Clare Teal: Monaco – where the rich spend their time and money

Driving along the twisty mountain roads, I will never forget our first glimpse of Monaco.

From around a bend it emerged like a lost city of gold, all shimmering and beautiful.

The Monaco Grand Prix runs through the principality and most local drivers seem to think they are in with a chance of winning it.

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Our hotel faced the beautiful Port Hercule, where insanely wealthy folks pay a premium to park their floating gin palaces. These puppies cost anything up to $300m to buy but if you think that's a bit steep, you can always rent one for $500,000 per week. I think nibbles are included in the price.

We were playing at the fabulous Hotel De Paris; sound check wasn't till 4pm which gave Muddy and myself the opportunity to have a quick look round the shops.

Very few of the boutiques we visited had open doors; instead, you ring a bell, the butler lets you in and 17 people fall over themselves to show you their shiny trinkets.

Mud has been on a mission to find a replacement pair of the absolutely perfect sunglasses I sat on last year. She must have tried every pair in Monaco but to no avail; they were all too heavy – a problem that could easily have been rectified if they'd got rid of all the gold and crystals hanging off them.

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Across the way from the venue stands the magnificent Casino de Monaco as featured in the Hitchcock classic, To Catch A Thief – one of my favourite films. Imagery of Grace Kelly, the Hollywood star who, of course, married Prince Rainier and became Princess Grace of Monaco, is present in virtually every building.

Bizarrely, our floor of the hotel was decorated with a huge photo of Joan Collins sitting on a bed with a fluorescent pink poodle. If that wasn't enough, Ted Danson, of Cheers fame, danced at our concert (I've arrived).

We ended our Monaco trip with breakfast aboard a truly regal sailing yacht, the type where you have to take off your shoes and touch nothing. A beautifully surreal adventure, but one my pockets aren't deep enough to explore.

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