Monaco, part 2

 

The view from the hotel terrace where we had breakfast on Sunday morning. 

 

 

This the hotel, we took this from the street so you can kind of see the roof.  It was on the side of the mountain like the rest of the coast.  It is in the town of Eze-sur-mer, about 5 min. from Monaco. Pierre's friend, who is a policeman in Monaco lives next to the hotel.

 

The day we arrived we took a little tour of Monaco, here's the port with its "little boats"!! These things have hot tubs on the decks.  One had a helicopter pad. 

 

this is basically half of the country, the other half is what you see in the picture above.

 

 

We went to the palace at noon to watch the changing of the guard.  It was really nice.  We got to watch like VIPs,standing next to the entrance of the palace.

 

 

you can see all the tourists standing behind the chain fences. Hee Hee! As we were walking to the palace on a side street, we saw Prince Albert being driven by with his police escorts.  He waved, so we all waved back!

 

 

This is the Casino.  Even though we don't gamble, this building is really something to see.  We visited the inside.  It is very beautiful.

 

To the left of the Casino is the Hotel de Paris. Another incredible building.  The inside was amazing. 

 

This beautiful arrangement is at the entrance.  Orchids!  The scent was delicious.  Pierre's friend told us there is a new one deliver every week. Every time it's different, he said he comes by to see the new one whenever he can.

 

These are the kind of sweet rides parked in front of the hotel and the Casino.  A little stainless steel Bugatti Verona.  We took this picture for Nic.  I told Bridgit  there were no VW beetles to play slug bug, but we could have played slug Ferrari, slug Maserati, slug Bentley, slug Lamborghini........ It was unbelievable.

 This is part of the Glen Miller big band that played at the Gala dinner. They played in front of the Casino earlier in the evening.  They are all French gendarmes.

 

The next morning before we left we went across the street from the hotel and down this path for about a 5minute walk and came to...

 

 

this tunnel and....

 

this beautiful private beach. The water was quite warm and of course I had to try it.

 

I got the whole skirt of my dress wet and had to change before getting in the car for 5 hours.

 

This "little boat" was anchored near the beach.  Must be nice.....



Gala dinner in Monaco

 

Here are just a few pictures.  They are from the official photographer and I just copied a few to show you. They are a bit small.  I know mom, I need to stand straight!  This is at the Hermitage Hotel.

Here are a few policemen from  France. I thought you might like to see the uniforms.

Pierre giving his speech.  The other men are the IPA Monaco commitee members.



New kitchen shelves

 

I have had this shelf thing for about ten years in the kitchen to utilise this "lost" space between the last cabinet and the fridge.  The space was actually not being used to its full potential because it is actually much bigger than this furniture (deeper)

 

So I took it out and hung those metal things on the wall where you hook shelf brackets to. I express myself well don't I?  I should have taken more pictures but I forgot.  You will see better in another picture. I had the boards cut to size and I painted them white. The top two are for cook books, then I was able to put the microwave on the next one. That is so great because I cleared a huge place on the counter.  The next shelf holds breakfast stuff and the last is for dirty dish towels and other stuff that has to go down in the basement. At the bottom we can see the wires for the fridge. I always thought I had to have a special thing made to cover all that but I am wiser now!!

 

This little curtain works just fine.  I think it took me all of 20 minutes to make it, even with hand sewing the heart on! I used sticky back velcro tape to stick it on.

The top of the fridge got a new look too. The wooden pot was an antique that my in laws gave me when they moved.  And I just love to look at that iridescent luncheon set that I got in an antique shop while visiting Astoria, Oregon with my dear sis last summer.

 



I think I went a bit plant crazy.  I wanted something to put on the bar so no one could put their junk there!!  So far it has worked.  The plant on the floor was supposed to go on the fridge but was a bit too tall.  The other one works better.

 

 

And here is a happy rainbow we saw next to the house the other day!

My new evening dresses

 

This is my favorite and its even very comfortable. I had to add a little black lace piece to the front for obvious reasons....

 

the top, waist and sleeves are made of a stretchy material and the skirt, collar, and cuffs are like a soft taffeta. Its nice and twirly

 I am going to wear this one for the Gala dinner in Monaco.  Pierre is wearing his dress uniform. 

 

 



 

It is made of chiffon and has a satin waist.  The top part that is covered by my little sweater is..well, non-existant, except for some little straps.  Its a shame because it isn't at all becoming and the dress is otherwise very pretty.  I found this little sweater and made a few alterations and now it looks really nice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Guess who else can wear this dress?? She is growing up too fast!