Day #76 - St. Rapheal, France

St. Raphael - nice sandy, beaches

Great boardwalk for walking/running

Royles-Royce

Monte Carlo casino

Saturday, May 29th

Today I took an early train to St. Raphael, France. This is another beach town south of Cannes - it's an approximate 1hr, 15min train ride from Nice. The weather was perfect today and people were out in droves.

I haven't really lounged around at the beach until today. Great sand, great water, great atmosphere. I hung out on the beach for a few hours and then did some walking through the town. For me, vacations with a beach can be really fun - as long as you mix it up and do other things. I can't just sit on the beach forever - you have to earn it.

Around 6pm, I decided to head home to Nice because I wanted to go back to Monte Carlo tonight. I did the best I could on attire and took the 28 minute train from Nice to Monaco.

I headed right to the main Monte Carlo casino. It costs 10 euro to get in. I checked my small daypack (I knew it was OK because they had told me on Thursday). My first impressions - elegant, quiet. I went into the first room, there was a bar on the right and a small restaurant on the left. Only a couple people were in the bar. The restaruant was packed - but probably only held 30 people or so.

I walked through to the next room. This is where the casino started. High, impressive ceilings, chandeliers, gold trim - visually impressive. There were about 8 tables (some roulette and some were a game like roulette). Nobody was there. Only 1 table was in play. It had a 5 euro minimum - very reasonable - why wasn't anybody there?

I walked into the next room. They had some empty tables on the left and some black jack tables to the right. 2 blackjack tables were in play. One with a 100 euro minimum and 1 with a 25 euro minimum. Too steep for my blood - but not too bad. I have buddies who play the $25 tables all the time. There were about 4 people playing at each table.

I'm thinking - man - where is everybody. They must be in the slot machine room. I walk over to the room filled with slots, video poker, etc - the usual. The room wasn't all that big. There were 6 people playing. Wow - it's Saturday night, 8pm, and this place is a ghost town. The slots were 1 euro, 2 euro, 5 euro - similar to normal casinos.

I than walked into another area that stated you needed a jacket to get in. It costs another 10 euro to go there. Mabybe this is where all the folks hang out. I could see a couple tables in play - but pretty much empty.

I circled the place about 4 times thinking I've missed something. I don't think I was. I decided to play some video poker (although my preference would have been blackjack or craps). They had no craps tables to my knowledge - weird. I lost 20 euro in under 5 minutes at the video poker machine. I think this was a personal best. Me and slot machines don't get along too well. I decided to cut my losses and look around some more.

This was the most intimidating casino I had ever payed in. Perhaps the lack of people resulted from the cover charge, the no smoking except in enclosed booths, the no drinking at the tables (that I could see), or just the stuffy feel. It was an awesome place to see, and I'd recommend it to all, I just wouldn't gamble here again. I went outside and crossed the street and stood in the circle drive which fronts the casino. This was a spectacle itself. People were hanging out on the railing watching the cars and traffic go in/out of the casino.

If you're a car person - this is your place. A bentley, a red convetible ferrari, a royles-royce, an aston martin, oh - a black ferrari, a jaguar, another bentley, a porsche, and there's a huge H2 hummer. This was incredible. The taxis in Monaco -- mercedes. Everyone was posing with these cars. Pull up a chair and bring me some popcorn. As the evening progressed, more and more people came to the casino. The couples walked out of the hotel across the street, elaborate dresses and suits, and worked their way to the casino. What a show.

I didn't recognize any of these people as stars, but they may have been more wealthy than Hollywood talent. Of course, there's the elite stars yeilding the 25 million+ a film - but I got a felling there may have been a few CEO's at some high-stake firms that could play well in the Hollywood game.

After rubbing elbows with the best of the best, I took the train back to Nice. There was to be a 10pm train - cancelled. I had to take the 11 pm. It was OK though - I talked with an Irish couple at the station. They were from Killarney. We talked about hurling and gaelic football. The Irish are great.

A good day on the Riviera.