Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

We were busy living the good life, talking about how we could not have rented this beautiful villa without all going in on this as a group.   Laying by the pool, eating in one of the three dining rooms, grilling out by the pool, walking the hill to the medieval town for cocktails and driving to the beaches for a dip in the Med.  And then we decided to go to the Rothchild Mansion on St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and we saw what true decadence is.

Beatrice Rothchild, a daughter of one of the five brothers who came from Russia in the 1800's to build their fortune in the European banking industry was left a fortune on the death of her father.  Although she had homes all over Europe, she wanted to build the ultimate mansion in the perfect location. And she did. The mansion was built between 1905 and 1912 on a cliff at the bottom tip of the Cote d'Azure.  A pink wedding cake perched over the sea, she filled the home with treasures from her travels all over the world, not the least of which were some choice pieces from Versailles.  She hired a huge staff of gardeners to landscape seven separate theme areas, such as the Japanese, Spanish, French and desert vegetation.  I'm anxious to get pictures up, as this is truly an incredible place. 

But that wasn't enough to remind us that we weren't ready for prime time.  One evening a few of us went to Monaco to visit the Casino de Monte Carlo and gawk at the beautiful people and even more beautiful cars.  We're talking rows of Rolls Royce's, Bentleys, Mazaratis and Ferrarris.  Oh, and the eighty-year-old men with twenty-something's on each arm (yes, most had two).   The girls looked happy.  Ce la vie.

By the way, Gene won 6.5e so we left Monaco a little poorer. Not that they'd notice.