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Monte Carlo is truly a unique place. Never in my life have I seen a place with such a concentration of wealth. The cars, the buildings, and the people are all beautiful. And speaking of the cars, you couldn’t go more that 2 minutes without seeing a Bentley, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, or a lowly Mercedes. Everything in the principality of Monaco was clean and all the people were nice. The downside was that everything was very expensive and I’m not sure how anybody maintains that lifestyle. Thanks to Kim’s hard work we got to see it all for free:) ADP put on a great reward trip with planned excursions, great dinners at fantastic locations, and live entertainment and fireworks at the final rewards dinner.Home Family Pictures Guestbook Jon Mike Jeff
A couple of our planned trips were to the historic French villages of Eze and St. Paul de Vence. We also went into Nice (France) for dinner and shopping. Both villages are high on mountain tops. Before arriving we had no idea that Monaco and that part of France had so many hills and mountains. Don’t think that we just laid on the beach between all of these excursions – We were logging many miles on foot to visit the Palace and the changing of the guards, explore the city, and finding good restaurants.
Monaco is a French speaking country. Jon and Kim both had 5 years of French in Junior High and High School that came in handy. When Jon was greeted with the first “bonjour”, he smoothly replied…. wassup. Nevertheless, all of the time spent not liking French class actually proved useful. And while there were certainly no conversations in French, we could both read and make sense of most signs and some dialogue. Fortunately almost everybody spoke some English.
Gambling is allowed in Monte Carlo, but we didn’t place a single wager. One night we tried to go into the main casino but it costs 15 euros per person just to get in and we were not planning to stay long so we opted out. We did go to the Casino at the Monte Carlo Sports Club where Kim’s reward dinner was held. Minimum blackjack hand was 2,000 euros, about $2,500. So I just saved my money for the $8 diet cokes at the hotel.
Rome was not built in a day, but Jon and Kim covered most of it in about two. Doing everything by foot and seeing the Villa Borghese, Spanish Steps, Forum, Coliseum, and the Palantine Hill in the first afternoon. In the evening we went to dinner and visited the Trevi fountain (pictured left). Kim fought through blisters on her feet in day 2 when we started the morning with a bus tour to get the layout of the city. After the bus tour we took a guided tour of Circus Maximus where chariot races and other games were held. We then went to the Catcombs (ancient tombs) and to see the mouth of truth. Legend has it if you lied with your arm in the mouth of truth you would lose your hand. Actually there was a man on the other side with a sword deciding your fate. Hope he was having a good day when you were put to the test. On day 3 went to tour the Vatican Museums with the Sistine Chapel and St Peters Basillica. Because the holiday of Assumption the museum was closed the 2 prior days. The line is usually a couple hours long but due to the closure the line was estimated at over 4 hours long! We happened upon a tour company that had privileges to skip the entire line for 30 euros per person. It wasn’t a scam and sure enough we walked right in and got a great guided tour. Realizing we had seen most major attractions the pace slowed. We went on to see the pantheon that afternoon and enjoyed a very nice dinner. The morning of our last full day we went to the Museum Borghese and a veryRome was not built in a day, but Jon and Kim covered most of it in about two. Doing everything by foot and seeing the Villa Borghese, Spanish Steps, Forum, Coliseum, and the Palantine Hill in the first afternoon. In the evening we went to dinner and visited the Trevi fountain (pictured left). Kim fought through blisters on her feet in day 2 when we started the morning with a bus tour to get the layout of the city. After the bus tour we took a guided tour of Circus Maximus where chariot races and other games were held. We then went to the Catcombs (ancient tombs) and to see the mouth of truth. Legend has it if you lied with your arm in the mouth of truth you would lose your hand. Actually there was a man on the other side with a sword deciding eerie and interesting museum comprised of the specially arranged bones of over 4,000 human skeletons. We then revisited a few monuments and took our time to find some more recommended restaurants for lunch and dinner. After our last dinner we went back to the Coliseum to take a picture of it at night. Monte Carlo is truly a unique place. Never in my life have I seen a place with such a concentration of wealth. The cars, the buildings, and the people are all beautiful. And speaking of the cars, you couldn’t go more that 2 minutes without seeing a Bentley, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, or a lowly Mercedes. Everything in the principality of Monaco was clean and all the people were nice. The downside was that everything was very expensive and I’m not sure how anybody maintains that lifestyle. Thanks to Kim’s hard work we got to see it all for free:) ADP put on a great reward trip with planned excursions, great dinners at fantastic locations, and live entertainment and fireworks at the final rewards dinner.