Ah, back to apartment living in Europe. The sounds of the lift running (if you're lucky enough to have one), dogs barking, horns honking, children screaming, doors slamming, seagulls crying, drunks singing, bums hollering, and the upstairs neighbor playing piano exercises (never a song, only exercises) at seven a.m.. But the sun's streaming in from our balcony, the wine's good, the food's fine, and all's right with the world.
We've already been to Monaco twice for Circus and the final day of the annual Monte-Carlo Rallye.
Now, Monaco. It used to look like this:
But in the past few years, the building up, and we do mean "up" has gotten a touch out of control. The principality gets taller and taller...take a corner with a four-story building containing a couple of businesses and maybe 12 apartments. Tear that down and build a 20-story building with a couple of businesses and maybe 80 apartments. But don't add another grocery store anywhere! Pretty soon the sun will never reach the ground except at the Prince's humble abode. Don't get us wrong. We still love it. We'll post some shots of the newer architecture later.
We headed over for the annual circus parade and see the circus animals. Nice kitty:
The parade is always well-attended, and while it's a short one, it's not bad. All the circus entertainers walk or ride up the hill to the palace, where a free, open-air show is held for the crowd (and of course, their Serene Highnesses).
Next up, the WRC Monte-Carlo Rallye. In Monaco, all one gets to see is the freshly washed cars returning from the final stage held up near La Turbie, and checking in at the last timing station at the port. Here's one of the early arrivals working the crowd:
The competitors took a different route down the hill this year and that included a drive through the famous tunnel. It offered us an opportunity to take photos, finally, from a different angle. First up, Sebastian Ogier, who three-peated this year:
And here's some of the rest of the field arriving. This first guy is missing a grill, but hey, he finished!
For the most part, everyone we know around Nice is still here. The lady at the Spar store who stashes armagnac away for us, the optician, and the tailor downstairs are doing fine. The weather's been good and we've gotten plenty of exercise. Every Friday is a pilgrimage, pulling the grocery caddy, to the Carrefour and each Sunday we try to walk down the promenade by the sea to the airport and back. It's actually nice to not worry about where to park a car. February will bring Historic Rallye and Carnaval in Nice. In March, we'll go to Barcelona for Formula 1 testing and also fly up to Vienna to see the kids. Stay tuned!
