Money, Money, Money

We said goodbye to Javier and Michael and made our way towards Italy. We stopped along the way along the Cote D'Azur or the French Riviera. I havent figured out why its called the Riviera yet...but I digress.... Armani, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Pierre Cardin, it doesnt end. Expensive shops, HUGE luxury yachts, expensive restaurants, Royal families...

Here we were looking like bums in our shorts and t-shirts while you could feel the money being thrown around all around you on all forms of luxury. Cannes, know most famously for its film festival is known as a sister city to Beverley Hills in California. The main strip along the beach is lined with expensive hotels and stores that we didnt even think of going into. Much of this area is a play ground for the rich and the famous with a splattering of tourists who come to bask in the wealth of other people.

We spent a day in Monaco by catching the train from Nice. Very quick and cheap to do so. It only cost us $5 for a return ticket and took only 25 mins to get there. We took a mini train tour that took you around the sights of Monaco: The Casino, Musee de Oceanographic, the Cathedral, the Royal Palace, it even took the path of the Formula 1 race track. Its amazing how they transform this busy city into a race track. In terms of population, the city only has 40000 residents. ABout 7000 Monacans and the rest are made up of 40% French and 15% British. At any given time however, there would be thousands more toursists and people that work in the city. The Grimaldi family seized control of this area 700 years ago by sending troops disguised as monks. About 200 years later they took full control of the area and made it a principality ruled by the Princes of Monaco. We found a few nice cars too :) Too bad we couldnt take any ride. The photo above is an Astin Martin we found....parked next to a Porche Carrera....parked next to a Bentley....parked next to a Mercedes......