Today was practice day for the Formula One Grand Prix of Monaco so we headed to the train station first thing and caught the train to Monaco. The train station was much more crowded today so have to keep that in mind for the other race days. We got to Monaco and immediately saw the sign pointing to our stand and followed the long, marble lined corridor out of the train station and immediately found the line into our gate and small stand at the first corner of the track also known as Sainte Devote. For those watching at home this was the site of several cars running long and having to turn around. It was difficult to follow practice as we could literally only see the corner in front of us but we were MUCH closer than I have ever been at any other track. BTW I will put a few below but for ALL the pics you can go to my smugmug site s0kud0.smugmug.com and check out the Monaco Trip under Travels.

After first practice we headed up the steep hill to “The Rock” where the prince’s palace is as well as old Monaco and other sites. Upon getting to the top we looked around the palace square then decided we were hungry and began looking for lunch. We found a little sandwich shop and grabbed a couple of things and sat down in the tiny old town street to eat. After lunch we went and saw the Cathedral of Monaco which is famous for being the site of Princess Grace’s wedding to Prince Ranier III of Monaco. We then continued down the path past the gardens and went to the Musee Oceanographique which was at one time run by Jacques Cousteau. The aquarium part was great as both of us love aquariums and sea life but the museum above was a liittle dull and hard to follow I thought. It might have been that I was a little tired. We came back out thinking we would hear the F1 cars screaming around below but there was silence and rain. Turns out a red flag and the rain limited the cars running for a bit. We threw on our rain gear and headed to the palace to take the tour there as we had gotten a dual ticket at the aquarium.

I thought the palace was very interesting and we had an english audio tour that we could use which made it even better. We weren’t supposed to take pictures but I got one of a cabinet I thought Dad would like so I snuck a quick one. Hopefully after admitting this transgression I am still allowed back into the principality the rest of the weekend.

After this tour we came back out and the rain had mostly stopped and the cars were again running so I went over by the railing where you can see all of the harbor area including the second half of the swimming pool chicane and Rascasse so I got out my big lens again and shot some pictures of the cars from up high. Once practice was finished I took several wide shots of the marina and track area and then we headed back down the hill to the train station to go back to the apartment to drop off my heavy camera bag and rest a bit.

For dinner we ate at a little Italian place in old town and I had pizza with prochiutto and arugala and Becky had a fish pasta. We met a couple from  California who were here for the race and updated them on the pick pocketing situation and got them oriented to the area and the race festivities. BTW, Jennifer, you wouldn’t believe all of the varieties of lemonade I have gotten on this trip but this one was one of the best. On our way back for our nightly ice cream Becky needed to run up to the  apartment first so I waited by the ice cream shop deciding what to order. When I wandered around to the front of the shop to wait for Becky I saw our cooking class teacher but she was with a couple of other gentlemen so I hung back until I got her attention. Right as I had begun to wait I looked closer at her companions and one of them was Rick Steves! I had a conversation with him and Rosa about her cooking class and Nice, etc and they then moved on to their next stop as she was showing them around and helping with his research for his updated book on Nice. Becky came out about a minute later and I told her and she didn’t believe me until I took her up to the corner where Rick and Rosa were standing outside of another restaurant at the end of the street. Becky still didn’t get to meet him as Rosa came over and they went inside the restaurant. After walking around a bit more  we came across a lovely cathedral called Eglise Jesus and it was open so we stepped in to look around. So far this was the most beautiful cathedral that we have been to and was a good end to the day.

Tomorrow we will get our rental car and go to Monaco hoping to do a pit walk and also possibly drive the track when it opens at 2pm. See you all tomorrow!