Ribbons Undone

I’ve always loved visiting Monaco, and was excited to bring the girls for their time. I remember watching Princess Grace’s funeral on TV with my Mom when I was little. Her life seemed so glamorous. A talented American actress who went on to become a princess?! And has there ever been a more beautiful bride? It seemed the stuff of fairy tales to my 8 year old self.

The Palace is located on top of a big hill overlooking Monaco and the Sea. We finally went on a tour of it this visit. It was pretty cool to be standing in the spot where Grace had her civil ceremony and where her wedding photos were taken.

All of the pics in this post are from the top of the hill/mountain that the Palace and surrounding town are on.

girls on cannonballs

There’s a small village across from the castle that’s interesting to explore. A few shopping streets also (mostly souvenirs).

post office

Saint Nicholas Cathedral (where Grace was married and is now buried).

Grace’s tomb/ memorial

The street lights have crowns on top!

I couldn’t resist- had to buy this book!

Here’s some more info on Monaco…

One of our favorite things to do while visiting the Riviera is to walk along the Mediterranean Sea. One of the most beautiful spots to do this is the Cap Martin. I’ve never seen anything like it. The rocks and reef make you feel like you’re on another planet…

The walk we take is about a mile and a half long- and the views are breathtaking.

lots of different stairs and paths out to lookout points

In the middle of the walk there’s this beautiful building that overhangs the sea. Simon thinks it’s one of the patios or garden sheds of the mansion across the way.

beautiful winding path / the girls will never pass up a climbing opportunity…

See that walkway attached to the wall on the right? You can’t tell from the photo, but that was really high up and pretty narrow. A little scary!

see what I mean?

worth it to get to the rest of the walk though!

In the left background you can see the path we were on. It ended up at this beach. Pretty rocky but the girls still loved it. Simon was Super Papa and ran the whole way back to get the car and pick us girls up (we were beat!).

While we waited for him, this is what the girls were busy doing…

Sticking burs all over Kiera’s shirt.

They think they’re so hilarious

We tried to salvage the shirt- to no avail. I’ve never seen such sticky burs! Oh well.

I have a feeling our family will be doing this hike for years to come 🙂

Here’s more info on Roquebrune-Cap-Martin…