The bus trip to Monaco took us from Cannes then Nice and along several valleys and tunnels through mountains then into the Independent Principality of Monaco. Monte Carlo is one of the 4 districts in Monaco and here one can find the famous casino shown in the James Bond Movies. Both, the harbours in Nice and Monaco are filled with yachts and even a few private helicopters. Rolls Royce, Lamborghini and Aston Martin cars are in strong evidence. We took in the Royal Palace and the Monaco Grand Cathedral where one can find the burial sites of Princess Grace and Prince Rainer. Monaco was started by the Grimaldi family when Italy granted them this land back in the 11th century. The family has carried on through the ages and is now ruled by Prince Albert II and his new wife, a South African Olympic Swimmer. While we were there, we saw the Prince enter the courtyard in his Lexus.
We checked out the Casino and kept all our money where it should be . Things are a opulent and over stated but it comes with the territory. They pay 19.5% VAT like France and that kind of says it all.