Monte Carlo, Wedding Anniversary

(2 photos)
In 1980 we celebrated our 29th Wedding Anniversary by having dinner at the Lowes Hotel in Monte Carlo, Monaco. (This hotel now has a different name.) We always celebrate our Anniversaries by eating in a restaurant we have never been in before. This time I am sorry to say, that while the restaurant was located at the top of the hotel with a beautiful view over the Mediterranean Sea on one side, and the city of Monte Carlo on the other, we wish we had never visited this restaurant.

When we arrived (6:00PM, early for this part of the world) the restaurant was nearly empty — and was still nearly empty when we left an hour or so later — but our request for a seat near the window (by afterthought, the request was not accompanied with a bunch of money), was rudely refused. When we didn’t order any wine or alcohol, the waiter let us know he was very unhappy. He could not imagine anyone who would not order such things. (We have never consumed alcohol.)

From that point on the service was terrible, and the food was not what would be expected in a restaurant like this. If we had ever received the same quality food at a fast food restaurant, we would have returned it. But the view was excellent. As stated elsewhere, we find that the clerk in a bakery or grocery store is thrilled to meet an American, a waiter or a bell hop is thrilled to get a tip.

During a visit to Monaco another year (we’ve been here several different years), we parked the RV on the street next to the Mediterranean, just east of this hotel, and enjoyed a much better meal, with excellent service. Don't remember if it was French food, or Italian food. That is, the food we cooked in the RV was bought in either a French or an Italian grocery store!

(Just a point of trivia: The 30th Anniversary, celebrated the next year at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, in Kamuela, Hawaii, was the best dinner of the 54 anniversaries, so far.)

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This is a snapshot from the movie "To Catch a Thief" and the Lowes Hotel is just over Grace Kelley's right shoulder.

This is a snapshot of the Monaco Grand Prix, a famous auto race in Monaco each year. Here the race cars are about to enter the tunnel that goes under the Lowes Hotel. The restaurant was on the very top of the hotel.