10-27 Monte Carlo, Monaco

The sovereign Principality of Monaco is located in the hills above the Mediterranean Sea in the midst of the resort area of the French Riviera.  With a population of only 30,000 people, this tiny state has an area of only about .73 square miles.  It is the second smallest principality –  Vatican City is smaller. As seen from the picture, the city goes from the mountains right to the sea.

From the 12th–18th century, Monaco’s history was a turbulent time – controlled either by France or Italy (whose border is only five miles to the east.)  In 1814 France recognized Prince Honore V and the throne of Monaco, and thus it gained its permanent independence.  In 1911, Prince Albert I passed Monaco’s first constitution. 

Most of the people are Roman Catholic with the official language being French – the majority of the residents are French citizens.    It is also a fiscal paradise since it has no tax on income or inheritance.  Monaco and Monte Carlo were thrust into the international spotlight when American film actress Grace Kelly married Prince Ranier in 1956. 

Monaco is also home to the Grand Prix circuit with a 3.3 km track that uses the same roads as traffic does.  It is a difficult track because of the narrow roads.

It is a very safe place with 10,000 security cameras, 1,500 police, and only 3 prison cells.  Three roads run parallel here – along the coast, the middle and the high road at the top of the mountain (these are called Lower, Middle, and Upper Corniche)

Our tour today was a visit to Nice and Eze.  Nice is only nine miles west of Monte Carlo.  We took the beautiful coastal road to Nice which is the 5th largest city in France with a population of 1/2 million people.  It is a young city with 40% of the people under the age of 40. 

It is a multi-cultured town.  A large number of people from N. Africa came over to find work.  Queen Victoria came often for the mild weather.  The Hotel Regina was built for her.  Since she always brought 500 people when she came to visit, it was great for the economy of Nice. 

By bus we passed many sights of the city, including the Negresco Hotel with its ornate Rococo facade and statue of Miles Davis who inaugurated the first jazz festival here.  We also saw the 2nd largest Russian church outside Russia with its green tile onion domes.  Very impressive!  Felt like we were back in Russia!  We also saw the Park Imperial, the former resident of the Tsar.  We also passed an interesting statue called the Square Head – which was just that – very strange – near the Modern Art Museum. 

When we got off the bus, we walked toward the flower market – which is much more than just flowers.   Our meeting spot after free time was the Palace of Justice, which is a very impressive building in the square with a nice fountain as well. Doug and I stopped and had a cappuccino and caught up on our e-mails, etc. at a delightful little cafe called Emilie’s which specialized in cookies. 

We then walked around the flower market on the Cours Saleya, the elegant promenade of Old Nice. Its many stalls of fresh fruits and veggies, as well as spices and flowers and sweets was very colorful.  It is lined on both sides by lots and lots of outdoor cafes.

We then went to the Promenade d’Anglaise which is an eight kilometers walkway around the bay from the port to the airport.  It was delightful with lots of walkers and bikers enjoying the sunny day.  I couldn’t resist going down to the water and putting my hand in the Mediterranean Sea.  It was warm, and I wish we had had more time to actually enjoy the beach area – pebbly as it was.  Before getting back on the bus, we made another stop at a little bakery to get a sweet pastry since we skipped the cookies at Emilie’s!

As we walked back to the bus, we saw the very new (2007) and modern tram lines which were put in to reduce traffic and emissions.  Very impressive as well. 

Driving back and forth from Nice was really picturesque as we went along the coast line.  It was easy to see why it is called Cote d’Azure with its beautiful blue waters.  We can also see why the French Riviera has such appeal with its little towns/villages along the coast.  We only were able to go from Monaco to Nice, but what we saw was spectacular – and we’d like to return to take some time to visit each of these little towns.  Villefranche was particularly beautiful from our viewpoint of looking down upon it from the middle road (corniche) which was 300 meters above.  Other pretty little towns we passed were Beaulieu, and Cap Ferrat.

We also saw the most expensive property in this area.  It is a villa that King Leopold had made with many terraces – one for each of his mistresses.  It was very beautiful – what we could see of it from the road – and very private.

While we really liked Nice and the surrounding area, our next stop was the best.  It was the village of Eze – perched high upon a sea cliff with small shops, stone houses, terrace restaurants and an exotic cactus garden with a stunning view.

There are two levels of this medieval area that is now a hotel called Chateau Eze.  We climbed the cobblestone path up to the higher level.  Along the way, there were many little cafes, some outdoors, some tucked away inside the stones.  We paid the extra 5 euros to go up again to the garden to see the ruins of the 14th century castle that was destroyed in the 18th century, the cactus garden, and mainly the view.  We decided we wanted to return to just eat at the different little cafes – each more charming than the next.

On the way back down, we stopped briefly at the church, called L’Eglise, that is there with its bell and clock tower.  It was very pretty on the inside, but we didn’t have much time to spend here.

Back on the bus again, we headed back to Monte Carlo.  Our guide told us all about the royal family and how Princess Grace was killed in an automobile accident – on the same road and place where she filmed the picnic scene with Cary Grant.

There was a lot of traffic coming back due to a train strike which meant more people in their cars on the roads.  But it gave us more time to learn about Prince Ranier and how he worked to beautify and build his town. 

While we didn’t get a chance to see this little town, we did enjoy seeing Nice and Eze.  We had to leave at 2 p.m., so we were not able to walk in the famous Grand Casino since it didn’t open until 2 p.m., but we did see it from a distance.  Its green dome and towers is very impressive.  Also from a distance we saw the Royal Palace.

Back on the ship, we were happily surprised to find a plate of chocolate covered strawberries awaiting us in our cabin.  The note explained that this was for the “wait” we had the night before at dinner.  We only waited about 20 minutes for the walk-in dining, but decided we’d do it again for the strawberries!

Sailing at 2 p.m. we were able to enjoy passing the Riviera with towns further west of Nice, like Cannes.  In the background were the snow covered Alps – a beautiful sight.  As it grew later, we saw one of the most stunning sunsets we’ve ever seen – and another “green flash” – this time on the French Riviera – doesn’t get much better than that!