Day 57 - Monaco
Monday, August 27, 2018.
Today I woke up the kids at 7:30 and started homeschool at 8:00. I will try to make this a habit but it will be challenging with all the moving around. I want to get it done first thing in the morning. On the other hand, it might be better to leave the house early and do homeschooling around 2:00 or 3:00 when it is really hot out and locals hide in their houses. We'll see. I think the key to success in this trip is to be flexible and adjust to change quickly.
Yesterday, for example, was the first time I had to put on my swimsuit at the beach. Sunshine said, whatever, like the surfers do it all the time but me, well, not really. I had to think fast, either get in the nice refreshing water, which I really wanted to do, or stay in my clothes watching the kids. Well, I'm glad I chose what I wanted but sometimes it's not easy. You get the point.
Homeschool took about an hour. I had Sunshine read about her new Independent Learning program and get in touch with her teachers. For Daniel, the assignment was to write about our two months so far. I really wanted him to keep a journal but he wouldn't do it on his own, so I assigned it. They are both amazing kids, we will be fine!
OK, I had already written about Monaco and for some reason, it did not save and now I have to start all over. I hate it when this happens, I should be used to it by now, my eternal struggle with electronics, but I'm not. I will be brief.
It took about two hours to get to Monaco from our house. Even if we're close, taking public transportation takes forever. Who knew that it only costs 1.50 euros to go to Monaco!? Who said that you can't travel cheap? When we got there, we met Layla, one of Gregory's high school friends. Layla actually lives in Monaco and was happy to show us around. We saw the famous Prince's Palace where the prince actually lives. I wanted to see the inside of the cathedral, but Sunshine and I were both wearing dresses that didn't cover our shoulders, so they wouldn't let us in. We walked down and passed Princess Caroline's villa. It was right there down the street, just like passing a neighbor's house. We saw some amazing views and then found a restaurant in the old town for lunch.
I had a Nicois specialty, a tuna sandwich called pan bagnat, which I highly recommend. After that, we walked back to the Museum of Oceanography (aka aquarium) because Daniel really wanted to go. It was definitely worth it, we spent about 3 hours looking at the fish. I kept thinking, we are in Monaco and instead of sightseeing, we are deep in the aquarium! But then I realized that we were all happy and having a good time, so it really didn't matter where we were or what we were doing and just enjoyed myself. Around 5:30. we decided that it was time to leave but we still hadn't covered the museum part. We rushed upstairs, saw amazing marine skeletons and one of the first submarines.
We left the aquarium around 6:00 and took a bus to the famous Monte Carlo Casino. We could have walked but it was a hike so we didn't! When we got there, Daniel was more impressed with the cars parked in front than with the building itself. He was thrilled looking around and taking pictures of the dozens of exotic cars (mostly from Russia and Saudi Arabia). We went inside the casino, just the entrance where they currently have a walk-in maze of cards. The kids loved it!
After that, we went to Cartier in the Hotel de Paris to look for my next anniversary present. Just kidding! They had 3 security guards in the store if you can imagine. Good thing it's free to look! After that, we walked into the Hotel de Paris, and said that we wanted to have a coffee but we couldn't because no shorts or flip-flops are allowed. Oh well, maybe next time we said. The lady was very nice and let us look around anyways. I took a picture next to a huge vase full of flowers (for my mom).
We decided to go home for dinner rather than overpay in Monaco. We waited for bus 100 to take us to Monaco. We finally got back to Nice around 9:00. Gregory wanted to try socca, another specialty in Nice, so we walked to one of the best-known restaurants and guess what? It was closed. We promised that we would have it another day!
Monaco is very pretty but I have a feeling that the kids enjoyed the aquarium best. So far they are more inclined to do simple activities and enjoy nature. Let it be a tip for all the parents that plan expensive vacations and the kids only want sun, water, and beach!
Today I woke up the kids at 7:30 and started homeschool at 8:00. I will try to make this a habit but it will be challenging with all the moving around. I want to get it done first thing in the morning. On the other hand, it might be better to leave the house early and do homeschooling around 2:00 or 3:00 when it is really hot out and locals hide in their houses. We'll see. I think the key to success in this trip is to be flexible and adjust to change quickly.
Yesterday, for example, was the first time I had to put on my swimsuit at the beach. Sunshine said, whatever, like the surfers do it all the time but me, well, not really. I had to think fast, either get in the nice refreshing water, which I really wanted to do, or stay in my clothes watching the kids. Well, I'm glad I chose what I wanted but sometimes it's not easy. You get the point.
Homeschool took about an hour. I had Sunshine read about her new Independent Learning program and get in touch with her teachers. For Daniel, the assignment was to write about our two months so far. I really wanted him to keep a journal but he wouldn't do it on his own, so I assigned it. They are both amazing kids, we will be fine!
OK, I had already written about Monaco and for some reason, it did not save and now I have to start all over. I hate it when this happens, I should be used to it by now, my eternal struggle with electronics, but I'm not. I will be brief.
It took about two hours to get to Monaco from our house. Even if we're close, taking public transportation takes forever. Who knew that it only costs 1.50 euros to go to Monaco!? Who said that you can't travel cheap? When we got there, we met Layla, one of Gregory's high school friends. Layla actually lives in Monaco and was happy to show us around. We saw the famous Prince's Palace where the prince actually lives. I wanted to see the inside of the cathedral, but Sunshine and I were both wearing dresses that didn't cover our shoulders, so they wouldn't let us in. We walked down and passed Princess Caroline's villa. It was right there down the street, just like passing a neighbor's house. We saw some amazing views and then found a restaurant in the old town for lunch.
I had a Nicois specialty, a tuna sandwich called pan bagnat, which I highly recommend. After that, we walked back to the Museum of Oceanography (aka aquarium) because Daniel really wanted to go. It was definitely worth it, we spent about 3 hours looking at the fish. I kept thinking, we are in Monaco and instead of sightseeing, we are deep in the aquarium! But then I realized that we were all happy and having a good time, so it really didn't matter where we were or what we were doing and just enjoyed myself. Around 5:30. we decided that it was time to leave but we still hadn't covered the museum part. We rushed upstairs, saw amazing marine skeletons and one of the first submarines.
We left the aquarium around 6:00 and took a bus to the famous Monte Carlo Casino. We could have walked but it was a hike so we didn't! When we got there, Daniel was more impressed with the cars parked in front than with the building itself. He was thrilled looking around and taking pictures of the dozens of exotic cars (mostly from Russia and Saudi Arabia). We went inside the casino, just the entrance where they currently have a walk-in maze of cards. The kids loved it!
After that, we went to Cartier in the Hotel de Paris to look for my next anniversary present. Just kidding! They had 3 security guards in the store if you can imagine. Good thing it's free to look! After that, we walked into the Hotel de Paris, and said that we wanted to have a coffee but we couldn't because no shorts or flip-flops are allowed. Oh well, maybe next time we said. The lady was very nice and let us look around anyways. I took a picture next to a huge vase full of flowers (for my mom).
We decided to go home for dinner rather than overpay in Monaco. We waited for bus 100 to take us to Monaco. We finally got back to Nice around 9:00. Gregory wanted to try socca, another specialty in Nice, so we walked to one of the best-known restaurants and guess what? It was closed. We promised that we would have it another day!
Monaco is very pretty but I have a feeling that the kids enjoyed the aquarium best. So far they are more inclined to do simple activities and enjoy nature. Let it be a tip for all the parents that plan expensive vacations and the kids only want sun, water, and beach!
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| Prince's Palace |
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| The soldier |
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| One of the original city gates |
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| Layla and Gregory |
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| Layla showing us around Monaco |
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| The cathedral |
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| The yellow submarine |
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| Oceanographic Museum |
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| The first minion |
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| The scientist |
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| The explorers |
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| American submarine from 1775 |
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| Monte Carlo Casino |
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| The gambler |
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| It used to get more sun, but there are so many new buildings in Monaco! |
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| Touching the king's nose |
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| Hotel de Paris, oh la la! |
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| Selfie in Monte Carlo |
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