Today we are in the principality of Monaco, the entirety of which is only half the size of New York City’s Central Park, only a single square mile. The first inhabitants here were the Ligurian tribe in the 6th century, and the Greeks dubbed them the Monokos, but they didn’t remain here very long as there was no arable land or shelter. It was a Greek settlement until it was taken over by the Romans.
One story tells of a group of Grimaldis dressed up as monks who sneaked up to the castle and overtook it. There is a statue of Malizia, the “monk” who lead the attack, right at the palace. The other conflicting story has the Grimaldis as a real band of monks, arriving in 1297, buying the land from the Genoese, and settling in the fortress. No one seems to know which is the true story.
Monaco was often embroiled in war, and there were frequent pirate attacks, but the clever Grimaldis usually played one side against the other for advantage. In the 17th century, the French king granted Honore Grimaldi II the title of prince in return for a pledge of allegiance to France. The Grimaldis are still the world’s oldest monarchy. In 1861, Charles II had to surrender the areas of Menton and Roquebrune to France after they declared their independence. This meant a loss of revenue, so Charles III instituted the Grand Casino in 1878 to save himself from bankruptcy and therefore being taken over by France. Due to the huge success of the casino, Charles was then able to abolish taxation for his people. (Wouldn’t that be nice? I told Ray that he was looking for a place to live with no taxes—here we are!!!)
Monaco isn’t really a country but more like a family project passed from one generation to another. The Grimaldi family has shaped this country and kept it exciting. Grace Kelly of Philadelphia married the Prince Rainier of Monaco at the cathedral here, and now the revered crypt is the royal tomb for the two of them. When they married—on April 19, 1956, by the way—I assumed the rich Prince Rainier took care of all the expenses, but actually her father paid for the very elaborate wedding.
The city is very clean, not a bit of graffiti or trash to be found anywhere. The streets are perfectly groomed, and there are lush gardens and chic boutiques everywhere—Chopard, Chanel, Rolex.
We followed Tom’s directions—finally correct for a change—and got off the ship, went thru the information center and up the rock steps then around The Rock where the fortress is and up 2 escalators, one elevator, then 2 more escalators to get up to the old part of the city. We kept walking past the Oceanographic Museum & Aquarium (where Jacques Cousteau was curator for a long time) and on up the hill to the Cathedral where Grace and Prince Rainier were married and where their crypts are laid out side by side near the altar.
We walked on up the hill to the palace where you could see that they had used the old castle and built newer living quarters onto the rear. The flag was up, which supposedly means that Prince Albert is at home. We watched and took a video of the changing of the guard (Les Carabiniers du Prince) and did our little bit of shopping—lots of souvenir shops here.
Then we walked down the hill to get on the little sightseeing train that drives you all around Monaco. It took us past where they are setting up for the Grand Prix in May. The grandstands were up and preparations were being made. The guide said it takes 6 weeks to put them up and 3 weeks to take them all down. The sign for the start/finish line is up already. What fun that would have been to sit on the deck of our ship and watch as the Formula 1 cars screamed by!
We went past the L’Eglise Sainte-Devote—the little church dedicated to a Christian saint who washed ashore in a boat here. Drove past the Hermitage Hotel, designed by Eiffel. Then we headed into the REALLY rich area—over near Le Grand Casino de Monte-Carlo. This is where the James Bond movies take place, and I think one of the Oceans 11 movies was set here, too. Kept my eye out for Brad & George. : ) This is in La Condamine shopping area where one appetizer alone costs 70 Euros at the Louis XV Restaurant right across from the casino—needless to say, we didn’t eat here. Didn’t go into the Casino either as you had to show your passport, and they have a strict dress code. Pictures of the outside were elaborate enough for me. On the walk back to the ship, we ran into a nice lady named JoBee who was trying to find a shorter way back to the ship, so she walked along with us. At lunch back on the ship, I allowed myself the sinfully good desert of bread pudding with vanilla sauce.
The views from our ship’s 9th floor deck on the bow were great. We stayed out there watching the hang gliders floating down from the high French mountains above and the amazingly huge yachts in the harbour. Had fun watching a small sailboat negotiate tacking out of the harbour amidst several other boats and causing havoc everywhere. And exciting watching a big yacht try to “park” in several spaces then give up and go on to try the next over and over again until he finally parked his big yachts between two even bigger yachts that made his look like a miniature.
The houses are so closely packed here but are elaborate—lovely balconies overflowing with flowers. It is the most densely populated country in the world at 42,000 people per its one square mile.
And now it is time to prepare for the next leg of our journey—packing and organizing. We arrive in Rome tomorrow and will do our “Angels & Demons” tour that I created, and then we’ll board the overnight sleeper train to Paris in the evening. Just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that we get thru Customs without any hassles. Hope everybody stays safe and has a great weekend. Will be in touch again when we get internet service set up at the hotel in London—hopefully Monday night, but we’ll see. Take care.
One story tells of a group of Grimaldis dressed up as monks who sneaked up to the castle and overtook it. There is a statue of Malizia, the “monk” who lead the attack, right at the palace. The other conflicting story has the Grimaldis as a real band of monks, arriving in 1297, buying the land from the Genoese, and settling in the fortress. No one seems to know which is the true story.
Monaco was often embroiled in war, and there were frequent pirate attacks, but the clever Grimaldis usually played one side against the other for advantage. In the 17th century, the French king granted Honore Grimaldi II the title of prince in return for a pledge of allegiance to France. The Grimaldis are still the world’s oldest monarchy. In 1861, Charles II had to surrender the areas of Menton and Roquebrune to France after they declared their independence. This meant a loss of revenue, so Charles III instituted the Grand Casino in 1878 to save himself from bankruptcy and therefore being taken over by France. Due to the huge success of the casino, Charles was then able to abolish taxation for his people. (Wouldn’t that be nice? I told Ray that he was looking for a place to live with no taxes—here we are!!!)
Monaco isn’t really a country but more like a family project passed from one generation to another. The Grimaldi family has shaped this country and kept it exciting. Grace Kelly of Philadelphia married the Prince Rainier of Monaco at the cathedral here, and now the revered crypt is the royal tomb for the two of them. When they married—on April 19, 1956, by the way—I assumed the rich Prince Rainier took care of all the expenses, but actually her father paid for the very elaborate wedding.
The city is very clean, not a bit of graffiti or trash to be found anywhere. The streets are perfectly groomed, and there are lush gardens and chic boutiques everywhere—Chopard, Chanel, Rolex.
We followed Tom’s directions—finally correct for a change—and got off the ship, went thru the information center and up the rock steps then around The Rock where the fortress is and up 2 escalators, one elevator, then 2 more escalators to get up to the old part of the city. We kept walking past the Oceanographic Museum & Aquarium (where Jacques Cousteau was curator for a long time) and on up the hill to the Cathedral where Grace and Prince Rainier were married and where their crypts are laid out side by side near the altar.
We walked on up the hill to the palace where you could see that they had used the old castle and built newer living quarters onto the rear. The flag was up, which supposedly means that Prince Albert is at home. We watched and took a video of the changing of the guard (Les Carabiniers du Prince) and did our little bit of shopping—lots of souvenir shops here.
Then we walked down the hill to get on the little sightseeing train that drives you all around Monaco. It took us past where they are setting up for the Grand Prix in May. The grandstands were up and preparations were being made. The guide said it takes 6 weeks to put them up and 3 weeks to take them all down. The sign for the start/finish line is up already. What fun that would have been to sit on the deck of our ship and watch as the Formula 1 cars screamed by!
We went past the L’Eglise Sainte-Devote—the little church dedicated to a Christian saint who washed ashore in a boat here. Drove past the Hermitage Hotel, designed by Eiffel. Then we headed into the REALLY rich area—over near Le Grand Casino de Monte-Carlo. This is where the James Bond movies take place, and I think one of the Oceans 11 movies was set here, too. Kept my eye out for Brad & George. : ) This is in La Condamine shopping area where one appetizer alone costs 70 Euros at the Louis XV Restaurant right across from the casino—needless to say, we didn’t eat here. Didn’t go into the Casino either as you had to show your passport, and they have a strict dress code. Pictures of the outside were elaborate enough for me. On the walk back to the ship, we ran into a nice lady named JoBee who was trying to find a shorter way back to the ship, so she walked along with us. At lunch back on the ship, I allowed myself the sinfully good desert of bread pudding with vanilla sauce.
The views from our ship’s 9th floor deck on the bow were great. We stayed out there watching the hang gliders floating down from the high French mountains above and the amazingly huge yachts in the harbour. Had fun watching a small sailboat negotiate tacking out of the harbour amidst several other boats and causing havoc everywhere. And exciting watching a big yacht try to “park” in several spaces then give up and go on to try the next over and over again until he finally parked his big yachts between two even bigger yachts that made his look like a miniature.
The houses are so closely packed here but are elaborate—lovely balconies overflowing with flowers. It is the most densely populated country in the world at 42,000 people per its one square mile.
And now it is time to prepare for the next leg of our journey—packing and organizing. We arrive in Rome tomorrow and will do our “Angels & Demons” tour that I created, and then we’ll board the overnight sleeper train to Paris in the evening. Just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that we get thru Customs without any hassles. Hope everybody stays safe and has a great weekend. Will be in touch again when we get internet service set up at the hotel in London—hopefully Monday night, but we’ll see. Take care.
***pictures: Monaco (Monte Carlo) & this amazing light coming thru stained glass window and hitting on floor of Cathedral
