Lifestyles of the rich and famous

Kudos to our kids for their power walking technique - they have it down to a fine art when we need to get to a train station fast.  And we have a system, Mum in first, then Kaia and Zach, with Gareth as tail end Charlie. 

We have done our research, we know Monaco is not part of the EU but uses euros anyway, the language is mostly French, and we bring our passports for Customs.  We arrive in the train station in Monaco, make our way through a series of tunnels and find ourselves down at the Marina.  Ok - no customs, no security, everyone speaks very good english…..

The place is just so grand and imposing.  From the hills that surround the country to the high rise buildings down to the marina and all the super yachts parked up next to each other.  I looked out at the boats and thought how easy it would be to forget where you put your boat.  You feel very tiny in this place, and anything you buy is going to set you back a small fortune.  Nevertheless, Gareth spots some gold coloured metal flaked playing cards, and well, like a magpie they go on the credit card.

Our trip to Monaco was based on advice given by Poppa to the kids - the Oceanium was a must see.  Having been to the one in Lisbon I had high expectations.  But at the conclusion of our visit, you couldn’t compare the two.  Their missions were quite different.

Prince Albert I had a great love of expeditions to the Antarctic and was instrumental in advocating for conservation of both Antarctica and the Arctic.  The Oceanium is like a love letter to these places, educating and raising awareness of our impact on the world.  The Aquarium was cool, but Lisbon’s one was better, however the interactive room talking about the changes in our climate where you could touch the walls and the plankton would dissipate, or running along the room and the ice cracking where you ran was amazing when telling the story.  The Polar exhibition was probably our favourite.  The kids both got into one of the first submarines, and there is quite a bit of interaction you can have with the exhibits.  I think the lasting impression for me was that after Prince Albert I, Prince Rainier also took up the cause, and I believe today Prince Albert II is a massive advocate of exploration.

We ate lunch, bought some more small souvenirs and made our way back home.  We weren't paying attention and missed our stop and were inadvertently on our way to Italy.  After a brief panic I decided that it was all good as we had wanted to go to Ventimiglia anyway.  We could have dinner and come back home.  The train then stopped, we realised we were at the other station at the far end of Menton and did the hike back home.  And that was as close as we got to seeing Ventimiglia, we enjoyed our holiday in Menton too much and didn’t make it to the famous market.  So I guess that just means we will have to come back to the south of France, and Ventimiglia another time.