kicking around here & there but no time/motivation to write. Will endeavour to reply to any message...
kicking around here & there but no time/motivation to write. Will endeavour to reply to any messages/comments though
Member since:07.03.2001
Reviews:32
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Intro -----
Monaco was one of the places visited as part of a holiday around part of Europe earlier in the year (mid-August 2002). There were two of us, a good friend and me, and we were travelling using InterRail passes (www.interrail.com for details).
The Place --------
After a spell working our way down the east side of France, we ended up in Nice for a few days. During our time here, a day trip to one of the places along the coast sounded like a good idea. We decided to go to Monaco, the tiny independent principality that most people know of from the Grand Prix that is held here every Formula One season. That in itself was enough to convince me to go.
Travelling from Nice was very easy, as the trains are both frequent and reliable. Unfortunately I can’t tell you how much it costs as we were travelling using InterRail passes, therefore it was free. My best guess is that it would not be too expensive as it only took about 30 minutes and wasn’t particularly far.
Arriving at Monaco station, I was both surprised and impressed with the
standards there. The previous stations were clean enough but Monaco was impeccable and very similar to the more modern London Underground stations. After disembarking, you then use the lifts and/or escalators to ascend to the exit of the station. From the exit to the station you make your choice as to where to go. Limited by the amount of time we thought we had, Monte Carlo was the obvious pick of the places.
However, as Monaco is only three kilometres long, it limits the amount of sightseeing that can be done. The main areas of the principality are:
+ Monaco-Ville – the old town around the palace + Fontvieille – the new suburb and marina + La Condamine – behind the harbour on the other side of the rock + Larvotto – swimmingresort to the east with imported sand on the artificial beaches + Monte-Carlo – located in the middle
To get to Monte Carlo from the station, you can get the bus from the stop just outside (Number 4, Direction Larvotto) or you can walk. If the weather is nice, as it should be for about 350 days of the year, then you can easily walk it in about 10-15 minutes. Once you get into the main part of the town (2-3 minutes past the British Motor Cars Showroom – very nice!) it hits home that there really isn’t that much to do.
We started off by taking a stroll through the gardens at the front of the casino that were flanked by unusual looking statues. The casino itself is the main tourist pull, especially during the day, with folk of varying nationalities vying for photo opportunities in front of the building and with the flash cars in the car park. I was content with messing around doing a cod-James Bond impression on the steps, to the non-amusement of the slick doormen (this casino was used in ‘Goldeneye’ by the way). Due to the attire we were sporting, not to mention the fooling around, we decided to forego the 7.60 euro admission price. Couple that to the fact that I didn’t want to blow my budget for the whole trip on one ill-advised flutter.
After glancing at a couple of over-priced shops, we took the free lift down to the waterfront and the marina area. Here we found three different types of people:
+ Boat Owners – self assured with their own material possessions and wealth + Boat Gawpers – wishing they had the material possessions and wealth + Locals – trying to get on with it and not get too hacked off with the tourists
That was when it struck me that the number of tourists swamped the number of locals by double figures to one. Despite my cynicism, wandering around the harbour was nice enough, and we even got to see part of the Grand Prix circuit (wow). When we reached the other side of the harbour, we heard the beating of rotor blades and a small helicopter settled on top of one of the boats. The occupants got out and scurried below deck, while the gawpers gawped and the very hard looking oriental guard watched over the entrance to the gangplank as well as the brand new Ferrari and Rolls-Royce parked outside.
The boat – to be fair, luxury liner – was very indulgent, because as well as the chopper it had a 10 metre long door, which opens in the side of the hull allowing the owner to have breakfast or drinks just above the waterline. There was a beautiful crew on board armed with polished perma-grins and everything screamed ‘over-the-top’. When I got back to England I was intrigued enough (or sad enough) to look up the liner’s details. It was the ‘Lady Moura’, the most expensive private yacht in the world, and it is 105 metres long and 18.5 metres wide – making it the sixth biggest in the world. The yacht is owned by a multi-millionaire businessman, who is an advisor to the king of Saudi Arabia. Very impressive.
After prising our way through the gawpers we headed back round and decided that we had seen enough. There simply wasn’t much else to do. Of course there are the guided tours, covering the harbour and the palace, but these only lasted 30-40 minutes and didn’t sound too interesting. So that was it, we retraced our steps and after a bite to eat headed back to Nice.
Details ------
As I mentioned before, we were travelling using the InterRail passes, and Monaco was only intended to be a day trip. As it turns out it was only a morning trip, and I really can’t recommend staying there (unless you go for the Grand Prix, in which case it is even more hideously expensive) but if you are desperate to spend more than a few hours there then I would advise strongly that you pick a place nearby such as Nice. From this (cheaper) base you can explore more of the Cote d’Azur and I think you will have a better time of things.
The currency is Euros, the time zone is GMT +1 hour, and the language is French although Italian will serve you ok. The legal system is similar to France but not identical. New legislation gets passed from France to Prince Rainier and he decides whether or not it goes through, making this place probably the last autocratic place in Europe.
To get there, Ryanair fly from London Stansted to Nimes, which is near Nice and only a short train journey. EasyJet fly from London Luton to Nice, but as is the case with everything you will have to shop around to find the best value carrier.
To sum up (and in comparison to the other places we visited in the south of France), I can’t recommend this as a place to stay, only as a place to say you’ve been to.
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Oct 20th, 2002
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