Picture of Monte Carlo
Caption: We drive past the border, marking the separation of France from the small city-state country: Monaco. Our tour guide immediately starts slamming Monaco, “they are stuck up”, “pretentious”, “snooty” - he kept going, making sure we understood one thing: he was not a fan.
He tells us 30% of the residents here are billionaires. Their police can't even afford to live in the country, they live in France.
Finally the truth comes out, Monaco is not that bad. Nice is playing Monaco in soccer tonight and our guide really wants his team to win. The French loyalty to their teams is pure and strong.
We drive up to the castle, not much of a masterpiece after what I have seen Europe tout. Our guide explains, “Monaco wasn't always rich, it used to be a farming country”. He continues, “The principality (yep, you guessed it, the country is ruled by a prince, not a king) made the Monte Carlo Casino, Grand Prix and enforced zero taxes. Then the money poured in”.
So it is understandable that the newly built aquarium looks way better than the royal palace.
My new American friend and I watch the changing of the guards, a long, drawn out process that happens everyday at 11:55am on the dot. Honestly, I think that would be the ideal time to storm the castle. The guards are just putting on a show for the tourists, but that's my personal opinion, try at your own risk.
We get bored with the guard changing ceremony quickly and go looking for something that can keep our attention. Finding ourselves gazing over a steep, canon studded cliff, we can see the entire country of Monaco. This site included the yacht lined harbor, making me question if I was on the set of a rap video.
We searched through the narrow streets, adjacent to the royal castle, for some lunch. Total tourist trap, there was no food I wanted to eat. However, I did see a “hot dog” that featured two wieners in a sliced baguette, it brought a smile to my face (pictured in blog).
We meet our tour guide at the designated location, on time. The other family was late, yet again. We could see our tour guide is frustrated, we were getting off track. He points us to a gorgeous view while he waits for the rest of the tour.
Once everyone is in the car we get on the Grand Prix Race course. We do a full lap, going around the whole country, (only 87 more laps and we will have completed the distance of the race). We pass the Monte Carlo Casino, only the most beautiful cars parked in front. All of the prettiest people are seated in the prime viewing seats outside the fanciest restaurants. Monaco purposely stages everything to be in the best possible light. This area is a living, breathing PR lesson.
With a longing look, we leave the country (which only takes about four minutes).
