1/2 Year in Provence: May 1,2 Monaco, Nice, Cannes

May 1st and 2nd took us with the Figliomenis to Monaco, Nice, and Cannes. The trip to Monaco was a bucket list trip for Tony, and the girls all seemed hopeful that there might be shopping in Cannes. We drive to Monaco first (about 2.5 hrs) and work our way back to Nice, staying overnight in Cannes. We are about two weeks ahead of the Cannes film festival, so there are hotels available.

As we drive to Monaco, we find that there is an aquarium that is worth a visit. For some reason we are having difficulty locating parking, and Ken (our navigator) is having difficulty with some road closures. We finally discover that the reason the roads are re-routed, is in preparation for the Monaco Grand Prix. Here is a shot of us driving a section of the Grand Prix circuit (slowly).

A bird of paradise plant in the gardens on the way to the aquarium.

Turns out the aquarium has a petting zoo....ok they call it something else, but you know what I mean. A very tall (and I am told, good looking) marine biology major gives an excellent description of many of the creatures in the tank. The girls here are touching a sea star (aka starfish). Poppy is not in the picture, but is busy `giving mommy a migraine``

The main aquarium building has about what you might expect, tanks of sea water, filled with sea creatures. Unlike many visitors to Monaco, these sea-dwellers don`t appear to be rich, or play cards.

Moray Eel, along with a shrimp.

Nemo

A very cool tank, which might have had some black lights, to help illuminate the very cool Jellies.

I think this guy was in a James Bond movie.

The main port of Monaco, with just a wee bit of money tied up at the docks.

Enough of Monaco, we need lunch, so naturally we drive down the road. Why you ask, well because we want something `Nice` for lunch.

The weather in Nice, wasn't, so naturally that brings out the fishermen.

The promenade des Anglais, stretches along the waterfront.

After lunch, and our fill of Nice, we head down the road to Cannes. The film festival is less than two weeks away, and the big boats have arrived to secure the primo parking. Hard to tell from the photos, but all of these boats are over 100', most around 150'. This is Melanie, in front of her future home.

Money.

If you have money enough for the boat, you need somewhere to put it .... right? Well, Mel found just the place, nice little carpet-bagger purse made by some outfit called Dior. This little number costs something over 2000€. If you have to ask the price, well you get the picture.