Day 8, 25 May 2008, Monaco & Monaco GP

Whew! What a loooong and exhausting day. Of course, in keeping with the theme of the trip, it was raining when we woke up. I guess having a nice day for the Monaco GP would be too much to ask.

We were misled by the hotel desk clerk when he said that the strike had been called off. Crap! Our station was closed, there were no taxis to be called, and the closest station was a 20 minute walk in the rain. Not to be deterred, we hiked to the Antibes station where we found out that many trains had been cancelled, the ones that were running were packed, and that we wouldn't get to Monaco until just around noon (for a 2pm green flag).

During the train ride, we had a decent conversation with a Brit who was in town for the Cannes Film Festival and the GP. His company had a yacht in the Monaco harbor, but there was no invitation from him to join him after the event.

Monaco was crazy. It was packed with people of all types; blue collar to glamourous eurotrash. After asking one police officer after another, we finally found the will call window and got our tickets around 1pm (for a 2pm green flag). Fortunately, the rain stopped prior to getting of the train, so while it was wet, it at least wasn't raining. By the time we got some sandwiches for lunch and made our way to "Secteur Rocher," it became apparent that there was no chance at all of finding a mediocre, let alone good, vantage point from which to watch the race. Long story short, we "watched" about 2/3rds of the race in the race from behind an olive tree.

During that time, we became separated from Adam and Carlisle, but agreed to meet up at the will-call window after the race. I wound up watching the closing laps huddled around a TV set up in one of the restaurants in town while Angela strolled up the street looking for a souvenir or race tee-shirt.

Actually, the high point of the day for me was walking the track after they opened it up to pedestrians. I couldn't believe the elevation changes, since they are completely flattened by TV.

Fortunately, we didn't have to repeat our hike from Antibes to Juan-les-Pins upon our return as the train strike had ended (how convenient). Adam and Carlisle retired to their room, but Angela and I were much to hungry to call it a night so we went to another of my dad's recommended places (Restaurant La Bodega) and had some exceptional scallops.

Tomorrow we're driving over to the Luberon region of Provence where we will be staying for 4 nights at a small farmhouse "mas" near Menerbes.