Monaco!

Bonjour tout le monde (hello everyone)!

Last Saturday I was very fortunate to be able to go and visit Monaco! We went by bus, and it was very inexpensive, always a welcome thing! Finding the bus in itself was hard enough because there is a main bus stop in the town by La Rotonde and so there are many buses. Gretel and I finally found it and got on the bus with all the people (half students, half adults) avec George. We quickly realized though that we did not understand what the trip actually entailed, so we just kind of went with the flow. The countryside was a little...poor looking...I've learned that (to me) Europe is very dirty and not very nice in a lot of places but that it's more important to appreciate to age of it all and the history behind it instead. The landscape confused me a little at first...even still. I thought that it reminded me a bit of a mix of Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin. Weird, I know. But it was filled with evergreens in the distance on the HUGE rolling hills, parts of desolate farmland kind of like Texas in some parts, and then there'd be palm trees, all within a few feet. It's crazy!

When we drove into Monaco, I cannot even explain to you the BEAUTY of the mediterranean and the cliffs. It was just...BREATHTAKING! The cliffs are so high up and the houses just dumbfound me as to how people EVER built all these houses on such high/steep cliffs. It is truly amazing.

The first thing we did was visit the Grimaldi royal grounds/palace. We got off the bus and walked up the cliff, which is right on the Mediterranean. The view was just incredible. It's amazing to see that such beautiful places exist! So we scaled the cliff and then walked through the gardens, which were beautiful, up to the palace (also the former home of Princesse Grace Kelly)...a true fairytale. :) We saw the changing of the guards, which was also cool. Afterwards we got a little lunch on the mini streets on the grounds, which I have to say, quite oddly resembles the fake streets in Disneyworld, but I think that people actually live in these little walking streets surrounding the palace, for which I think there are people who live above the shops and such. The cathedral was also beautiful and HUGE.

After that, the bus took us to Monte Carlo, where the world-famous casino is, and also where I found my next ride...the Bentley. ;) It was beautiful, and I wanted to go in and play the slots one time because I've never been in one before, but it was a 10euro cover charge (like $15.00), so most of us opted out. But we took beautiful pictures of the grounds, gawked over the wealth and cars and clothes and all the diamonds in the Cartier stores and all the Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Dior clothes. Then we walked around the streets of the city-state close to the casino. This place...it is like, a dream and a curse all in one fowl swoop I feel like. It was DRIPPING with wealth. The women walking their posh dogs on the insanely clean streets with the Mercedes Benz and Lambouguinis lining the streets up and down the hills, wearing furs coats with the expensive high-heeled leather boots and sunglasses makes it seem like what everyone wants to have. On the other hand, I know that these people live a selfish life, with all their money, and you can see that they don't understand what it's like to live a more modest life and that they could do so much more with that money. So, I have mixed feelings about the city itself, which I imagine to be like a small-scale New York City with its parts of the city-state that are divided almost like the New York City boroughs, I feel like.

Next we went to the Japanese Gardens there, and they were beautiful. I think with the waterfall and plants and lake and fish and the Mediterranean in the back-drop, it was the first time I've felt completely at ease the whole trip so far. Just simple tranquility.

The last thing we did was go to the Perfumerie in between Monaco and Nice. We were taken on a tour of the lab where they make perfume, the first lab in the world. Perfume originated in Grasse, France, very close to Nice, where a woman commissioned the city to be able to harvest the flowers and such for essential oils and was eventually moved to the lab where we were. And so, Fragonard (pronounced Frag-o-nar) is the first perfume company in the world. It was good, but the perfume was very strong because it is mostly pure concentrate and not diluted like the eau de toilette and eau de perfume we see in the stores with all the other fancy perfumes, but it was cool to see that this is wear the essential for all the expensive perfumes come from France and such come from (they are distributed to companies like Dior and Chanel to then make their own unique perfumes).

After that, I was done. Long day, but beautiful sights. It made me really appreciate the region I chose to go with all that southern France has to offer...in my opinion, probably the best/most unique places to go in the shortest distance. I want to go to Arles, Avignon, Cannes, Marseille, Montpellier, Bordeaux, and the best part is, all of these cities are only a few hours away. How's that for traveling. :) Much more to come! I hope you are all doing well and miss you all!