On April 15, Tax Day, a 108-page booklet arrived from Norma’s travel agent. They don’t want us to miss a thing. They tease us with descriptive Madison Avenue copy on several packaged itineraries for each and every port of call. I had to give up reading my Paul Theroux Pillars of Hercules for one night to study the options.

We can’t do them all, I told myself. For all practical purposes, one trip per P of C appeared to be the limit. Some some tough decisions would have to be made.

Almost immediately, I was tempted by the individual driving tour of Monte Carlo. This one is most unusual. They put you behind the wheel of a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Maserati and point you toward the curvy little roads above Monte Carlo and Nice, some of them amounting to a meandering Mediterranean maze. These curvy little roads are the same ones driven by Cary Grant in “To Catch a Thief,” a Hitchcock thriller which was something of a Côte d’Azur travelog.

I love the film as much as I love the Riviera. Cary Grant plays John the Cat Burglar Robie, an ex-cat burglar who made a name for himself out on the Riviera rooftops every night stealing the jewels of rich women. However, during the war he reformed, joined the French Resistance and became a hero.
I could imagine the thrill it would be to accelerate my premium vehicle on these foreign paths, perhaps looking for the villa above Cannes where the Cat Burglar resided in the film. Imagination is the key. Exploring and looking would be the adventure.

A decision on which car to choose would be a challenge. I might want to have them line up all three for my inspection before climbing in to a particular one. In the end I would probably choose by color, perchance they have a Mediterranean Sea Blue.

My next chore would be to convince my sister she should ride shotgun with me. This trip would entail a quick spending spree in a factory outlet in Monaco.to get proper attire, sports car paraphernalia appropos to road racing participants.

We could justify the expense by noting the drive would keep us out of the stuffy casino owned by the Grimaldis. We would cut out gambling losses to make a bigger bet on the roads above the sea.

Suddenly I remembered that Grace Kelly, who was also in “To Catch a Thief,” had her final moment in this world driving a British Rover 3500 over an embankment of some fifty feet to her death in 1982. She was of course Monaco’s first lady and the wife of Prince Ranier at the time. This adds to the excitement of this particular Symphony Adventure. To make the trip even more meaningful, we could drive to the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Monte Carlo to visit Grace’s grave, one that gets fresh flowers daily.

I’ll have to give this side trip more scrutiny. Is there enough time to do it right? Are my driving reactions as quick and they never were? Will Norma opt to let me do it alone? I have about 58 days to make a final decision, time to shed a few pounds so I will fit more comfortably behind the wheel.

Excitement continues to build for the cruise. Talk about once in a lifetime! The price of this particular self-guided tour is only $3,999, obviously discounted because Crystal doesn’t have to provide a multi-lingual tour guide.

Looking over other choices in the booklet, I see nothing that is an absolute must. The one in Tangiers is best bargain at $37 for three hours, much of it in air-conditioned bus. That is the way to travel, sitting high in a cool bus, looking out on the sweating beggars, avoiding actual contact with them, securing your euros and family jewels close to your body. Tangiers can be hot and dry in June. It may be safer than I think. I heard that beggars and pick-pockets don’t like to work in the heat. Like the rest of us, they prefer to go to the beach when it is sweltering.