I am back from the beautiful country of
Monaco! A whirlwind four day-three night trip sandwiched between dropping the kids off in Georgia (the state, not the country) to stay with the grandparents has made for a nice long, travel-filled vacation.
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| Monaco |
Monaco was gorgeous. Located on the French Riviera, I can definitely see why the area is called "the Azure Coast." Blue skies, blue water, and perfect weather were in abundance on our trip.
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This is a section of the nearby coast of France, right outside Monaco.
According to our tour guide (who was a living issue of People magazine), Bono and Elton John both have houses here. |
Monaco is the world's second smallest country (behind Vatican City) with an area of less than one square mile! It has a population of around 36,000 people in this area, making it the most densely populated country in the world. There isn't room for an airport (we flew into Nice, France), but it does have an International Heliport!
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| A view of the Monte Carlo casino |
Our hotel was in Monte Carlo, the most famous section of Monaco and well known for its beautiful casino. We didn't visit the casino, having so many other things to see in our short trip and not feeling a great urge to lose some money!
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| Surprisingly, citizens of Monaco are not allowed to gamble or even go into the casino. |
We only saw the casino from a distance. In the picture above you can see scaffolding in front of it - this is for seating for the big event coming up this week - the Monaco Grand Prix! Everywhere we saw preparations going on for the race - there were gates and walls of tires to shield buildings (just in case!) and stands of seats with giant screens nearby.
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| Here you can view the race from the stands or from your yacht! |
Monaco, which has no income tax, is home to the highest number of millionaires and billionaires per capita in the world. I have never seen so many Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Rolls-Royces in my life, not to mention a Bugatti (a car I had never heard of, but my excited husband assured me it goes really, really fast). My husband got the thrill of his life when we went out for a fancy dinner and he was asked by the hostess if he owned the red Ferrari parked outside (one that we had been standing next to ogling).
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| Mais oui, Madame, but we seem to have misplaced our valet stub... Perhaps you could just give us the keys? |
Of course there was also some beautiful architecture...
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| the courthouse in Monaco |
However, I think the most stunning attraction of Monaco is the beautiful rocky cliffs against which the country is nestled.
With a dearth of available land, houses and other buildings are built right up against the cliffs.
I'm not even quite sure how you get up to some of the houses that were perched up there! I'm sure it offered an amazing view, though.
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| An exterior wall of the Musée Océanographique de Monaco |
With its mild Mediterranean climate, there is an abundance of plant life in Monaco, even on the cliff faces, and several exquisite gardens are located there. But I think all those pictures will need to spill into another post!
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| a cliff-side pathway overlooking the Mediterranean Sea |
