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Geo: 43.7034, 7.2662
I slept on the other side of the bed last night, so I could just barely hear the tick-tick-tick from the lamp. At 4:30 a.m., though, it sounded as if someone was putting up scaffolding outside. Never did figure out what that was.
After breakfast I walked up to Place Massena and took a tram (after having to get a Frenchman to help me with the ticket machine) two stops to Place Garibaldi. It took me awhile to locate the bus stop I needed, but I finally found it and was soon on my way -- standing, and with dozens of other passengers -- on my way to Monaco.
It was an absolutely gorgeous morning and ridiculously warm on the bus. I ended up standing by one of the back doors, so I at least had a good view the whole way. The bus took the coastal road (which I think is called the Lower Corniche), and it went by Cap-Ferrat, Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beaulieu-sur-Mer (one of the filming locations for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"😉, and other beautiful villages. When we finally arrived in Monaco, the walking options seemed to be through a tunnel or face-first into a cliffside. Then the bus moved on,
and I could see the actual town -- well, the part called La Condamine.
I walked up a switchback hill to the top of the previously mentioned cliffside to see the Palace. There's a large square that slopes gently downhill, and at the tippy-top is where the Grimaldi princes have lived for something like seven centuries. I'd always kind of assumed that the whole dynasty started with Prince Rainier's father or maybe grandfather but, nope! The family actually has a long history.
I bought a ticket for the State Apartments and got an audio guide. The man sounded English, but he occasionally pronounced things very strangely. Plus, at the end of each bit of commentary, he would repeat the phrase, "Now, step into the next room and press the green button." After the fifth or sixth room, I could tell that he was a little sick of saying that. I swear there was a touch of sarcasm sneaking in.
The first stop was along a loggia with a view into an interior courtyard. I had more or less reached the end of the loggia and was looking at the lovely horseshoe-shaped staircase that led down to the courtyard, when one of
Me outside the Palace
The view is of the harbor in the Fontvieille district.the guards came up and asked me to move along. If this had been in England, I would've gotten a rather abrupt, "Right! You all need to leave this area immediately!" In Monaco, it was more like, "I'm sorry, but I must ask you to continue to the next room. You may come back after, but I just need you to move for a few minutes. Thank you." So polite and apologetic. So I moved into the next room and was glancing out the window when a female guard asked that we not look out the window. Again, very polite, very apologetic. I had seen a black car at the far end of the courtyard, so I wonder if Prince Albert or another royal was going out for the day. So there's my brush with royalty! 😉
The State Apartments were pleasant and grand without being ostentatious. There were quite a lot of really beautiful 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-century cabinets with inlays and silver decorations. One of the first rooms, however, in spite of having a golden clock, seemed to be a depository for ... well, royals get presents all the time from other royal families and dignitaries, and some of
the gifts are flat-out tacky. I think this was the "tacky gifts we can't actually get rid of" room. I kept waiting for the voice to explain the pink crystal cockatoo and the silver crystal eagle, but it never did. The remaining rooms had pretty furniture and portraits, and also a bust of Princess Grace.
The throne room (the throne itself really needs to be recovered as it's looking a bit threadbare) had a large family portrait of Prince Rainier, Princess Grace, and their children that was painted a year before Princess Grace's death. The faces all look good, you can tell who everyone is supposed to be, but the poses are strange. There's no life in it, and I don't think the artist was comfortable with painting hands. Anyway, not a terribly good portrait.
After the Palace, I checked out the view over the harbor. Once again, there were huge yachts and normal-sized yachts. In fact, I didn't realize just how big some of them were until I saw a sailboat go by. As far as other forms of transportation, all the cars seemed to be Mercedes, BMW, Audi ... I didn't see any fabulous sports cars, but I did
see a spotless white Bentley tootling along. Well, no, not tootling. People on the Côte d'Azur drive like they're practicing for the Grand Prix. Even the bus driver took the curves like he was in a time trial.
I went into the Cathedral just down the hill from the Palace; pretty facade, inside could use a bit of a clean. Prince Rainier and Princess Grace ("Gratia Patricia"😉 are buried there, along with other Grimaldis dating back a few centuries. Their graves both have flowers on them. I saw a tour group go through. There were probably 50 people plus a guide, and they all were wearing stickers with the number 18 on them. I saw another group later wearing 26 stickers. Hideous.
The Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium isn't too far beyond the Cathedral. It's built into the side of the rock going down toward the sea. It was opened in 1910 (a bit later than I had thought) by Prince Albert I, the current Prince's great-great-grandfather, and is sometimes referred to as the Temple of the Sea. He had an avid interest in travel and marine life and founded the Oceanographic Institute in 1906. The current Oceanographic Museum is dedicated to his
Shark sculpture
Oceanographic Museum wish of "knowing, loving and protecting the oceans." The Museum part is old-fashioned, but it does have a bunch of remarkably well-preserved specimens, as well as skeletons of sharks, whales, and also seals and a walrus.
(When I entered the building, I accidentally gave the guard my bus ticket. "Oh! I'm sorry, no. This is not ..." I realized my mistake and gave him the correct ticket to scan, and he laughed and again said he was sorry. The Monegasques are so polite, they're like the Canadians of the Riviera.
The current exhibition is called "On Sharks and Humanity," and explores how sharks are seen as nightmarish creatures of the deep (e.g., "Jaws"😉 when, in reality, there are fewer than ten deaths each year that are caused by sharks. The predator that causes the most destruction? Our whiny friend the mosquito, with over 1,000,000 deaths a year. Sharks are a crucial component of the marine ecosystem because (a) they eat dead things, which helps to curb the spread of disease to other fish, and (b) they like to eat jellyfish, which would take over the oceans if sharks were wiped out. Either of the sharkless scenarios would end up destroying commercial fishing.
Yet
Sharks in the Oceanographic Museum
The biggest teardrop in the distance represents mosquito-related deaths. The other drops represent deaths by crocodiles, etc. The tiniest teardrop, which is barely visible in this photo, represents shark-related deaths. more than 100,000,000 (yes, one hundred
million) sharks are taken from the water each year, mainly to supply the fin trade. Sometimes, rather than bringing a shark back to land, it will be "finned" (the dorsal fin is cut off) and its body dumped back in the water. Without its fin, the shark cannot swim. And if it cannot swim, it suffocates and dies. Seventy percent of all shark species are threatened. I actually feel sorry for sharks now.
The aquarium is well done, though nothing spectacular. An octopus was pretty entertaining (they're very clever, and I think this one was playing with us), and I'd never seen -- nor even heard of -- a giant guitarfish before. The front half of him looked like a ray, and the back half like a shark. He mostly stayed on the bottom of the shark reef tank, but then he would rear up and sort of crawl up the glass so we could see his underside. I think he was tired of being stared at. A touch pool had little sharks in it, but I only managed to get a tiny swipe of a tail.
I walked back down to the bottom of the Giant guitarfish
Oceanographic Museum hill. There are parks on both sides of the road, and pretty Italianate buildings too. And Monaco is so clean! I could count the pieces of litter I saw on one hand. Not only that, the gutters aren't full of dead leaves and whatnot. It's like Disneyland.
I took a local bus across town (that took about three minutes) and up the opposite hill to Monte Carlo. The bus stop was at a park directly across from the Casino. I didn't go any closer because I'm sure in my capris and t-shirt I'm not exactly the clientele they want. It's one of the world's first casinos and was built in the mid-1800s. I'm not exactly sure what the architectural style is, but it's somewhat over the top while still being pleasing to the eye. Neoclassical baroque, perhaps?
I walked up to the Tourist Info office at the top of the park (ducks, doves, and a cocker spaniel who was so excited to be out for a walk) and got my passport stamped. They do it for free, and it's just a fun thing to have in one's passport (especially since nearly all of mine are boring entry/exit visas from Heathrow).
By that time
I was exhausted, so I caught the #100 bus back to Nice. Managed to get a seat this time, only without a view. (Although when the bus was stopped in traffic, I glanced up at a 19th-century facade, only to see a husky sitting at a balcony a few floors up and watching everything.) The bus filled up quickly, and soon it was a festival of armpits. Fortunately, the afternoon ride didn't seem to take as long as the morning ride.
Instead of taking the tram back from Place Garibaldi, I walked. Turns out, it was only a ten minute walk from my hotel. I passed a bakery on my way and glanced in the window. They had fougasse! So I bought a piece, and it wasn't at all what I expected. It looks like an oval pizza, with a slightly chewy crust and onions and ham on top. It was good -- and incredibly greasy -- but not as tasty as I thought it would be.
I walked along the Quai des Etats-Unis for a few minutes before arriving back at the hotel. I've been trying to pack for the last four hours but just getting nowhere. Sigh. I keep thinking
Octopus
Oceanographic Museum I didn't really buy anything, but apparently I did! I really hope my bag isn't over 50 pounds because I'm in trouble if it is. Pray for me.
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Mom
non-member comment
Your blog posts have been the highlight of my days since you've been away! I'm happy you'll be heading home, but will miss reading of your adventures.