Princess Caroline Slept Here, or Rather There!
Ahhh, Monte Carlo! The spot where you hobnob with the rich and famous, not to mention the famous and rich. When we arrived yesterday morning, there was a gorgeous yacht berthed next to us, which was about two hundred feet long (or so). She was named the Lady Moura. From what the locals told us, music had been blasting from the ship night and day for the past three days. Princess Caroline was holding a charity event in Monaco, which was apparently centered on the Lady Moura. This ship, but a stone’s throw from our deck was the temporary residence of the Princess. I mean, why would you want to stay in the drafty old palace with your brother, when you could party all night on a yacht. Whatever the charity event happened to be, it was an all week event with lots of marathon and some shorter foot races up and down the hill. Now, a few minutes ago, the final money total and the final thank you were being announced on the deck in front of the Lady Moura. One of the speakers was a very lovely young lady, who may or may not been the Princess. The crowd was rather large, so I couldn’t get close enough to see exactly. But, even if I didn’t hear her speak, she did sleep rather close to me last night; and let me just say that she didn’t do much sleeping!!!
Last night was a very nice dinner with the Assistant Cruise Director, who is also one of the entertainers onboard the ship. She invited two ladies who were traveling alone and I to dine with her. We had a very great time, and I had a chance to share my dogs of Pompeii story. Carol, who was one of the single ladies (no, no we are talking matronly here), knew all about the dogs. There are apparently thirty nine dogs that live and roam in ruins of Pompeii. Strangely enough, the black dog (my buddy) is known as Number 1. He is the only black dog in the group. The others are apparently all white. So it would seem that I owe my rescue to Number One.
During dinner, the asst cruise director told us a wonderful story about Prince Albert. Several years ago, the ACD was still primarily a singer / dancer and choreographer on another cruise. One night in Monte Carlo, one of the other dancers went out for the evening to party. The next day she announced that she had met Prince Albert in one of the bars and he had given her his cell phone number. A few days later, the ship went into dry dock in Genoa, and while they were waiting for the ship to be ready; the six dancers went down to spend a few days in Nice. Well, one afternoon the dancer announced that she had called Albert and that he was coming to the hotel to pick her up. The ACD pointed out that this was kind of a second class (aka cheap) hotel in Nice. Well all six of the girls decided that they weren’t going to miss this, so they all went down to the lobby to wait for the Prince. And sure enough, a little while later, this huge motorcade swept into the driveway of the hotel. Two very large bodyguards in dark suits, and with earphones dangling from their ears came into the lobby. There was also a nineteen year old desk clerk in the hotel lobby who by this time had gone white as a sheet. As soon as the bodyguards finished checking out the lobby, they radioed the limo out front. And sure enough, out of the limo steps Prince Albert himself, dressed in khaki pants, a tee shirt, and a jacket. By this time, the hotel clerk was on the phone calling every other maid, bellboy and waiter in the hotel to tell them what was going on. Albert came over, and sat down with the six dancers and chatted with them for quite a long time. During the visit, more and more hotel employees started appearing behind curtains and in doorways to get a glimpse of royalty. Our ACD said that Albert was charming and delightful, and after a fairly long visit; Albert and his date climbed into the limo and motorcade roared off to one of the clubs. I love that story.
Today, Carole (from last night) and I decided to explore a little more of Monte Carlo. She had checked at the tour desk this morning and had been told that getting a taxi on a Sunday was going to be rough, so that we would probably have to take the bus (YUCK!) We had just walked out of the terminal and were ready to start hiking to the bus stop, when this taxi cab pulled up in front of us and stopped. Carole said that he was probably waiting to pick up a group, but having nothing to loose I went up to him, asked if he was available to take us to the palace, and two minutes we were off in the supposedly non-existent taxi. We got to the palace just in time for the changing of the guard. It was a pretty impressive ceremony, with a full band and a line of dignitaries that were (I guess) the members of the Monaco Council. And even though the Prince’s flag was flying above the palace, which means the Prince is in residence, he did not bother to come out and wave to the adoring crowd.
After the changing of the guard, we walked down to the Cathedral where the Prince (no not Albert) and the Princess are entombed. Great, the church was locked! What is it with Europeans and locked churches on Sunday? As we walked around the side of the cathedral there was a large group of people who I believe were just coming out of the church service, even though it was almost one o’clock. I suggested that perhaps that cathedral would be opening up soon, but Carol decided that was unlikely. The streets around the palace are charming. They remind me very much of the streets outside of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle in Disneyland. Now I know you all thought I was going to say that they looked like the streets outside of Buckingham Palace; but honestly they look more like Disneyland. Besides the last time I was at Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards, one of the embassies near by (I believe the Iranian Embassy) was seized at gunpoint and the entire changing of the guard turned into a mass display of helicopters and military police units. Not having seen the guards change before, I was quite impressed by the military and air power until someone pointed out that one of the embassies was being attacked.
Anyway, Carol and I and her trusty map wandered around the palace area, down past the Jacques Cousteau Aquarium and down through the gardens near the palace. Carol’s map told her we would slowly wind down the hills of Monaco until we got to the harbor. NOT TRUE. The gardens came to an abrupt end, and the only other way to go (besides parasailing) was to climb some more damn steps. So, we climbed and climbed and ended up where? Yes, back in front of the Cathedral, which was at that very moment, opening their doors to the public. The sealed doors earlier leads me to believe that the Prince may have attended the earlier service (or hopefully confession). So, Carol and I went into the Cathedral, and then paid our respects at the tombs of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier. By that time I was worn out, having scaled the hills of Monaco yesterday, so Carol and her map went off to explore the rest of Monaco, and I took the bus back to the ship, where I arrived in time for the charity presentation and possibly Princess Caroline.
Believe me, I will sleep well tonight!
