monaco

Our last and favorite stop was Monaco, a small country just north of Eze. World renowned for being beautiful, posh, and the home Grace Kelley as Princess, it lived up to every bit of its reputation and then some. We spent the majority of our time in the harbor (noticing a trend here?), journaling and drawing what was before us.

We then spent the rest of our afternoon and early evening walking back and forth across the little city from the fort converted to gardens…

…to the church where Prince Ranier and Princess Grace had their wedding…

…to the casino where we didn't take any pictures at all. By far our favorite spot was the network of little shopping streets directly below the Ranier palace - picturesque beyond anything and provider of wonders such as toasted Panini and pistachio gelato. 

Once back at home, we snagged a small packet of macarons to check off the last food item on our list. After thoroughly documenting them, we carefully tasted each flavor and wrote meticulous tasting notes for each while sitting on Sonya’s top bunk to the throbbing music afore mentioned.

So ended our backpacking adventures. Four countries (Scotland, England, Switzerland, France), miles upon miles of rail, thirty five miles of walking along the West Highland Way, who knows how many miles walking everywhere else.

A most glorious trip and one I will not soon forget.

Though, not the end of my travels in Europe in 2013. It was off to Italy for me.