Monaco France Monte Carlo Resort and Casino<< >> The Monaco France Monte Carlo resort and casino is a place for super wealthy to play. What does the name of this destination conjure up for you? Glamour? Gambling? Money? A Prince who married a film star? The Grand Prix? All of the above I should think. It did for me. I went to Monte Carlo quite a long time ago, I was with my husband on a combined business/pleasure trip. I remember the drive from Cannes was very picturesque, a beautiful coastline dotted with equally beautiful, large expensive houses. I am not unduly impressed by conspicuous consumption, I don’t care how much money an individual has or the amount of possessions. I can see though why people who can afford it would choose to live in this part of the world. The climate is lovely without extremes of temperature and you have the whole of Europe within your reach. For me it beats the USA hands down. I do like visiting America but it does not have the range of culture and history to be found in Europe. It occupies an enviable geographical position as it on the French Riviera and also close to Italy. It is also a Principality ruled of course by the Garibaldi family. Monte Carlo gets its name from the Italian for Mount Charles from the time when Charles the third ruled it. So, after a very pleasant drive we arrived in Monaco and it was exactly as I had thought. A beautiful harbour full of expensive boats in a blue sea and lots of sunshine. It was spotlessly clean and definitely no suspect looking youngsters hanging around street corners.
We wanted to walk along (or by the side of) the Grand Prix course, which we did. Whenever we watch the Monaco Grand Prix on the telly we say “Ooo, look that’s the tunnel under the Loews hotel where we walked". We also wanted to see the Casino and if possible go in, well we only got as far the door because we weren’t serious about gambling, even if we were we only had one day so we didn’t want to spend it in the Casino. We enjoyed walking around the outside and looking at the famous views.
One of the highlights of our day was having lunch at the famous Hotel de Paris. This was the business part of the day in that we weren’t paying so it just added to the enjoyment. I confess I cannot remember what we had to eat. That would never happen now as I keep a journal of all the important stuff like that.
We sometimes used to daydream that we would go for the Grand Prix and watch it from a balcony from this hotel. It will never happen because we have both revised our ideas on places and experiences we would rather spend our money on. One amusing sight (hope I don’t offend any Monegasques) was when we stopped to watch the changing of the guard. It reminded us more a film scene than a real ceremony and looked unreal.
Many famous people choose to live in Monte Carlo and it is understandable why they do. Only the very rich can afford the property and I seem to remember that you had to have a certain net worth anyway. All the wealth is used to make sure that the place is very clean and very safe. The one pleasure that Monte Carlo has to offer which we did not get to try (too busy eating at the Hotel de Paris) is the shopping. All the designer names are there and it is free to window shop. Would I go back and visit Monte Carlo? I don’t think so but I do think it is worth a visit because most places are worth just one look. << >>
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