Monaco ... The cash that flows in that joint is criminal!

I have decided to skip a day from the blog cos we spent 8 hours driving from Spain back to France to arrive in Cannes today, and those long drives really don't give you much except for a sore tukkus and make you sleepy. We stopped a few times but nothing really noteworthy, so I will move on swiftly.

We arrived in Cannes, and the money you see here is amazing. The rich and famous often spend time here on vacation and have holiday villas all over the coastline. We thought this was rich, but later today we saw sights we didn't even know existed! Later on that.

So when we arrived in cannes after the long hellish drive (winds were 90km and it was snowing on the French alps) we decided to have something extremely cheesy and fatty for dinner. We decided on pizza from mister pizza. We were thinking it would be horrid, but to our surprise it was really good. It was wood fired and so tasty that we didn't feel too bad about eating Italian food in a French province!

We woke up and set off early to a place in the French riviera called St. Paul which is a tiny village which is practically unchanged since it was first built in the 12th century. This place was gorgeous, but expensive as many tourists come here and the shop keepers make their living from us. I bought mum and I some hand made chocolates to share - so good! And I bought a gorgeous blue scarf with flowers on, and had so many comments I knew it was worth the €10 I spent on it.

We then drove to Nice where we stopped at this gorgeous little French place for lunch. Lunch was good, and mum had tomato with mozzarella and rocket, confit of duck and chocolate gateaux and I had onion and goats cheese tart with rocket, salmon on a bed of risotto, and tarte tatin for dessert. That onion tart was the best thing I have eaten in a long time, and I will remember that taste for some time I'm sure. There was a cat who lived at the restaurant so we spent some time chatting to him and basking in the Mediterranean sun. The views of the mediterranean ocean were glorious and we didn't think the day could get much better... We were wrong!

Afterwards we headed to a perfumery and saw how perfume was made and how they make soaps, and all sorts of perfumed products. I decided I couldn't come home without a small bottle of a special one and some argan oil, mum decided the same. Some of the group left with raging headaches from the smells but I was good. May have even missed my calling and could become a nose (perfume specialist) later in life. But that means no alcohol, no smoking and no spicy foods, ever! Not sure I could cope with number one or number three!!

We then headed to Monaco and the charge just for a bus load to come into this small country was €170 which is about $220. Hideous huh? Anyway after paying this we all went into the city centre where the famous Monte Carlo casino is. Most of our tour group went in to gamble their savings away, but mum and I decided to do some people watching instead. There was a partaking of gelato again too by one of us... Ok it was me! Damn good tho :-)

We saw some really expensive cars and people, not sure who cost more, but I'm certain the plastic surgeons in Monaco are raking it in! More plastic than a recycling depot! The views from Monaco are stunning also, and if I thought the rich and famous holiday in Cannes, then Monaco is where they play, spend all their money, drive their fast cars, buy all their designer clothes and jewelry, and buy everything tax free - their winnings at the casino are tax free too mind you - and I'm sure mum and I will never see sights like this again. Believe it or not, on one of the yachts we saw a helicopter, no seriously an actual helicopter on the yacht which was like 3 times bigger than my house! Madness the things you can buy when you are richer than god!

Tomorrow we drive along the French riviera again and go to Italy. Can't wait for Italy, a place we have both been looking forward to seeing and experiencing. Can it get any better than what it has been so far? I have been told yes!

This trip has been just amazing, for both of us! Hope you have enjoyed our blog so far xx