Principilite de Monaco

It's nice to have friends in different places. One of my good friends, Paeng, is currently in France studying, and when he was planning for his summer holiday, he invited me to come over and go somewhere. How could I pass up the opportunity to travel to a new place? After looking at the map and our options, we concluded that the south of France was a good place to go. And after a night of planning (booking hotels, train tickets, coordinating schedules), our trip was all set. I flew into Paris, met Paeng at the Gare de Lyon train station, and took the 6 hour journey towards the Cote d'Azur.

The first city on the Cote d'Azur trip that Paeng and I visited was not actually a city, but a principality... Monaco. Held by the Grimaldi family for hundreds of years, this tax haven is the home of the rich and famous, and it shows. Exotic cars, designer boutiques, yachts, and beautiful people abound. I haven't seen so many Rolls Royces and Bentleys before in my life. It is also home of the annual Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious race on the Formula 1 circuit and what puts this tiny principality in the spotlight every year.

The famous Monte-Carlo Casino. Take note of all the expensive cars parked outside. We didn't enter the casino because there was an entrance fee (€10) just to get in!

The port of Monaco and the yachts... you have to be truly rich to buy and maintain one of these things.

This is basically the whole of Monaco. Some say it is only occupies 2 square kilometers, and I don't think thats further from the truth. You can see the port of course, and the casino, boutiques, and hotels are on the hill. Formula 1 fanatics will also spot other famous straights and chicanes (and I will delve into that in a future entry).

Casino Square at Night


Monaco struck me as a city of contrasts. On one hand, there is no doubt that this is a rich place, with money being thrown around left and right. But at the same time, Paeng and I noticed that it was not the prettiest place around. Sure, the Casino and Hotel de Paris were as grand and opulent as what we expected, but the rest of Monaco consisted of greyish condos showing their age. The architecture is reminiscent of the 60s and 70s (at least in my view). In fact, it reminded us of a cheap resort. It then dawned on us that the cheap resorts all modelled their appearances on Monaco and not the other way around. All the other places were trying to capture the magic of Monaco. Well, they may look the part, but they won't ever have the backdrop of a grand prix and the yachts to prove that, despite its looks, Monaco is one of the richest places in the world.

Life is Beautiful!