Monaco - Day Two
Saturday, 24 July, 4:30 a.m. CEST
I met the Prince. And hopefully I won't be fired when I get home.
But let me back up. First, let me tell you about the gala. It was fabulous!! The room was set up in the Vegas show style - long rows of tables at angles to the stage - which I much prefer to the horrid rounds of 8 or 10 we always have in the states.
The table in the very center of the room was the head table, where the very VIPS - like the Prince - would sit.
Guests entered on the stage, where a Costa Rican band played. A man (un homme) in a white dinner jacket looked up your table number and called it out to a young handsome escort. I was at table #21. "Vingt et un!" he hollered, like a French auctioneer.
My escort walked me down the lighted steps at the front of the stage. On the dance floor, at the bottom of the steps, were more handsome young Frenchmen offering pina coladas. A photog snapped photos, which, I imagined (like a cruise) they would try to sell to us later. Oh well...good cause & all, right??
OK, so - champagne (lots of it), appetizer, first course. The band changed to one with a female singer (singing en anglais) as background music during the dinner.
In between courses, I grabbed my own camera and went around to some of the other tables to take pics of my friends & colleagues. Eventually, I made it over to CEO's table.
Now, I've mentioned here before that I used to sing in a band. What I didn't tell you is that it was made up of all people from my organization. And we named ourselves after CEO. He loved us. We played a lot of work events, board dinners, and a fund-raising gala in Boston, as well as bar gigs.
So CEO knows I sing. Every time he sees me, he asks, "How come you're not singing in my band anymore?" I always tell him, "It was time to hang up my microphone...there's only so much sex, drugs & rock-n-roll a girl can take."
So when I came to his table to take a photo of him at the gala, the girl on stage was singing Evita. Which I love. Love love love. Have the soundtrack. Know all the words. Of all the songs. So kind of as a little joke to CEO, I put my arm around his shoulder & started serenading him with "Don't cry for me Argentina..." at the top of my lungs. Did I mention that much champagne had been consumed?
After a few lines, I looked up to notice that His Highness is sitting ONE CHAIR DOWN from CEO!! MON DIEU!! How did I not notice this??
And Monsignor is looking at me. Now, he could've gone back to his dinner and simply ignored the crazy crass American (with the powerful yet beautiful voice). But no.
He reached out his hand to me. My mind is racing: Ohmygodohmygodohmygod. What is the proper protocol here? (Oh right sure. NOW I'm suddenly concerned with protocol...) I took his hand. Speak when spoken to & all that. He kissed my hand.
I said, "Bon soir" and introduced myself. CEO is laughing his ass off at me and telling the Prince, "She works for me! She works for me!" Maybe not so fired afterall.
And H.S.H. Crown Prince Albert of Monaco says to me, "Why don't you get a microphone & show them how it's done?"
And everyone laughed politely and I got the hell outta there afraid I'd just committed the biggest faux pas in the history of the world.
And BTW - I've heard the rumors...but the man is definitely not gay.
After the gala, we went down to Jimmy'Z - the hip cool Monaco club packed with Eurotrash, uberskinny women, drugs. The drinks were 37 euro each...that's about $45!! No shit. For one drink!! Which was all we had, then headed out somewhere a little more in our price range.
We continued drinking champagne and closed down a cafe called the Sass club. We got back to the hotel at 4:30 a.m.
I have five rolls of film to develop...when my luggage finally makes it back to this country. So look for photos here in about a week.
