We had a 'cruisy' start to the day. We had deliberately not set a wake up call and ended up having breakfast at 8.30am. This was in the main dining room and was more comfortable than room service. We shared the table with 2 Canadian couples. The younger couple were going to hire a car after the cruise and visit Sienna and possibly Cinque Terre, so asked us about this. In the past they had used a campervan and Rose told us she had vacuum packed all the bedding and linen she had needed. I was asked if I had done this for our 5 months away but said that weight rather than size was the issue. The others had all cruised before so we had a good travel chat.

Monte Carlo is a tender port so we could not just walk ashore . First the people on HAL (Holland America) tours went and the rest of us were asked to go to a lounge and get a ticket when we were ready. Then we would be called when there was space. By the end of our breakfast the call had gone out for open tender – the crowds had gone and we just went to the gangway and straight on. The ship uses lifeboats as tenders – with a capacity of 120 as a tender and 150 as a lifeboat. They had about three shuttle boats running at the time we went. We arrived in by the Lady Morag and saw the solid gold lettering. What we hadn’t been told was that the boat has its name written boldly in at least 2 places as we saw it on one side and at the front. We gathered that people have only ever seen it moored so we wonder if it ever actually sails anywhere.

Ashore we joined the queue for the Hoho. One arrived almost full so only a few people got on. I picked up a discount pack from the Information centre and filled in one of the free postcards for Kath. It was getting warm as it was a lovely sunny day . The second arrived about 10 minutes later but pulled up at the end of the queue and things got heated. However, this is not the UK so in spite of protests from our end of the waiting group we missed out. At that stage we decided to walk and use public transport. This proved a good move as we discovered the 8 euro we had been told the bus was, was for a child and it would have been 17 euro each. As the place is so small this was expensive.

Unlike most groups we didn’t go straight to the Rock (the area with the palace) but walked around the harbour then up some steps. We then found a local bus and had a trip east along the top of the Principality. The views were wonderful though we didn’t take many photos.

It supposedly takes under one hour to walk across Monaco. We stayed on the bus while it returned and got off at an area with cafes. We had fries than sorbet and crepes for lunch. A weird combination but we enjoyed it.

Then we used another bus to get to the Rock. The proper name for this area is Monaco-ville but the nickname is obvious when you look at its position. There is a steep cliff edge and the area overlooks the main harbour in one direction and another harbour, Port de Fonteville in the other. Both were full of expensive boats. The swimming pool at the end of the harbour really stood out.

We stopped first at the edge overlooking ‘our harbour’ and took lots of photos . It was absolutely lovely with the blue sea and sky and the boats on the water. We then walked to the Palace. We were far too late for the changing of the guard but did watch one guard march backwards and forwards. His style was unlike any we have even seen. He turned with more of a ballet move than a military move with his toe on the ground. We had to watch a couple of times before we could work out his action. We took photos of the palace but didn’t bother to visit.

We were just looking at a couple of the souvenir shops near the palace when we heard a voice. Who should be calling out but Edwidge, the French girl who stayed with us in Nelson in February? Edwidge said she that she thought we looked familiar, looked again and again before deciding it was in fact us. No wonder because she didn’t realise we were still on holiday. Not only that but she was with Sophie (the other girl to visit) and Marie Claude (Sophie’s mum who we stayed with earlier in the trip) . Marie Claude usually lives in the French Alps and was in Monaco for 2 days, Sophie works in Cannes and hadn’t been here for 5 months and I think Edwidge might be based in Nice. So to be in Monaco at the same place at the same time was amazing. We all just beamed at each other and then took photos. It was also great to be able to thank Marie Claude again for the stay and we have half promises that they will come to New Zealand. Certainly Sophie said she would be happy to accompany her mother!!

We were on a real high for the next hour which may be why we bought a few things here. We went into the cathedral but neither of us liked it. I found it dark and gloomy and John found it artificial. Then we walked around to the aquarium and had a great time. In fact it is the Monaco Oceanographic museum but we spent most of our time in the aquarium part. They had a Mediterranean section, a Red sea section and also other sea creatures. There was no underwater tunnel as at Kelly Tarlton in Auckland, but there was a large shark tank .

I especially enjoyed the camouflage fish – the turbot that hid on the stony bottom and merged really well. There were also some fish that were virtually transparent. There was an odd sea creature that had multicoloured small spheres on one side. John liked the scorpion fish which looked quite grumpy. As we left we even saw a mechanical fish that had been made for the Prince by the Honda Company as a gift from the Japanese Government.

Outside the museum was a unicorn, with part of its skin missing so we could see the muscles! There was also a more than life-sized model of a man. It took me three attempts to get a photo as people kept walking past and blocking a significant part of his anatomy.

We found escalators in a parking building that took us down and ended up at shore level. John was excited to find the tunnel he sees in shots of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. We were now close to the tender where we were greeted with cold towels and drinks of lemonade,

It was the first formal night so we dressed up and met the others in their room before going to the Vista restaurant. The meal was delicious – we all had lobster with fillet steak and we didn’t see anyone in the room eating anything else although there was a choice of 8 mains. People were not all dressed as formally as we had been told was required but most had made an effort to fit the dress code. Black trousers for women were fine. Philip and Rex had hired dinner suits and John looked good in the suit he had carried with us from New Zealand.

The others had done a trip along the coast and to a village. We were amazed to hear they had had rain in the village although it had not spoilt their visit. They had had a very good guide who had pointed out where Grace Kelly had died.