Monte Carlo, Monaco – Splash To The Finish Line!

It took me quite a while to write about Monte Carlo and to ‘digest’ about Monaco other than the rich and famous, the bold and the beautiful and the swanky, glitzy society. 

After Vatican City, Monaco is the second smallest country in the world.  It owns only 490 acres of land with three mile coastline.  But!  Monaco has the most number of tycoons, superstars, billionaires and their presence and chattels kept here somehow ‘endorsed’ to its status as an interesting tiny prosperous country.  It is very apparent that Monaco has the legendary names in showbiz and sports.

Monte Carlo, Monaco can be reached by car, yacht, cruise ships, helicopter or by bodyguards!  And we chose by train … obviously, no bodyguards ha-ha!  Didn’t even need a map, and this is the only place we didn’t get lost!

Monte Carlo, besieged by the Mediterranean peaks

'Monaco' gets its name from 'Monoikos'
(In Greek means 'living apart')

And I guess Monaco really lives up to its name - living apart.  Living apart from the rest of the world as Monaco lives in its own glamorous life.  The residents of this tiny, wealthy country came from all over the world.

Monaco Grand Prix is a legendary race and every F1 driver aspiration is to win on this circuit, although it is the toughest of all circuits in the F1 World Championship.  But it is the slowest, though!

The famous 'hair pin'   

With the stretch of the 3340 km circuit, 261 km race distance and 78 laps, winning in Monaco have to be highly merited.  The slightest error means fatal. Wohh!

The mixture of culture has made Monaco
a very multicultural high society

People come to Monte Carlo every year to watch the Monaco Yacht Show, the largest show of super yachts here at Port Hercule.

The size of yachts for sale or charter is from 60 feet to 500 feet long.

Now… we cannot have the world’s most luxurious yacht shows without the world’s best cars, right?

Nah!  Make your choice ...

Okay … we have F1.  We have yachts.  We have cars, luxury I mean and now let’s check out the casino!  This Europe's oldest casino was built in 1863.

Made famous by the lavish ornamented marble,
featuring 'Never Say Never Again' and 'Golden Eye',
familiar?

The Royal home.
Monaco is entirely under France fortification

In half a day, we already covered Monte Carlo, Monaco including visiting Prince Albert's royal home (he-he!)

Frankly, to me Monaco is not on my top list as a destination for a vacation.  May be because this is the country that everything is too good to be true.  Or maybe, it could be highlighted as a place to visit but nothing new to be explored.  Anyway, glad been there, seen that ... 

This is the place that a nickel ain't worth a dime anymore!  It's all about the money!

  

Now, who said that, "Life is a game.  Money is how we keep score?" .... Brilliant!