The preamble to our Monaco adventure is that everyone we met has said, "Don't take your van to Monaco". We listened, but were foolish enough to do our own thing as we have always naively done throughout this whole trip so far.
A slightly nervous trip along the A8 past Nice at 9:30 am led us into the Monaco turning at around 10 am. Without an internet connection and with a poorly scaled map, we got lost. My plans and research were going well, but failed about 2 miles short of the intended destination. We stopped in a bus lay by. A moderately warm discussion ensued with Clare nav 2014, at which point an officer of the law approached at the window. At this point it is fair to say, the whole place was teeming with police types: we later found out that the 83rd Interpol convention was occurring in Monaco today! I digress though, the officer told us about our planned destination, the official Camping Car car park (which he said has only 6 places and is underground!!!), and suggested a better one, some 200m back up the road, with free parking, about 30m out of the Monaco parking jurisdiction. A safe haven for Hugo was thus found.
We then made our way into town. A street lift, and then a fantastic bus ride took us to the pit straight, or as mortals will know it, the harbour area. The bus ride incidentally was quite mad. Zig zag zig zag, over itself, under itself, round and back through itself, the bus literally seemed to tie itself in knots whilst negotiating the tight confines of the principality. Thank goodness it wasn't a full sized bus!!!
Once in the main crux of Monaco though, my F1 brain kicked into overdrive and I was off like a hound on a scent trying to find rather boringly, all the corners of the 'track.' The other Monaco blog post deals with the drivel of a F1 fan.
Out of the tunnel and back into the harbour, we decided to take another mode of transport. The electric bus boat took us quietly and serenely across the harbour, alongside the yachts of the seriously wealthy. 
The views from the centre of the harbour were just quite amazing. You get the feeling that one day, someone is going to drill a hole in the rock to build the foundations for their dream palace, and then the whole lot will slip it's way into the sea. It really is quite a sight. We made our way to Prince Rainier's Musee Oceanagraphique to do the next tourist thing on our list, 'the little Monaco land train.'
Having done one of these trains before, we knew what it was going to be like. Slow! It was quite funny to be a fully fledged tourist on one of these land trains again, and even funnier to watch the wealthy cars stack up behind us as the train bimbled around the place.
Following the thrill a minute ride, which did actually go over most of the F1 circuit, we walked back down to 'pit row' and the start/finish line which when not being used as the track, seems to be a huge semi-permanent fun fair. Jasper and Maya were keen to watch the bonkers fairground rides throwing everyone in every conceivable direction. 
Sadly, time was ticking for us, and I had made an appointment with the track. I briefly broke the law, as naked chests are not permitted unless on the beach, as I changed top into a running shirt. I then set off to run the circuit. A real pleasure to do, and it's not really that far. I got blocked a couple of times at Ste Devote and the Casino, but apart from that had a lovely run!
We then had to complete the return bus journey back to Hugo, who was still safely nestled into his parking spot and facing the right direction to depart.
A superb day was topped off with the excitement of entering Italy at last. Maya and Jasper had counted a total of 22 tunnels that we passed through on the A8, then the A10 on the way from Cannes to San Remo. An indication of the amazing landscape we have engaged in today. A great day, enjoyed by all. Monaco, we will return one day!
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