26.01.2006, evening

After a much needed two hour nap we were ready to face the weather again. Actually, not really... Not the rain, at least.

As staying in or walking around weren't an option, we decided to take the car and check out neighbouring Monaco by night.

While Fran was enjoying driving up the winding mountain roads, I was looking out the window trying to imagine the amazing views we'd be seeing if it was daytime.

Arriving to Monte Carlo, we make a turn and we're suddenly facing the Casino. It's very fairy-tale-like, all illuminated, with gardens and fountains and a feeling of glamour hovering the whole area. Ooooh, pretty! - I say.

Weirdly enough, Fran looks very impressed with all of this as well. There is a strange glimmer in his eyes and a mysterious smile. I soon realised this had nothing to do with the pretty setting - he's a guy after all!

The answer is obvious: cars. Porsches, Ferraris and other fast machines abounded, why didn't I see it straight away? And there was, of course, the formula one circuit! You could read the excitement in Fran's face.

It wasn't raining much, so we walked around a bit, wasted some Euro in the slot machines at the famous Café de Paris, walked some more, and got back to the car for the eagerly awaited tour of the circuit.

Broad smile upon his face, Fran provided the commentary: -This is my favourite curve, they have to go real slow here... There is the entrance to the tunnel... Schumacher crashed right over here, and now we come out... No, wait... This isn't the tunnel after all!

We were in the wrong tunnel, but as it turns out, there is an awful lot of tunnels in Monaco. They're so squashed between the sea and the mountains, they have to make up for the lack of space.

They also don't have much space for houses, so some people are forced to live in boats. We felt sorry for the poor people of that poor country, as these yatches were slightly smaller than palaces. At least some of them.

We did find the right tunnel in the end, but failed to find Monaco's nightlife (or at least some place where they would let our jeans and sneakers in) so we left the pretty principality and drove back to Nice.