September 7, 2000
We slept in this morning, or rather laid in bed awake, hoping that
we wouldn't feel too bad when we got up. (See previous night's
activity). We showered and went to the Horizon Court buffet for a
"brunch" before meeting Scott/Carrie/Jim/Bridgette @ 11:15 to go
ashore. Scott was in sad shape having had the worst night of all of
us. We all had our Monte Carlo hang overs. Except Jim and Bridgette
who were sleeping while the frums were being poured.
We took the tender ashore and walked up to the Casino (think James
Bond) and took pictures. We didn't go in since we weren't very posh
looking and you aren't supposed to enter with shorts on. There's also
an entry fee.
The Grand Casino (think James
Bond)
The Ship
The hungover people in front of the
Grand Casino
We wandered around the little square in front of the casino and
looked in the Cartier windows at extremely expensive jewelry. We
found a place to eat called Sam's just up the street. The neon sign
looked a little cheesy but it turned out to be good and filled up
with local people. Jill had an artichoke/Parmesan salad and Keith had
a minute steak w/ pomme frites (french fries).
Center of town in Monte Carlo
The waiter gave instructions to the bus stop to get to the Jaque
Cousteau museum and the Royal palace in old Monaco so we headed that
way. The aquarium had a nice variety of sea creatures our favorite
being the sea horses and the baby cuttlefish. We initially thought a
bunch of the exhibits were on poisonous fish but later figured out
the French word for fish looks a lot like poison. There were not
English translations. The individual exhibits were neat but overall
the place lacked the splash of the large tank walkways that we've
seen in Singapore, Sydney, and Barcelona.
The museum section was and interesting collection of whale
skeletons and jars of specimens that looked "pickled". Some were
familiar and some looked very strange. It gave the feeling of being
in Jaques laboratory. One neat display was a replica of Jacque's
research boat Albert I.
Fish at the Jacque Cousteau
Museum
Whale Skeleton
From the aquarium/museum we walked to St. Nicholas Cathedral where
Princess Grace was married to Prince Ranier and also where she is
buried. We walked up to the palace and just looked from the outside
and then walked back to the ship tenders with a fun stop at a French
grocery to spend our last Francs. If we were going to this area again
I would go to Nice/Eze which to tour groups reported to be the best
to see.
St. Nicholas Cathedral
Coast
This night was semi-formal and our captains gala dinner. We were
tired of dressing up by this point but played along since it was such
a nice meal. Starters included caviar. The menu was lobster tails and
beef wellington. Jill had the lobster and Keith the beef. Both meals
were fantastic. The best lobster we've ever had.
After dinner we had a short hot tub excursion with the two other
couples then crashed. |
