Monte Carlo, Monaco

Today was a do-it-yourself day. We had decided that we would need a down day after so many port days in a row. We slept in a little later and headed into town.

Our plan was to go to the top of the rock where the Oceanographic Museum, Royal Palace and Cathedral were located. It took a long walk, followed by several escalators to get to the top. We walked around and then headed to the Palace. We bought tickets for a self guided tour. The rooms we were able to see were beautifully restored. We were told that the palace has been under restoration for several years and the areas we were seeing had just been opened recently. Actually in some of the rooms restoration of the wall paintings were still in progress. There was a short video which showed how the restoration was done, using lasers and fine scalpels.

The rooms were lavish and the explanations were very interesting. When we finished our tour we were able to see the changing of the guard in front of the palace.

We stopped by the Cathedral to see the burying places of Grace Kelly, the wife of the Prince and Prince Rainier. We then walked back down the hill and through the area being set up for the Grand Prix race that will be held in a few weeks. Walking back we got to see some of the huge yachts that are berthed in the area near our cruise ship.

We enjoyed our d-i-y day, especially since we were not on a bus!