M(oney)ONACO

Decided to take an early vacation (American spring break) with my parents and little sister and travel with them throughout Spain and France. Two important background points...

1) Yes I  took off two weeks of school in the middle of the semester, but in my defense: this is Europe and things are different. For example, when you email your teachers saying your sick, they don't ask for a doctor's note. In fact, I told most of my teachers I was going on early vacation and their reply was: "Bon Voyage". Plus it's safe to say at this point, I have the screaming mantra of "I'm on exchange!" blue-printed in my mind.

2) It was a roadtrip. In a station-wagon (although my proud father assures me it is German-made). . So as you can imagine, not only was I on 'holiday', but I felt like I was also on a 24-hour, close quarters, comedy show.

Monaco Harbor

First leg of the trip: Monaco!

As most people know and as the title alludes to, this tax haven country viewed more like a city, is nestled on a cliff in the famed "Cote d'Azur" or "French Riviera". And when I say nestled on a cliff, I mean bring motion sickness medicine and good walking shoes if you ever visit this place. Although I have to say, they have made very good use of the escalator here! It seems that there are plenty of these strategically placed throughout the country and often in odd places. Also another thing, there are beautiful views from Monte Carlo and from the harbor but there are absolutely NO beaches; most likely because of all the yachts, that are so big they can rival my house, are taking up much of the room. Luckily France is just 5 to 10 minutes away with its' beautiful beaches (especially in Nice and Cannes).

Fact(s) of the day:

St. Nicolas Cathedral
(Grace Kelly's burial spot)

-   To be able to apply for residency in Monaco (in order to not have to pay taxes), you must be able to prove that you live at least 51 percent of the time there. I asked a local how people get around this because obviously most people don't live here because they are Monegasque, but purely for the tax reasons. He told me that they put their lights on timers so that they are scheduled to go on and off at least 51 percent of the time and this is how they "prove their residency". Pretty sneaky huh?

-   Also, Prince Albert doesn't like how satellite dishes look; so to fix this problem, he banned them and has paid for cable for the ENTIRE country ever since. Nice guy, but unfortunately not an eligible bachelor; he's engaged to South African swimmer, Charlene Wittstock and is due to be married this July; maybe a good time to visit Monaco! Although, I personally would visit a little earlier in May for the famed Monaco Grand Prix!

We drove through the Cote d'Azur and stopped in Cannes (prononced like Khan; locals get mad when you sound the 's') and I have to say this shoreline really does live up to the hype and praise it receives from its' visitors; beautiful beaches, relaxing mentality, and welcoming locals -- definitely deserves a repeat trip!

Monte Carlo city streets