Day 30: Monaco

We took the train from Villefranche to Monaco--about 15 minutes including 2 stops. The city (which is in fact just about the whole country) is beautiful seen from the palace.

Even the train station in Monaco is impressive. First of all, it's huge. Second, it is all marble--floors, walls ceilings. And it's all spotlessly clean. When you walk out of the train station, the city immediately seems fresh and clean, even though it's very old.

 

In fact, after visiting there, the one word that describes Monaco above all others is "clean." Even France, which we found to be a clean country, has cigarette butts everywhere. It's just part of the French ambience. Not Monaco. No cigarette butts, no trash, to dead leaves, no graffiti, no chewing gum smudges on the sidewalks! Everything looks freshly painted. In truth, it is so clean, it is almost too clean. It is "Disney-clean." If you didn't know where you were, you might think you are in a Disney theme park.

The palace of the Prince of Monaco dates back to the 1200's when it was a fortified rock high above the Mediterranean. A uniformed guard patrols the entry. We took a tour of the palace, which is beautiful. But they would not allow any photos whatsoever. We toured several of the formal and ceremonial rooms, including the throne room where Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier III were married in a civil ceremony one day before their religious ceremony in the Cathedral. Of particular note, the floors in the palace are all inlaid carved marble in ornate floral patters. Wish I could have sneaked at least one photo.

The wall around the palace is surrounded by cannons that used to guard "The Rock" as it is called. Tim found to his dismay that the cannon balls were all welded together so they would stay in neat stacks.

The palace also looks down on the old port to the south.

This is the gendarmerie across the square from the palace. It may be the prettiest police station I have ever seen!

The Cathedral of Monaco where Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier were married in 1956, and where they are both buried.

No, this is not part of the palace or the cathedral. This is the food court at the Metropole shopping center in the heart of Monaco. Marble floors, crystal chandeliers, and again--clean, clean, clean!

And here it is--the famed casino of Monte Carlo (literally "Charles's Hill" named on honor of Charles III of France who granted a gambling license to build the casino.) Construction on this legendary casino was started during the 1860's when the American Civil War was going on. The casino was the brain child of the Prince of Monaco at the time as a means of generating additional revenue for the principality. It was soon a booming success. So much so that income tax was abolished in Monaco, making the Prince a really popular guy.

In 1949 when Prince Ranier III assumed control of Monaco, 95% of the country's revenue came from this casino--and it was in trouble. World War II had left Europeans in an economic strain that left little money for gambling. Monaco's revenues plummeted to the point of bankruptcy. Ranier III, who ruled for 56 years, successfully diversified Monaco's economy so that today, the casino only accounts for 3% of the national revenue. Ranier's economic plan succeeded so well, that he was able to restore Monaco to its former grandeur.

And next to the casino, the Hotel de Paris, which was constructed shortly after the casino was finished to provide suitable accommodations for the glitterati of Europe who were flocking to Monaco to gamble.

And across from the Hotel de Paris, the Cafe de Paris (these people must have been impressed with Paris) where we had a glass of wine and a soggy club sandwich with too much mayonnaise for only--no, you don't want to know how many euros. We just sat for a while and watched all the Rolls Royces and Bentleys circling the fountain in the square in front of the casino. Gamblers eager to get started, I guess. The casino didn't open until 2 PM.

And voila! The secret to all this cleanliness! They have these little Zamboni-like machines that wash the sidewalks and public areas. No wonder there are no chewing gum smudges anywhere. And not only do these machines wash the sidewalks and squeegee them dry, they do it with scented water! No kidding! So afterwards, it all not only looks clean, it smells clean. Amazing!

And this is the opera house constructed in 1878 and directly attached to the rear of the casino. It is truly beautiful architecture and supposedly styled after the opera house in--where else?--Paris. 

Tim wanted to tour the casino, but he didn't want to wait 2 hours and pay 10 euros, and he didn't want to gamble, so we took the train back to Villefranche to sip wine by the boat quai. It was somehow strangely comforting to see a couple of cigarette butts on the street outside our hotel...