Monte Carlo, Monaco. April 27, 2022.

Well who hasn’t heard of Monte Carlo, the playground of the rich and famous. Names like Grace Kelly, Aristotle Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Prince Rainier III, Olivier Beretta (Professional race car driver), backdrop for James Bond movies, and so on come to mind.

Monte Carlo, situated on the French Riviera, is officially an administrative areas of the Principality of Monaco. It is the second smallest City/State in the world with Vatican City being the smallest. It is surrounded by France on three sides and faces the Mediterranean. It population is around 39,000 with only 8,000 being actual citizens of Monaco. It is not easy to become a Monacan, you must either be born in Monaco and both parents are Monacans, or after having been a resident for a period of time you can ask for an appointment with the Prince, Prince Alberta II, at this time and make a request. These are usually denied, though you can make further requests (better luck next time). Money talks in this country. There are no poor people and people are not measured as being millionaires but rather as billionaires. There is one millionaire for every three people, the highest per capital concentration of millionaires. WOW

It is easier to become a resident: if you live in Monaco 6 months and 1 day out of the year you are considered a resident and can benefit from its “Tax Haven”, no income taxes, no property taxes, no capital gains taxes, no net wealth taxes. Everyone wants to come here, but you essentially have to be wealthy to live there. So how does Monaco become so rich: Casinos, Banking business, tourism, sales of Postage stamps and various permit fees not necessarily in that order.

Truly a unique place and we were ready to do a walking tour of the city. But not so quick! We are anchored and hence must take a tender to the pier. Though the waters did not appear rough, they sure were. It took a lot of effort both from the Tender driver to the staff at the ships gangway to get people safely into the tender. The tender bobbed up and down, changing level to the gangway’s platform by about 3 feet and banging against the hull of the Viking Ship. The tenders had big rubber bumpers, nonetheless it was a big gang and unless you were holding on to something in the tender it could knock you off your feet. It was quite an undertaking, passengers coming off the tender had those “thank goodness” I am back safe on the ship look. One by one all but a few made it on the tender. Okay, I thought it was fun, but realize for those less stable on their feet, this was a scary thing. A slight misjudgment or lack of trust in those that assisted in getting you safely on the tender and you could have landed in the ocean.

There is the modern part of the city which was already set up for the upcoming Grand Prix races and the old medieval quarter of Monaco, which is perched up on what they call the “ROCK”. We climb many stairs up the side of the Rock, then stroll a ways along the side of the Rock, awing at the view below, but we are not yet to the top. Some elevators and escalators finally bring us to the top. We make our way to the main square, the Place du Palais, we see the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, home to the house of the Grimaldi. Along the way we see and visit the St Nicholas Cathedral, burial site for the Royal family, including Grace Kelly. We pass by the majestic Oceanographic Museum. It was founded by Prince Albert I. This cliff hugging building officially opened in 1910, is renowned for its aquarium, ninety pools with 6,000 specimens and over 350 species of fish. Captain Jacques Cousteau lived in Monaco for a while and led this Museum from 1957 to 1988. Oh I would have loved to have spent some time there. We see several governmental buildings and residential areas, all beautiful, and nicely landscaped, no litter anywhere. We are given some free time to explore the Plaza and its shops and cafés.

It was interesting to see, but not a place one I would come back to.

The Tower of the Palace and Monacan flag

We are anchored outside the harbor. An Oceana ship the Riviera is lucky enough to be docked. Oh well, mean we have to tender in which can take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes.

View of the modern city of Monte Carlo, the waterfront is lined with luxury hotels.

The building with the green roof is the famous Casino where several James Bond movies were filmed, such as Casino Royal, Golden Eye and Never say Never Again.

The Walkway along the side of “ The Rock”.

View looking towards the new part of the city.

As we look up the cliffs we see this structure which is actually a jail. They tell us there is no crime in Monte Carlo but yet there is a jail. They say it is a rather nice jail, good food and outdoor space, though they have covered it with a wire net as prisoners used to escape by helicopters.