Sweet Disposition: Royal Wedding in Monaco

It’s been about a week and a half since the royal wedding in Monaco between Prince Albert and Princess Charlene and things have finally calmed down. The week of the wedding was the busiest I have ever seen Monaco. It was filled with so many people and there were events going on everywhere you looked. The main events started on Thursday night with a free concert put on by the Eagles. Unfortunately, I had to work, but the concert was held in the stadium right beside the Marriott so I heard the music all night long. I usually get off work at midnight and my walk home is always very quiet and with only a few people scattered along the streets. Thursday night, however, was different. When I left work, I could barely make my way past the crowd that just left the concert. Every restaurant I passed (usually closed at that time of night) was packed full of people. When I finally reached the train station it was blocked off by police who were only letting a certain amount of people through at a time because the crowd was so large. It was like this the whole rest of the weekend.

I worked on Friday night as well, which was BBQ night at the restaurant. Norman, the chef, prepares a delicious buffet filled with grilled vegetables, king prawns, lamb shank, shrimp, beef, fish, etc. In addition everyone receives a starter of potato salad and macaroni and cheese and a bread pudding topped with bourbon glazed bananas (delicious!). It is by far our busiest night of the week. However, last Friday, there was another free concert courtesy of the Royal Couple by Jean Michel Jarre in Port Hercule, which is right down from my apartment. The show was very visual complete with light and laser landscapes, HD video, and fireworks. I’m assuming everyone was at the concert because hardly anyone came to eat at the restaurant (more bread pudding for me)! I ended up getting off at 11:30 that night because there was absolutely nothing left for me to do. All the guests had left, the entire restaurant, terrace, and kitchen had been cleaned, the restaurant had been set for breakfast, and every single knife, fork, spoon, and wineglass had been polished…a minor miracle. The concert was wrapping up on my walk home but when I reached my apartment I was able to looked down the mountain and see some of the amazing lights and fireworks.

Finally, on Saturday, the religious ceremony for the Royal Couple was held…what everyone had been waiting for (the civil ceremony was held the day before at the palace). I also finally had a day off so that I could enjoy some of the wedding festivities! The wedding was being held at the palace, where the ceremony would last approximately an hour, beginning at 5:00 p.m. Then, the couple would take a car down from the palace to Porte Neuve, then the Avenue du Port and the Boulevard Albert 1^st and finally will stop in front of the church of Saint Devota where Princess Charlene will leave her bouquet, as tradition. The church of Saint Devota is right down from my apartment and I pass by it several times a day.

Meghan and I headed down to the Port at around 4:00. There were giant screens set up all over the port so that everyone could see what was going on. The problem was, the screens were on the same side of the street that we were, so it was hard to really see them. There were people on the other side of the street but it was blocked off when we arrived so we couldn’t reach that side of the street to see the screens well enough. We finally decided to sit and watch the wedding at a restaurant that had a TV screen, and where we were also able to see to the outside street. The waiter came and offered us either champagne or wine…he said they were having a special for the wedding. Meghan and I decided on champagne. We sat back and enjoyed watching the wedding on the TV screen as well as observing all of the people in the crowd outside. It was funny how many people were dressed up like they were actually attending the wedding. The waiter came back and automatically filled our champagne glasses again. We continued watching the wedding and when the waiter came back and asked if we wanted one more glass we said, “sure, why not?!” The ceremony was about to end and the waiter brought us our check, which was, to our great surprise and horror 90 euros. It was definitely a lesson learned: always ask for the price of the drink, or better yet, just don’t order champagne in Monaco.

We left the restaurant to claim a good spot on the side of the street so that we could see the newly married couple drive by in their convertible on the way to the church. We stood on the side of the street and watched the couple drive by, which was really exciting to see! Although I have to say, Princess Charlene looked completely miserable. When we they reached the church where she would leave her bouquet, she started crying. Meghan and I both decided it was tears of sadness rather than tears of happiness.

About a week before the wedding rumors had been spreading that Prince Albert may have a third illegitimate love child (he already has two). The rumors also said that when Princess Charlene heard of this she immediately went to the Nice Airport and tried to buy a ticket to fly back home to South Africa. However, there was security there that stopped her and took her passport so that she had no chance to escape. Scandalous, right? It could just be Royal Wedding drama hype, but I have to say, after watching the wedding for myself and seeing how utterly depressed Charlene looked, I think I believe the rumors.

That night, Meghan and I cooked some pasta that cost 2 euros for dinner (because the champagne set us back a little, ha.) and went to hang out with some of our co-workers. Luckily the apartment we were all gathered at had a balcony which gave us an absolutely perfect view of the gorgeous fireworks that were set off for the wedding. They were some of the most amazing fireworks I have ever seen, and they seemed to go on forever! Meghan and I were secretly pretending they were for the Fourth of July, which was the next day, since we weren’t in America to celebrate and join in on all of the festivities!

The royal wedding of Monaco was an amazing experience to be able to see and take part in. It was so much fun being around all of the hype, and being able to watch the wedding for myself, knowing it was all taking place on the mountain right above where I was standing! It is something I will definitely never forget. Now I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if the marriage lasts…