Monaco (4 of 5)
Yesterday our travels took us to Monaco, a Riviera must that is only a short 45 minute bus ride from Nice. The best part about this was that it only cost 1 Euro, by far the cheapest part of the day. The forecast called for rain so we took the opportunity to go. What we've found consistently on this trip is by going to the tourist sites on "bad weather" days has been the best time to avoid the mob of tourists. The weather is never as bad as the forecast and it offers a break from the beating sun. Besides, yesterday it didn't rain until 6pm (we were home by then) and it was still +32 in the cloud cover.
Racing fans will have a love affair with Monaco as the F1 Grand Prix de Monaco has run here since 1929. Believe me that the principality looks way better in real life than on TV. There is a Vegas feel to the whole place due in part that everything is so clean and pristine that it looks kinda fake. We got off the Place d"Armes stop and hiked up the hill to see the Prince's Palace, had lunch, and played at the playground on top. To entice Chloe away from the playground, we hunted for ice cream while doing some shopping before hiking back down, taking the bus over to Monte Carlo, and finding the bus back to Nice. Now I've been to the Monte Carlo in Vegas, and really can't see any resemblance to the casino here other than the name. The Monte Carlo Casino here is truly what I expected from a top notch casino. It wasn't particularly huge, although the grounds and gardens were, and you could smell the money being made from outside where you will get your fill of Lotus' and Ferrari's. Want to gamble? Think again as a jacket and tie are required for men - which would be unbearable for me in this heat.
I'd have to say though that we didn't have enough time in Monaco. By the late afternoon everyone was dying from the heat and was ready for an afternoon nap. It was a great chance to experience, even for a day, a lifestyle that we will never lead and wouldn't want to in the first place. I'm sure there is a lot of people suffering from "keeping up with the Jone's" syndrome. I'll leave off with some interesting facts about the place.
- Population is 30,000
- Only 10,000 are true Monegasques, the other 20,000 live here to take advantage of the no income tax
- The country used to be 3 times bigger, but in 1860 it lost 2/3rds when the region of Menton voted to join France. To compensate, France suggested Monaco build a casino and promised to connect it to the world with a road and a train line. This started the tourist boom.
- It's current Prince (Albert) has competed in several Olympics for bobsledding.
- There are more people in Monaco's philharmonic (100) than its army (80).
