The Fabulous Life in Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo was amazing! All of my travel plans went smoothly and I arrived late Thursday night at our fabulous hotel which was super nice and overlooked the Mediterranean. So I've got this picturesque setting, what else could I ask for? Two of my best friends of course! And that's what I got. I was so excited to see Jill and give her a big birthday hug, and also to see Cara who I had not seen since December 29th. Jill also brought two friends from her university in France, Elizabeth and Victoria, so we were all ready to have a good weekend of celebrating. Since I arrived so late, we immediately got dressed to go out and had some glasses of champagne in our hotel room. Around 3 am we tried to go to the club near our hotel, called Jimmyz. People were leaving and said that it was closing. We were so confused because it was a Thursday and not late at all for a club in Europe. We met some people who came back to our hotel with us, and we all stayed up the entire night just hanging out. We went to bed around 7am, only to be woken up at 9am by the room service breakfast we had ordered the night before. Between the two shared rooms we girls had, we had tons and tons of "American breakfast" of eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, and coffee. In addition, the waiter also brought a birthday cake and flowers for Jill. We were all so tired that we stayed in bed while the man cut the cake covered in rich milk chocolate and raspberries and then served it to us. Do I need to go on to explain how relaxed and carefree this trip was? Jill left to go have a morning in the spa while we girls got ready for a day at the pool. Once again, the opulence followed us downstairs. We sipped champagne poolside and just lounged all afternoon. We walked down the beach to a little cafe and had some really great pizza. After our late lunch we were getting a bit chilly as the sun was going down, so we went back up to our rooms for bubble baths and naps. We had reservations that night at Avenue 31, which was delicious and pretty swanky. Jill's mom and I had worked on getting a cake and champagne surprise at the restaurant, but when I left Thursday Mrs. Peets still hadn't heard back from the restaurant so I was unsure if it was going to work, but I knew Mrs. Peets would have something planned. Sure enough, after our great dinner the most decadent cake ever came out, complete with sparkling flare and a card written in chocolate, with a bottle of Rose champagne. Does it sound like all we did was eat cake and drink champagne? You'd be right. A side note: the cakes in Monaco/France/Europe are WAY better than in the US. The presentation is unbelievable; they're just so elegent and look more like art than food. The cake at this dinner was toffee and chocolate flavored and tasted just like a creamy Almond Roca, one of my favorite candies. After, we went to Jimmyz, the club which had been closed the night before. It was open and really cool on the inside, but still it was not packed like we were expecting. We're thinking: we're in the place known for partying and wealth and extravagance, so where is everyone? Well it turns out that "the season" (of partying, showing off wealth, and extravagance) doesn't open until around April 1st, or the first Saturday closest to it. Meaning Saturday night, our last night in Monaco, was the night where everything kicked off. Saturday was rainy but we walked around Monaco anyway and met two of Cara's friends who were also visiting that weekened. We napped in the afternoon and got ready to go to the Casino before dinner at Sass Cafe, which is known for entertaining all kinds of celebrities. It was, as the name suggests, sassy and hip and also came with really good food. Jill had another cake at the end of this dinner (we're not weird, Jill just likes her birthday a lot) and then we left the restaurant around 1am to head to Jimmyz, which was hosting the after party for the ball which started the season. While dressing for dinner we got to see all of the ridiculous cars lined up waiting for the passengers to enter the ball. The party feeling was definitely in the air. We arrived and it was packed full of people dressed to the nines, most of them in gowns and tuxes after coming from the ball. We danced and had a good time, but I had to call it a short night because I had an early flight. I didn't let that stop me from anything, though, because I left the club at 4:15 am, walked to our hotel to change and grab my suitcase, and took off to the train station. Needless to say I was exhausted, but the weekend was SO worth it. I don't know if anyone's birthday will ever top this weekend!