| We drove from to Turin to the Ligurian seaside town of San Remo, famous for its annual song contest, its flower industry...
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| ...and its beaches. We weren't there for the song contest, but enjoyed the other two.
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| We moved along the coast to spend the night in Ventimiglia, the last town in Italy. We stayed in a delightful B&B...
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| ...and enjoyed a yummy meal, before an early night...
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| ...because the 5.54 train found us rather bleary eyed.
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| We arrived in Monaco before the track closed to the public, and walked round one half it; passing the start finish line;
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| the first corner, St Devote;
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| heading towards the swimming pool;
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| The hill which our cheapo tickets gave us admission to.
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| When the sun was finally up, it was a beautiful day; great views of the bay and the (highly expensive) grandstands below.
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| We found a good position on a wall, directly opposite the pit entrance, with a view over the second half of the circuit.
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| Jenson Button was the man of the day, easily winning and making the brits in the crowd very happy.
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| Lewis Hamilton stuggled somewhat, but the pigeons made sure they had good seats to watch him anyway.
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| Billy was sitting in front of us on the hill. He had arrived on Wednesday and spent 4 nights on the hill, sleeping in the open, thus ensuring he had the best spot of all. He entertained and directed the crowds and, with the benefit of his megaphone, called out to drivers, team owners and celebs in the pitlane, encouraging them to give us a wave or, if they didn't, being rude to them.
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| Lewis Hamilton knew how to keep Billy happy though and gave a big wave on his way to the grid.
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| His race wasn't exactly brilliant though (classified 12th).
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| Celebrating Button's victory!
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| Having wone the race, Button went into the pits by mistake and thus had to jog round the last 2 corners in order to get to the podium ceremony; obviously being cheered all the while by us, Billy and company.
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| After the race, we walked round the other half of the track, visiting the famous Loews hairpin...
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| ...and Casino Square
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| A brilliant day with an amazing atmosphere - an international, friendly and laid back crowd; and much more civilised than other GPs, even when you only pay to go on the hill!
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