After a lazy morning and leisurely breakfast we headed out on the road. Drove through the heart of Milano and I have to say that even though I realize it is a very old city- it is not aging well. Just looks and feels haggard and used.
By appearances I would not feel safe walking here at night- which is the total opposite of the areas I was in in Tokyo and Paris. My last night in Paris I walked around until 2am- ok maybe the last hour was at a pub, but I still walked back to the hotel and felt safe. Anyway, the drive to Monte Carlo......
The beginning of the drive is about 9 KM's through Milan to get to the main highway, a beautiful toll road which takes you right into France and the doorstep of Monaco. Upside is you can set the cruise at 100mph and just go for the first 200 kilometers or so of the ride. Downside is the toll is 25euros or about 37 dollars- EACH way!
You drive through the mountains separating the coast from the interior and hit a peak elevation (for the road, not the mountains) of about 1300ft. As you come down the Mediterranean side of the mountains you begin to have incredible views of the water and countryside. The final 50 kilometers along the waterfront is very interesting indeed as you are always 600-700 feet up in the air. The roadway is a four lane affair that is either a bridge or a tunnel blasted through a mountain. You are never at sea level for any of the drive, so they finally got me to slow down as I really do not like heights.
As you come around one very sharp turn you see Monte Carlo laid out below you, it takes a moment for you to realize that the buildings you see far, far below include multiple 40 story buildings- and you are more than 2-3 times their height up in the air on a tiny road. It is very similar to the road to Jerome AZ, where it is all switchbacks and rapid descents although the European roads are in much better shape and have more guardrails. Did I mention I do not like heights? It was ok though as there was a traffic and the pace was reasonable.
Monte Carlo has money. It was first noticeable on the waterfront boardwalk because it is paved with marble, or travertine tile- could not tell which it was. All the streets in the shopping districts were paved this way and some stores had red carpets and ropes in front of them. We were also struck by how clean the streets were, it was like Disneyland with workers walking around cleaning. Another indication of the wealth- Ferraris's, Lamborghini's, and Maserati's were as common as Chevy and Fords in most other cities. The boats anchored in the harbor or just off shore were HUGE with one having its own helicopter on the roof- I would love to have had the 30ft boat one ship was using as a shuttle to get to shore.
The trip home was one I will never forget- it thundered, lightened, and rained throughout the whole ride back until we got to the other side of the mountains and at times it was a deluge with visibility down to a car length. There are no breakdown lanes on the coastal road, just little cutouts every kilometer or so, which meant that there was no pulling off to let the heavy stuff pass. Plus did I mention the road is always 600-700 feet off the ground! Driving had my full attention to say the least. It was still a drive I am glad I got to experience.
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