Villefranche, Monte Carlo and Monaco

Karen on the tender in Villefranche

The town of Villefranche

We missed the Monaco International Horse Show by only THREE days!!

The Casino in Monte Carlo

Cafe de Paris and the Casino in Monte Carlo














The BEST banana split at Cafe de Paris
















Patrick in Monte Carlo by Princess Grace Theater













View of the Disney Magic from the train in Villefranche








We slept until about 8:00am today and awoke to Rachel (the cruise director) announcing our arrival into Villefranche. This cove is simply beautiful. When you think of the Med, this is the kind of place you picture in your head. There are several million dollar yachts anchored around, villas dotting the landscape and purple bougainvillea growing on every wall. Mom had another tour late in the afternoon, but Patrick and I could NOT face getting on a bus again! We decided to hop on the train into Monte Carlo. This was quite easy and after 6 tour buses in a row, it was SO nice to be on our own. It could not have been an easier walk up to the train station (maybe a 10 minute walk along the harbor). The shore excursion desk had a list of train departure times, so we arrived in time to buy two round-trip tickets (4.80 each – you need exact change too) and catch the train to Monaco. The train was very nice and it was only a 15 minute ride to Monaco. We even passed Bono’s (from the band U2) house on the way. Needless to say, it was incredible!

When we arrived at the train station, we followed the crowd of people heading up the escalators to get to the ‘street’. Keep in mind that Monaco is built on a mountainside, so what you think is the ‘ground’ in one place, may still have another shop underneath! One of the first things we saw while walking to the Grand Casino was a red convertible Ferrari. We knew we were not in Naples anymore! It was about a 10 minute walk to the Casino (when you get out of the train station, turn left and follow the signs – the locals are also quite helpful, but speaking some French will go far). We saw posters for an International Horse Show all over the streets – I missed it by 3 days! Patrick lucked out!

The Casino was incredible! Out front, they had every kind of Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Jaguar and Ferrari you can imagine. I heard that the property values were 10,000 EURO per square meter – wow! The Casino was closed until 2:00, so we walked around and took a bunch of pictures of the gardens and shops. By this time, I was parched and asked one of the locals where a good place to eat would be. He recommended Café de Paris right in front of the Casino. If you are ANYWHERE near Monte Carlo, you HAVE to try this place. Patrick and I split a mixed greens salad which came topped with REAL, fresh blue cheese, pine nuts and a light oil dressing. For something so simple, it was just delicious! Afterwards, we shared a banana split. It was the BEST I ever had in my entire life. I cannot recommend this place highly enough!

We then walked into the Casino to take a look around, but we decided not to gamble. If you want to go IN the Casino, make sure you have your passport (NOT a copy) or your driver’s license. I also heard that if you won more than 800 Euros, you needed your passport as well.

We decided to be adventurous and stroll by SEVERAL multi-million dollar yachts in the harbor. Our waiter on the Disney Magic told us that it was possible to rent one of these boats for only 150,000 EUROS a week – per PERSON! Many of them were well over 100 feet in length and just beautiful!

A local showed us the path to the train station and we hopped on at the last minute. The tricky part about catching the train back was that the monitors did not show the destination as being ‘Villefranche’. It had a different town. The train time did match the guide from the Shore Excursion desk, so we figured it was the right train. We did have a little luck on our side. When we got on the train, the conductor spoke quite rapidly (in French) to Patrick. I was not paying attention, so I told the conductor (in French) that Patrick did not speak French, but we were heading to Villefranche and were we on the correct train. He asked for our tickets and then looked at them as if he had no idea what they were. I guess he was more used to people having yearly passes on the train rather than just one round trip ticket. He then asked me if I was ‘Italian’ – I guess I speak French with an Italian accent! I told him we were American and I asked if the tickets were good. He said he wasn’t sure, but he stood in the way of the policeman checking the tickets so ours were not checked. Oh well, we got off at the next stop anyway and I thanked him for his help.

Once we got on the ship, we tried to pick up Peyton from the camp – failed again. We headed up to the Quite Cove pool for a relaxing time in the hot tub. Afterwards, we saw the “When Mickey Dreams” show. It was kind of a Cirque show crossed with Mickey Mouse. I was off to bed by this time, while Patrick stayed up to see the chocolate dessert buffet.