Visiting Monaco has been a dream of mine for quite some time. As a teenager, I fell in love with classic films and Grace Kelly was one of my favorite actresses. Beside Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Romy Schneider and Garry Grant. When Grace Kelly ended up leaving Hollywood to become a true Princess of Monaco, a lot of girls started dreaming about meeting their prince. I’m sure that I was…
Of course, Hollywood’s fascination with Monaco didn’t end with Grace Kelly, and the country has played a starring role in the recent films Monte Carlo, alongside Selena Gomez and Grace of Monaco, featuring Nicole Kidman. Apparently the Monegask are now dreaming about a wedding of Alexandra von Hannover and her Ben-Sylvester…What can I say, the French are true romantics…
So, even if Monaco existed for many hundreds of years under the House of Grimaldi before Grace became its princess and before producers arrived with camera…to me, Grace Kelly epitomized the glamorous country and I’m very happy that I was able to visit Monaco and grateful to be able to do it with my mum.
Here is another museum that was on my bucketlist . The oceanographic museum of Monaco. As part of a cliff that drops straight down to the Mediterranean Sea, this museum has the WOW factor, and that is just the outside. To begin with, the building itself is simply captivating. It’s dramatically located right on the edge of a cliff, and the embellishment on its facades are quite special. Since it was designed specifically to be a palace of art and science, the lavish architecture seems quite fitting! Jacques-Cousteau was a director of the Museum for 30 years.
Inside is an underwater world of everything nautical and fishy. Sharks, exotic reef fish and even giant whale skeletons that fill an entire gallery are there! Be sure not to miss Oceanomania, the biggest collection of rare marine skeletons, fossils, diving equipment and nautical items. The museum is founded by Prince Albert I and it has become a world-renowned aquarium/museum. It is now. home to a dazzling 450 marine species, its centerpiece is a 6m-deep lagoon that features sharks and a charming coral reef. I love the underwaterworld and felt like watching the movie Nemo all over again!
However, my personal favourite attraction was the outdoor turtle tank. Because, who doesn’t love turtles, right? These are African spurred tortoises. The fact that the aquarium felt somehow connected to the sea made it even more special.
Siësta in the sun on the upperdeck
After touring the museum for a couple of hours, we decided to take in some sun, whilst listening to the ocean crashing waves into the fortress…so relaxing.
The Palace and changing of the guard
After our little pauze in the sun, we watched the changin of the guards at the Prince’s palace. A fort was built here on a rock in 1191, but only a little bit of it is left. The rest has made way for a modern palace. As of April, the palace opens partially to the public. It seems that you can admire Napoleon’s sock and handkerchief in the museum. How weird is that 😉?
We wandered the small streets with the beautiful houses that looked out at the harbour. Had a drink in the cozy hotel bar and went to bed…me dreaming about the underwater world …
What I really like is that Monaco is one of the safest places to visit in the world. And so very clean! Not sure if Dubai is cleaner and more secure. I think that there is probably a status quo there. Dubai is definitely the Monaco of the UAE. Here is really a tight security, most likely because of all the millionaires that live in the area. There are surveillance cameras pretty much everywhere. So we’d better behave. But then again we always do. 😃 Today we are pretending to be rich and famous, while wandering the streets near the Monte Carlo casino.
Monte Carlo casino
Built-in 1858, the casino quickly became a beacon of wealth and excess, and over the years it’s notability has only increased. This is largely thanks to world-renowned films featuring the casino in several famous scenes, such as James Bond’s Golden Eye in 1995. Of course we have all seen the James Bond movies. We wanted to have a peek into his world, so we took a little tour of the casino (no gambling, the only gambling I do is for love). We then had a nice coffee at the ‘Cafe the Paris’ and enjoyed the ‘people – and fancy car’ watching.
Port Hercule and the Bateau bus
Home to the annual ‘Monaco Yacht Show’, the port has been used since ancient times! However, it underwent major renovations at the start of the 20th-century so it could accommodate the evergrowing number of yacht’s visiting the Côte d’Azur.
Today the port is one of the most famous in the world, and it’s definitely the heart of Monaco as views throughout the city focus on it! For example, on our walk from Monte Carlo Casino to the harbor, we were treated to several glimpses of the magnificent boats on display. There is also a public swimming pool right next to the harbour if you fancy a dip, In winter it turns into an ice rink. A nice bar to have breakfast or brunch is Eola. Eola stands for ‘Eat Organic Live Active’, and as the name suggests, you can find all kinds of healthy dishes here like smoothie bowls, green juices, and avocado toasts.
But here was our best discovery of the day. You can pay 2 euro for a trip across Port Hercule to get a unique viewpoint and snap some photos from the water. It is a small, electric boat and you can capture some images looking back at Monte Carlo. The crossing only takes 20 minutes, depending on water traffic, but it is a fun way to cross the harbour and float quietly amongst the mega yachts.
Shopping pour ‘le plaisir des yeux’
And of course we did a little shopping, but mostly we only shopped ‘pour le plaisir des yeux’ – so much cheaper and much more fun!
Hooray we are going on a trip again. Monaco, here we come!
A stop at ‘my’ Brussels airport, where I worked, loved and cried for 15 years. So many memories every time again. We take a moment of silence to remember the horrific terrorist attacks in Brussels, 6 years and 1 day ago today.
Check-in done, no coronapass needed! Facial masks are not required anymore at the airport. Hooray, it feels almost like pre Covid-times. Brussels airlines, here we come…
So, why Monaco ? You know that I don’t need anything to inspire me to go on holiday, even less so to Monte Carlo. Just say the word ‘travel’ and my eyes light up. And Monaco is the epitome of luxury travel. It is said to be one of the nicest places in the world. And yes, Monaco is a country and not a part of France, even though it’s along the French Riviera. Monaco is the second smallest country by area in the world; only Vatican City is smaller. Monaco is also the world’s second smallest monarchy, and is the most densely populated country in the world. Around 30% of the population are millionaires, which you can see just by visiting Monaco and looking around. Avenue Princess Grace located alongside Larvotto Beach was the world’s most expensive street to live on
A sleepy backwater, much of Monaco’s land was used for cultivating fruit and olive trees. In 1297 the Grimaldi family, who have ruled Monaco for more than 700 years (albeit with some brief interruptions); settled in the city state, and since then, Monaco’s history has been tied to the House of Grimaldi. In 1861 Monaco became an independent state when the Franco-Monegasque Treaty officially recognised the country’s sovereignty. There is no question that the history of Monaco is as fascinating as the destination itself.
And since the rich and famous live here…we decided to join them for a ‘7-minute’ moment and travel in style 🙂
Since we had the ‘James Bond’ experience in Venice arriving by boat at the hotel, we can’t lower our standards for Monaco. Indeed, we just had to arrive by helicopter! I must admit that this is my first time in a helicopter and even though it was only a 7-minute flight, I loved every minute of it. For my bucketlist: helicopter ride: check. And on my mum’s bucketlist: 80+: travel in style, travel by helicopter. Yeeha!
As we were driving up the cliff, the Prince passed us with his escorts on the way to his palace. There were also police escorts that were there to stop traffic as we were not allowed to drive next to them. We were told by a local that the only house is the Princes palace and that is because Monaco is so small that the rest of the population live in apartments. We were also told that the rent can be anywhere from 7000 – 15.000 euros/month and sometimes more. A penthouse overlooking the harbour was just sold for 1 billion euro.
Anyway, enough excitement for today. Enjoying a drink at the hotel and an early night sleep. Heading to the old part of Monaco tomorrow.
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