A Day in Monaco - July 21, 2010

 Wednesday July 21, 2010

Senne's summary: Went to Monaco. Saw the Grimaldi Palace, walked around Monaco and Monte Carlo and were disappointed by the casino.

We decided to take the train to Monte Carlo today. This was relatively easy. We walked up the stairs from the apartment and were at the train station, bought two tickets (luckily we had enough change as it didn’t take bills), and then hopped on the train. So far nobody has ever checked any of our train tickets. But apparently the fine is hefty if they catch you without one…

4 stops later and we are in the Monaco/Monte Carlo station (less than a 20 minute train ride). Steve downloaded a nice little map onto his ITouch (which sort of helped) and we headed off to the Prince’s Palace. I have to say I was hesitant about Steve’s choice of directions, but he did get us there pretty quickly. (Remember I’m the one who can’t find my car in the mall parking lot… NEVER listen to me if I try picking which way to go!). We climbed a giant hill and were in the area where the Prince’s Palace and "little kingdom" were.

We went straight to the place where you could start a tour of part of the palace. We both REALLY enjoyed this. They actually take you through parts of the palace that are still used. (No photos allowed unfortunately) You don’t see the Grimaldi’s private living quarters but you do see a lot of very opulent rooms including the throne room. There were countless pieces of priceless art and furniture, all clearly explained on the English audio guide! I don’t think I’d want to live in a palace of that size… it almost seemed like a waste all the money that was sunk into that place… but it was definitely interesting and beautiful.

We wandered around the streets a little and saw an amazing cathedral. We went in and there was a boy’s choir practicing. I have never heard singing like that in my life. The boys appeared to range in age from 8-17 and they sounded magnificent. (The acoustics were also amazing, it sounded like 100’s of people singing.)

Next we decided to walk to the casino. We walked past the harbour where the giant yachts were kept, a very cool little kids play park, some designer shops and more Ferraris and Maseratis then you can count on both of our hands.

When we arrived at the casino they made us check our camera (I don’t think it was because they’ve heard Steve is a prolific picture taker... but you never know!), and we walked into the main area. We were both pretty underwhelmed. We peeked into the gambling room, but didn’t think it was worth it to pay 10 Euros a piece to see it. Maybe we’ve just been seeing to many beautiful buildings… maybe we were just mad they don’t even have poker! Anyway, I’d say it was our least favourite part of Monaco.

Here are a few more photos to show you just how beautiful Monaco is! (Bonus: You get to visit a whole new country!)

Next we walked back to the train station and made our way home. We had a bit of a snack, watched an episode of our new TV Series (Breaking Bad), and then went for an evening swim.

All in all a marvelous day 😀

Ha ha! It looks like Carlos missed us and was waiting for us to return home... photographic evidence below!