Where Luxury meets Riviera. Cross Country Walking

 

 

 

Since Scott had declared yesterday’s Caesar salad the best in the world, there was no debate about where to go for breakfast this morning. Back we went to the same café. Scott stuck with his favorite, while I experimented with scrambled eggs and a bagel. The bagel turned out to be nothing more than a bagel-shaped piece of bread, but the scrambled eggs and avocado easily made up for it.

From breakfast we walked straight to the train station, hopped on a train, and within half an hour had crossed into Monaco. The walk towards the legendary Monte Carlo Casino felt surreal, the country seemed so artificial. We even considered losing a few euros in the slot machines, but apparently, the casino doesn’t accept early-morning donations. So instead, after admiring the luxury cars lined up outside, we continued our trek through the city center and up towards the Prince’s Palace.

Here’s the funny part: within about an hour, we had managed to walk across the entire country. Admittedly, Monaco is tiny, but it still feels like an achievement. We spent the rest of our visit speculating on how the locals without yachts or Ferraris entertain themselves. Once the novelty wore off, we decided it was time to head back to France. Our train was delayed because someone had apparently chosen the tracks as their morning resting spot, but by 2 p.m., we were back at our hotel.

The afternoon was simple: a run, some packing, and then scouting for dinner.

Along the way, I reflected on how we’ve become accidental protest tourists. Yesterday we walked into a Palestinian demonstration in town (which has also happened to us in London and Venice), and today our jogging route cut through yet another protest. I never figured out what this one was about, but this one definitely wasn’t Palestine-related.

For dinner, our chosen restaurant promised to be open according to the internet. In reality? Completely shut. No worries though - we tracked down another place. We had to wait nearly an hour for the chef to arrive, but once he did, the food was absolutely worth it.