Drive to Monte Carlo in Monaco

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 which is 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 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. When you come around a curve you see Monte Carlo laid out below you and you realize that the building you see far, far below you is a 40 story building- and you are more than double it's 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.
Monte Carlo has money. The boardwalk along the waterfront is paved with marble, or travertine tile- could not tell which it was. The streets were very clean, the