It took less than a half hour to get to Monaco and we had to backtrack through Villefranche where we started. We actually went through the small town/village of Boileau which is actually my maiden name. I meant to research more about this but to be perfectly honest I had forgotten completely about this until I was sitting here writing this blog.
So again we did a quick bus tour around Monaco to see some of the sites and then we were dropped off at a parking garage under the Aquarium. When we got to the top it was very cold out and my mom was still in a lot of pain and walking was going to be an issue and unfortunately most of the attractions/sites were a good distance to walk to. Some people took a bus to go and check out the Monte Carlo Casino. We were going to find something out of the cold and close by when we noticed a "train"tour of Monaco and Monte Carlo so we decided to do that first.
Here is the train
The price was reasonable 9 Euros per adult
The train provides you with headsets that will give you a guided tour throughout the ride and it is available in about 14 languages. It starts off in front of the Jacques Cousteau Oceanography museum and aquarium. It goes through Monaco along the path of the Grand Prix up in front of the Monte Carlo Casino back through the shopping/hotel district, to the castle and parliament and back to where you started. A good 30 minutes give or take.
One of the shops along the grand prix course.
The casino. You most obey the dress code to enter as well as surrender your passport
The shopping district
Parliament
When we finished this tour we still had quite of bit of time to kill and it was still quite cold out so we decided to pay to get into the Oceanography. I think we paid 30 Euros for both of us but I am not sure. They also had combo tickets for parliament and a few other places as well. A few pictures I took outside before we made our way inside
This huge tank was quite amazing it housed so many different species and at the very top was this giant sea turtle. We decided to sit and watch for a bit and all of a sudden the turtle finally came down lower almost as if he was performing for the audience and then snap he grabbed the fish in front of him and ate it. If you could have heard the gasps among the audience. It was just so unexpected and yet it captures how things really work out in the ocean!!
There were a few smaller tanks with these camouflaged fish. It was very interesting picking them out of the sand and not always seeing them right away
I just had to get a close up of the Seahorses (Interesting fact it is the male of the species who carry the babies)
Once we finished in the Aquarium area we moved upstairs to check out a few exhibits up top.
Cool Shark mouth with a mirror on the inside
Jacques Cousteau
A back view of the Museum it over looks the Sea
Once we were done and met up with the bus we were headed back to the ship. The last tender was supposed to leave at 6:15 pm but we were late getting back to the port as were several other bus tours. Keep in mind these bus tours were all booked through Royal excursions so we were very lucky that the ship waited for us. It took time to load each of the buses on the ferry's to get back to the shop.
A view of the ship on our drive back to the port
One of the biggest problems encountered in Europe is traffic and so it makes getting back from excursions harder sometimes but with the guarantee from Royal they will either wait for you or get you to the next port.
I truly enjoyed our day if the weather had been a bit warmer and my mom in better condition I would have braved a walk down to the beach to add to my sand collection from around the world. Stay tuned for the next port La Spezia.
Want to get in touch here is where you can find me
www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor
www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca or www.exclusivetoyoutravel.com
slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com
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