Emeraude Juan-les-Pins

After brekkie it was onto Menton which is a lovely little town just before the Italian border. Menton is a much more down to earth place than its neighbours and more our scene. We found a park right on the beach and went for a wander and took in sum much needed sun. Next stop Italia!!<br>

Up early as it was a spectacular sunrise - full of pinks and organges. We wanted to hit McWifi before we entered Italy but we did not find one until later in the day in Menton. Before that we drove the coast road through Nice and Monte Carlo, both concrete ...

... seen and spoken to, to date. <br> Set off mid morning to drive through Gorges du Verdon, again another stunning drive. This time though the weather was kind to us and we were able to get out for a hike after lunch. It seemed like a popular drive as we encountered several other tourists, one couple were eating lunch at the same spot we were. They packed up their picnic, took a swig out of ...

Cannes is not as glamrous as we thought it would be, it still has all the fancy smancy stores along the beach, but there were definitely no red carpets rolled out when we were there. We did a day trip to St-Tropez, its was the end of a hge sailing competitiona and tons of ...

... menu. Lambrusca. If you haven't had it before, its a wonderful young sparkling red wine. (please disreguard the last comment, the wine was horrible)<br><br>http://picasaweb.googl e.com/Jonny.D.Lawrence/20090927NiceAnti besCannesStTropez?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzYpeu 2gIC7Jw&amp;feat=directlink

... we opted not to return to the Ruby Princess just yet. Instead we chose to visit the casino in Monte-Carlo. Here, we found where the rich and famous come to play! There were BMW's, Mercedes, Audi's, Porsche's, Ferrari's and even a Lamborghini. We even witnessed a Volkswagon wedding car. Hmm! A wedding in Monte-Carlo! Can you say $$$$$$$?<br><br>We couldn't make a visit to the casino without making a wager ...

... traveled<br>9 flights<br>4 trains (1 overnight) <br>2 buses <br>1 barf<br>4 months away<br>1064 bakeries visited<br>83 different beer/wines sampled<br>2 visits from family members<br>0 trips to the hospital <br>50 Skype calls<br>1 mulot captured <br>18 novels read<br>7 countries visited<br>countless friendships made<br>lots of quality time spent together as a family, you guessed it - priceless!<br><br><br>Au Revoir, Farvel, Salukes, Adieus, Slan and Good Bye!

... was at the Mirimar Hotel overlooking the marina with "the Rock" (Monaco-Ville- with the Prince's Castle/residence)- very nice while the sun goes down.

... we headed into the Prince's Palace for a self-guided tour. It was magnificent! The fact that it is a working palace makes it even more interesting. I would definitely recommend using the free audio guide that you get at the entrance - it helped point out details that we would've otherwise missed. After walking through the palace, we walked through the Napoleonic Museum next door. Again, I recommend the ...

... see how breathtaking the view is) and then we went to the church where the royal family is buried as well as Princess Grace Kelly. Then we went to the royal palace which as far as castles go is kind of plain but hey what can you do. Then we walked around the town and had lunch by the water I had crepes mmmmmm so good!! Then we went to the famous Café des artistes where a cup of coffee will put you back ...