Monaco Grand Prix

The Grand Prix of Monaco is quite an affair. Formula 1 race car engines are just like any ordinary 3 liter engine, except they produce 800 horsepower at 15,000 rpm, numbers which were beyond engineering possibility a few years ago. Using the City streets, the course is laid out and barricaded off so that only those who pay for tickets can observe the action in real-time. However, if you climb the palace ramparts you are afforded a view of the pits (see photo above) and you can hear the screaming engines echoing through the high rises like so many super hornets. Large video screens across the City display the action for the ultra rich patrons viewing from their yachts moored in the harbor.

The Serendipity of travel struck again when we found ourselves in this Camelot like principality known as Monaco. The Grimaldi family negotiated well several centuries ago to retain their little slice of the French/Italian Riviera without becoming part of any other country. France provides military protection in case any marauding bandits show up with evil intent for the throne. The son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace (the actress Grace Kelly) is the current monarch (Albert II), and his focus is to make Monaco a sustainable and unique place on earth for the Monogasques (citizens) and visitors alike. First impressions suggest he is succeeding.

Today there was a break in the driving of the Grand Prix, allowing the wealthy to drive their high-end cars on the course. We sat at a Cafe beside the Royal Casino and let the parade come to us as Porches, Lambourghinis, Ferraris, Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Mercedes and Audis drove by. The pedestrians and photographers limited the speed at our S-turn from 0 to maybe 8 mph. It was time to see and be seen.

The only thing more expensive than the cars was the female footwear. I have never seen such exotic and improbable shoes. Paparazzi were busy photographing anyone who could even remotely have been "someone".