined body suit and stilettos at home😟. We put on our best clothes and headed for the casino only to be turned away for “inappropriate dress” by a snobby guard with a condescending look on his face. This despite Terri having her best Costco running shoes on!

Next Stop: Venice, by airplane ✈️!