Monte Carlo, Monaco. You wanna talk small? This is SMALL. Monaco is on the hillside above the Mediterranean Sea, in the resort area of the French Riviera. Monaco is only 0.73 sq miles! The land contiguous with Monaco is France. Italy is five miles to the east. From the 12th century to the 18th century, France and Italy were fighting over Monaco. In 1814 France recognized the throne of Monaco and permanent independence was obtained.

The beaches are made of small stones. White skin used to be desired, because tanned skin meant that you were working in the fields, so the main entrance of the theater faces away from the beach.

Wealth is the word I would use to describe Monaco. A person has to be wealthy to own a residence here. The average rent is 1,000 Euro/mo and the average wage is 1,600 Euro/mo, so it takes two or three wage earners to pay for an apartment.

Some land was reclaimed from the sea to extend Monaco towards the sea. In 1982 Princess Grace died in a car accident on a rainy night on a curvy road. Prince Rainier died in 2005. Albert, one of their sons, is the current Prince. There are no ship's excursion tours to Monaco because the Grand Prix Formula One race is being held May 24-27. Streets are blocked off with fences and barricades, so the ship planned all tours to be out of Monaco. Mary and I chose different tours. Mine went to Nice (pronounced Niece), France, where we saw several points of interest in town. In the small parking lot of a hotel on the side of the mountain, we saw a Maserati and a Lamborghini.