2014 EUROPE by Rail 13 - Grand Prix of Birthdays

There are two exit choices from the station (both accessed by elevator). We were not sure which might work best for our needs. We chose the Exotic Jardin (Garden) exit which turned out to be at the cliff top. From that vantage point there were gorgeous views of the city and the harbor with its many private luxury liners.

Almost as soon as we started on the winding downhill sidewalk, it began to drizzle. We had our brelli and that worked for a while. We passed tempting but expensive shops along the way. Rounding a corner we saw the main entrance to the train station and decided to check it out so we would be ready for our return trip.

Just as we reached the doors it started to rain--I should say pour, like out of a pitcher. Everyone ran for cover in the train station lobby, including us.

To pass the time until the downpour stopped, we checked schedules, found our return train departure area, browsed a souvenir shop, and bought a lottery ticket for $1 million euros (price 2.50 euros). Then we settled down for a Jupiler (Belgium brand) beer and red wine. By that time the rain had not stopped, but subsided enough for us to venture out again.

It was Mike's birthday today. As we are huge Formula One race fans, our goal was to walk the Monaco F1 circuit on this special day. We got a map at the train station tourist booth which showed the route.

We continued our winding walk to the bottom of the cliff. We saw a roadway tunnel and wondered if it was the F1 tunnel. Then we realized the outside edge was not along the water, so it was not the famous tunnel we had hoped to walk through.

We walked to the closest street on the track route and saw a map outlined on the marble wall of a building. With that and our paper map, it was a good staring point for the  2.75 mile trek. 

We had great intentions, BUT it began to rain in ever heaving amounts again. We decided to abandon the plan, at least until the rain let up a bit. However, we spotted on our paper map the location of the official F1 store, which was not too far. We headed there to get out of the rain. If nothing else, we could pick up an official F1 souvenir. 

Wow, lots of good things there--model race car replicas of all sizes, a few vintage posters and a lot of reproductions, original race driver suits, various styles of shirts, clothes for babies on up to adults. We remembered the Porsche replica racing suit we had given our Mittendorf friends for their first little boy on his first birthday many years ago.

Mike settled on an Lewis Hamilton "signed" (his signature embroidered) baseball cap. I debated getting a poster. They had a repro poster from 1948 (my BD year), but not of Mike's BD year of '45. Mike figures they did not have races in '45 because of the WW II. Decided to pass on the '48 as it was not an original.

Then we walked to the harbor and saw the famous public swimming pool which, when it was built, had changed the route of the F1 track. We perused all the gigantic yachts there also, and drooled. 

Next we tried to find the entrance to the royal palace for some up close photos and maybe a tour. But the streets were twisty-turney and we could not quite get our bearings to find it. We could see this palace tower over the town though. No flag, so assuming the royal family was not at home to greet us anyway!!

The sky was growing darker gray all around us and there had been some loud thunder claps. We gave up exploring and were happy that we at least set foot in Monaco and crossed several spots on the F1 street track. We headed back to the train station.

We happened across one last interesting stop en route. It was the Monaco Motors Ferrari repair shop. We lustfully ogled in. Soooooo many cool cars inside and out, getting their tune-ups or repairs.

This time we used the lower Place Sainte-Dévote entrance into the station. It was a wise decision to head back when we did. Due to the severe weather, numerous trains had been cancelled (said an announcement over the loudspeaker).

There should have been several trains returning to Nice around this time. But all had consolidated into one to take their place. And it was the last one that night. It was at 16:35 ... 1.15 minutes away. We wondered how crowded this train would be. 

The Monaco train station was unlike the glass topped stations we had seen so far. It was underground, but well lit and comfortable. We found two chairs near where our coach would be and settled in. Time for more people watching with a few doggies in the mix. It seems they are a common occurrence on the trains. Many have little doggie-wear outfits. So cute and "fashionable." 

When the train arrived for our pick up in Monaco, it was on time and NOT very crowded. Both local trains to and fro were a bit dirty or maybe well used. NOT as nice as Amtrak trains. But the tracks were still smooth riding, even in this stormy weather.

Mike reminded me that the European train tracks are dedicated to passenger clientele and are not shared with the freight trains like in the USA. That helps to keep them in great repair for a smooth ride. It was a quick 25 minute ride back with only two stops in between. 

When we de-trained in Nice, we spotted a fabulous graffiti painting on the side of the train. A marijuana leaf, maybe?

I'd say 99 percent of the graffiti we've seen so far in France has just been words. Not sure what--political, social, religious, who knows. Some are just names like "Brume." I have seen that one at just about every train station and other places along the way.

The second we walked out of the station, the sun came out from behind the clouds. I was surprised NOT to see a rainbow. It was that kind of moment. It made us smile and be happy even though we had not met our birthday goal.

Although we had planned to eat in Monaco, it just didn't work out. So we stopped by a little panini shop just outside the train station. Mike got a ham and mozzarella on a soft French roll and I got a tomato and mozz, to tide us over til dinner.

Back at our hotel, we had a picnic lunch in our room. We moved the desk in front of the balcony window. Unwrapped our sandwiches and dined semi al fresco overlooking the lovely courtyard garden. For dessert we shared the orange we had grabbed out of the fruit basket at breakfast.

After that we had planned to wash a load or two of clothes. Went to the front desk to find out the procedure and they gave us two tiny plastic bags--one for whites and one for colors. They would get it done by 10:30 tomorrow at 10 euros per bag. We had 2-1/2 bags and were hoping for the best to get them back in time.

When I took the clothes down for laundry, I heard that not many restaurants were open on Monday. At 20:10 we decided we weren't hungry enough to go out hunting for an open one, so finish our evening on the bed blogging and reading.

I still could not get into the Internet. We found a hotel Wi-Fi here, but it would not accept the appropriate password. Went to the front desk again. The receptionist could get it on her phone and advised, it must be "your device." What a shame!

So I started "blogging" in Notes in order to upload later at home, while Mike read an Alex McKnight murder mystery by Steve Hamilton (author from Paradise in the upper peninsula of Michigan, USA). 

At 21:24 a knock at our door. Good thing we were still dressed and wide awake. It was half of our laundry with the other half coming shortly. Nice surprise. We thought we might get it at the very last minute, but this hotel knows how to treat its guests properly. The Wi-Fi connect was the only disappointment, and that was probably operator error or my part.

Approximate Monaco walking route:
(F1 route in gray)

An aside:

orry again about the weird formatting. Not sure what is going on. It looks good on my draft copy but wacko when published. Maybe because I just loaded Mac Yosemite operating system. A new op system always seems to quirk out the computer!!