Wins and Losses in Monte Carlo

After my day on Nice Beach it was time to get a little fancy and head to Monaco/ Monte Carlo. Monaco was incredibly interesting. The country is situated within France and is run by a royal family- the Grimaldis. The Grimaldi family gets to decide, through an application process, who gets to be a resident. Many celebrities (Madonna for example) have applied and been denied. They are more interested in business and banking tycoons and old money.

The city was fabulously beautiful. The Grimaldi Palace was gorgeous and offered amazing views. 

Monte Carlo is the home of the oldest Grand Prix race. The race has both the slowest and fastest corners in racing and is considered the most dangerous. It's also the only race that spectators are still allowed to be right up close to the action. The race violates several current Grand Prix racing rules, but is allowed to remain unaltered because of the important history. 

The slowest corner- a hairpin turn: 

The entire city was teeming with people showing off money:

After dinner we hit the grand Monte Carlo Casino which is arguably the most famous casino in the world.

We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but "grand" is an understatement. Inside was gorgeous old architecture and artwork. I played roulette and doubled my money!! And then promptly lost. I walked away happy to have broken even and enjoyed how beautiful Monte Carlo was by night 

Upon returning to our hotel room we got ready for bed and then realized that... hmmm... Can anyone find their iPad? We were robbed and ended up spending a fun-filled night at a French police station giving our charades skills a work out. The policemen couldn't have been nicer. The hotel claimed that someone came in, asked for the key to room 404, and he let him up. Hmmm... Seems pretty clear where the responsibility lies. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. In the plus side, we got some sweet police reports for our scrapbooks! 

Ready to get out of France and into Italy!! 

Au revoir!!