Money-co

Monte Carlo is very well heeled. I didn't expect otherwise. However I didn't expect it to feel like a European Hong Kong in places. The steepness, twisting streets and well maintained roads reminded me of part of the HK CBD. Here people seem dog crazy as there are poop bins every ten metres. Usually the breeds chosen don't get above the size of an adult male's hand. It wasn't easy to find a bog-standard boulangerie but it didn't seem too arduous to be able to purchase a penthouse apartment or sports car. The network of public tunnels, lifts and escalators take some navigating but I enjoyed how everything is built in an intertwined way and one can just imagine these pathways being used by wealthy tax exiles fleeing from armed debt collectors after one's latest multi-billion dollar arms deal fell through at the last minute. At the station on the way to Monte Carlo a man was talking on the phone about deux cents grammes de saucisse which transplanted me back 20 years to high school French classes. French people are indeed like the characters from the Encore Tricolore textbooks.

This concludes my Monaco observations.

Monaco not being the usual sort of place I'd gravitate to [...] I took the liberty of a day trip from Nice while I waited for the delightful bananablip to arrive on a later flight. Our HR department recently 'gently reminded' me to take leave so Han and I had few other options than to head to the Côte d'Azur.

I fee like I possess more decorum and am less uncouth than I was this morning. Thanks Monte Carlo for that.