There & Back

CLUTCH by Leslie Wilder INFAMOUS by Lori Sizemore

There & Back

��Let��s drive to Monte Carlo. I want to show you the place I met Miyaz, the bad boy Grand Prix racer who��s credited for creating the Mercedes McLaren. I��ll also show you the hotel I stayed at with Prince P in 1967,�� I said to Walter.

��Ooouu! I love bad boy Miyaz. The way you described him in DEBAUCHERY is too sexy for words,�� my ��hubby�� expressed.

��That man is definitely sexy, and bad to the bones. If not for Andy and Professor Dubois, I would have ended up used and abused by the man. I��m sorry to inform you, he��s now dead as a doornail,�� I declared.

��How did he die?�� my inquisitive ��husband�� asked.

I blazoned, ��Get your butt moving and I��ll tell you.��

Walter was getting irritated by the minute, the moment we passed the long mountain tunnel from Nice to Monaco. The traffic had built up substantially when we got to the tollbooth. It was crawling at snail's�� pace. I couldn��t turn around, so I sojourned forward with a fuming and boiling ��hubby�� in tow.

He pouted, ��We could��ve spent this time sightseeing in Nice, instead of sitting in traffic.��

I soothed, ��I promise you wouldn��t regret what you��ll see when we get there.��

As we snaked along, rain pelted on the windshield making matters worse.

Thanks to the omnipresent's co-operation, the rain ceased as rapidly as it came, the moment we entered Monte Carlo. Our next hurdle was to avoid the gazillions that had arrived en masse to view the infamous Casino Monte Carlo �� made famous by none other than James, The James Bond in the movie, Casino Royale.

Wally announced disparagingly, ��Take your darn pictures and we��re out of here.��

Thank God, my saving grace was the Hermitage Hotel; ��hubby�� loved the ��Hermitage�� - the hotel I stayed at, in 1967 with Prince P and our harem entourage.

More ways than one, I��m glad this saying rings true: ��Somethings never change. Like fine wine, it ages with dignity and grace.��

The ��Hermitage�� is one fine example. This grande dame was and still is, as I remembered it in 1967, if not better. It had aged elegantly and appealingly.