Au Revoir Nice, Bonjour Monaco - Sunday 1st March, 2009

We have had a lovely, relaxing time in Nice, with glorious weather, and today it was time to say Au Revoir to Nice and their Mega Yachts and Bonjour to Port Hercule in Monaco and more Mega Yachts!
We left this morning at 11.30am, heading ESE and then ENE, passing Villefranche Sur Mer, Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, Beaulieu Sur Mer, Cap d’Ail, Fontvieille and arrived one hour later at Port Hercule, Monaco.
We travelled at 10 knots with a bit of an uncomfortable swell from the East, and some light drizzle, but as it was only a very short distance of just under 10nm, it wasn’t a problem.
We were met and directed to a berth and unfortunately it was at the other side of the marina where we ideally wanted to be, but there is a little Solar Powered Bateau Bus that scoots across the Port all day, so that will save our legs walking to the Casino tonight, as it drops you off 3 minutes walk from it!
After filling out our Port and Maritime Police forms (they are quite strict here in Monaco), we relaxed with lunch on board followed by a siesta and then we got our party gear on and headed to the Casino at 6pm.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take our camera inside, or we could have shared the splendour of the place with you all, so you will just need to believe us when we say that it is decorated as beautiful as the inside of an Italian Cathedral with high-domed Ceilings painted in Gold Leaf. Each room has different tables, with only a few tables in each room, and leather seats around the outside for you to relax. The Slot Machines have their own room, again tastefully decorated and when you win (and we did!) and cash out, the machine prints out a ticket for you that you can either exchange at the Caisse or feed it into any other machine and play more. None of the noisy and dirty coins to contend with!

We played the Slots up until 7.30pm and then we had dinner in Le Train Bleu, one of the three restaurants in the Casino. Le Train Bleu is decorated as you can imagine, like the inside of the famous railway carriages and serves first class Italian food. I thought my Menu was mis-printed as there were no prices on it and then we realised that ladies were presented with an unpriced menu. How tasteful is that! After some home made bread sticks and tomato focacia, we started with Grilled Onion Soup and Scallop & Lemon Risotto which were both fabulous, then Jim had Rack of Lamb with Spinach in Puff Pastry and I had Duck Breast in an Orange Sauce with Pureed Potatoes - again both lovely and well presented. To finish we had Espresso & delicious petit fours. Tres Tres Bien - our last meal out in France!

After dinner, as I was 5€ down, I was keen to get back to the Slots to make amends as I felt quite lucky. At 11.15pm, we called it a night, although I was having so much fun, I could have stayed much longer........I ended up 50€ up and Jim 'thinks' he broke even, so a perfect end to a perfect night. You definitely cannot come to Monaco without visiting this amazing Casino.

We are, weather permitting, heading to San Stefano Al Mare tomorrow, our first Italian stop!!!!

Monaco is 43’44’085N 007’25’.623E and we travelled 9.56nm today.