Monaco: Swoon Capital of the World

Unfortunately, getting into Monaco was a bit of a damp experience.



Soon after we checked in though, the rain ceased and we were out for a good lookin' walk. Up to see the Prince. Pretty, pretty good day, I'd say.




And a pretty, pretty good lookin' place. I was in heaven.






Love love love love.

What a couple of gals!

On our way up to see Prince Andrew. Looking behind us has never looked so good.









Looking back down from atop the Prince's cliff...

And our first glimpse of the phenomenal castle. Swoon.



That view?! Ridiculous. Not hard to tell now why this was our favourite city, non? Thought so.

Panorama!

Just look at this palace's view!

Scenes from inside the church atop the Prince's cliff.

After the walk around the Prince's Palace, we wandered down to the park overlooking the ocean.

View of the city from the gorgeous park...


View of the Oceanography Museum (that we would see the next day).



Amazing captain statue overlooking the sea.



We were convinced that these were the Prince's dogs. Jamie loved them more than most would.



Monaco, at night. Fabulous.



Storefronts, apartments, it's all beautiful.



My first shot of the aquarium.

I couldn't help but take pictures of these kids. They were absolutely mesmerized.

LOVE the jellyfish shots.







Couldn't help but think how Asian this looked. Right?!



But these is gorge.

Cutest statue ever from the front...

...and the back.

Views from the aquarium windows:





And some nautical art...





Ah yes...a giant whale inside the aquarium's museum



...and what can only be described as a giant whale bone. That's right. I said it.



Ugh! Can't get enough of that view!

Laura! Door!

The entrance gardens before the casino...





The Monte Carlo Casino. Amazing. I went inside, felt like a complete outsider, then left. I was soaking wet and

The Paris Hotel. Big Swoon.

I'm in LOVE with this picture.



Close-up view of George Clooney's yacht. Or at least we kept thinking it was his. Because we're like that.

Monaco Grand Prix statue.

View of one of the busiest intersections I saw in Monaco, whizzing with traffic as people prepared for the holidays.



Fell deeply in love with orange trees abloom with fruit in DECEMBER. What a place.





Street view just across the street and down a bit from our hotel...

LOVE this carousel.



The (rainy) view of the harbour from the opposite side, walking down from the museum on the hill.



The phenomenal nighttime view from one of our three hotel room balconies. What a dream boat city this was.

And the morning view from the same balcony. Atop the hill, you may be able to see Prince Andrew of Monaco's palace. Right. From our balcony. Nice-uh.

From the bathroom balcony (is this my real life?!):

This was taken on Christmas Eve morning. It marked the end of our French Tour and the start of our Italian Tour.

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

It's official. My best friend is preggers.



We are having twins girls around the end of April and everyone is elated.

There. I finally got to say it.

Congratulations Laura and Jesse!

I love all four of you!!!

Antibes

Though it rained cats and dogs the entire time we were there, we headed over to Antibes for a day trip from Nice. What a treat. On the advice of the hotel man, we took the bus (HUGE mistake). It took forEVER to get there and the vista was not what we had been promised. Needless to say, we fully took the (turned out to be free) train home. Here are some of the sights we saw...

French streets...






Adorable book store...

And then we went to Pablo Picasso's studio on a cliff overlooking the remarkable Riviera. Swoon...

Mind you, this work was not done by Picasso, but we were thoroughly entertained nonetheless.

...waterlogged, but entertained ;)



Overlooking the sea, I couldn't help but snap this picture with Jamie in the reflection of the window.

Then Jamie did the unthinkable...she took a picture of the statues in the museum. Since we were already nearly kicked out for this earlier, she took a real risk in snapping away. And however disappointed I was at the time that she was breaking the rules, I sure am glad NOW that I have these wicked awesome pictures. Enjoy!

Walking out the entrance to the city (it had cleared up considerably by this point)...

...peering around the corner between the museum and adjacent church to the sea below...



...and getting reacquainted with the old panoramic shot.



This is the cathedral pictured above

Just when we thought we were completely spent and heading home was seeming a laborious chore, we popped into this cafe for a Coca Cola and suddenly felt quite rejuvenated.

...though we might not have looked it.



Ah, and one door from Antibes for good measure ;)

Changes

Dry shampoo has just changed my life.

Thank you Lizzie (my super cool, Diti-look-a-like hairdresser) for making everything a little cleaner around here (my head, that is).

I hope your Sunday is going as well ;)